In a region where culture is becoming a language of power, few figures are shaping that conversation as quietly and precisely as Yasmine Badri. Founder of BYSELECT*, the UAE-born consultancy operating at the intersection of strategy, culture, and experience, Yasmine has spent over a decade building worlds for some of the most influential names in fashion, luxury, and public institutions; from Dior and Cartier to Abu Dhabi’s leading cultural bodies.
With BYSELECT*, she moves beyond campaigns and spectacle, focusing instead on presence: how brands live in space, how stories are felt, and how emotion becomes strategy.
In this Q&A, KHAMSA speaks with Yasmine about building a consultancy rooted in cultural intelligence, the rise of the Middle East as a creative mindset, and what it really means to design experiences that linger long after the moment has passed.
١. In a region obsessed with scale, speed, and spectacle, what does slowing people down actually look like in practice? And where do brands usually get this wrong?
Slowing people down is not about reducing ambition. It is about increasing intention.
In practice, it means designing moments that invite pause rather than demand attention. These are spaces that reward curiosity, tactility, and time spent rather than instant consumption. Brands often get this wrong by equating slow with quiet or minimal. The real mistake is over-programming. Too many messages, too many prompts, too much explanation. When everything is spectacular, nothing is meaningful.
Slowing down requires confidence and the belief that one well crafted moment can outperform ten loud ones.
٢. How do you measure something as intangible as emotional resonance when clients are still asking for KPIs, footfall, and ROI?
We do not reject KPIs. We reframe them. Emotional resonance shows up in behavior. Dwell time, repeat visits, organic advocacy, unsolicited content creation, and the quality of conversations happening in the space all matter.
We observe what people choose to do when they are not instructed. Do they linger, return, bring others back, or talk about it weeks later. ROI is not only volume. It is memorable. The strongest experiences convert because they stay with you.
٣. You’ve worked with some big names, but you built BYSELECT on emotion, not hype. What do you personally need to feel excited about a project before saying yes?
I need to feel that the project has something at stake beyond visibility. There must be a clear point of view, whether cultural, human, or emotional. Not just a launch date. Trust is also essential. If a client is willing to let us design for feeling rather than formula, the work becomes meaningful. I also ask myself whether I would want to experience this project if no one knew who created it. If the answer is no, we rethink.
We don’t just build experiences. We build memory, meaning, and measurable growth.
٤. From your perspective, what is the region still underestimating about its own cultural power? And what is the outside world still misunderstanding?
The region underestimates its subtlety. There is a belief that cultural power only comes from scale or grandeur, when it also lies in restraint, ritual, and storytelling. Outside the region, there is still a misconception that this is a place of replication rather than origination. What is often missed is the depth of experimentation happening here and the ability to blend heritage with the future.
This is not a borrowed culture. It is an evolving one.
٥. Looking back at your own career, is there an experience you worked on that changed how you think about meaning, legacy, or why we build things at all?
Yes.
The projects that changed me most were not the biggest ones. They were the ones where I saw how an experience could shift someone’s perception of a brand, a place, or even themselves. Moments where people felt seen rather than sold to. That is when I understood that what we build is not temporary, even if it is physical and fleeting. Experiences disappear, but the feelings they create stay. That emotional memory is the true legacy.
