Dr. Slava S. Al-Nabulsi
I messaged Slava on a couple occasions about an interview with no reply. Recently, however, she typed, “When are we going to talk about life?” in the comment section of an upcoming piece that has since been published.
Thrilled at her response, I immediately began drawing up her questionnaire.
In doing so, I had to remind myself this would be unlike any other ‘Meet Me.’ I’ll need clarification and it has to be better than the others. Not because she’s better. Rather, it’s the circumstances surrounding her, her arrival to America and the cultural differences between our two countries.
Meet: Dr. Slava S. Al-Nabulsi
Slava was born in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. A major port city in the central Hejaz region of the western part of the country and lies along the Red Sea. She is of Jordanian ancestry.
During her early years, as a Jordanian living in Saudi, Slava begins by telling me how her and her family were treated as second-class citizens. Much like all the non-Saudi professionals living in the country.
However, she adds, “When my mom’s sister married a member of the royal family my childhood became complicated but interesting. In a sense our social status got upgraded (and) we enjoyed many complimentary royal advantages with which I got to experience many things that I wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for the change of status.”
Growing up offered other changes for the Jordanian girl, as she explains the two lives she lived. “My life at home was a typical simple and humbling Jordanian life,” Slava says. “We had our grandparents visiting and we visited our family in Jordan during school vacations.”
“In public I had to conduct myself in a certain manner that would satisfy the social obligation of representing the royal,” the dentist added. “My cousins had to perform their royal duties in a specific manner to reflect their commitment to their titles,”
Slava goes on to say that she’d spend a lot of time playing in royal residents’ courtyards, in beachfront mansions while also attending private health clubs and lavish dinners. “We had access to places the average Saudi citizen didn’t realize existed.”
Flying on private jets from age five and attending royal engagements, weddings and holiday celebrations were commonplace as she supported her cousin and family along the way staying in the strict guidelines of the royal family code of conduct. But this, she says, “came to an end when I got to high school.”
United States
I see you came here as a teen…wow. That must’ve been a tough decision. I began. ‘Could you tell me the challenges you faced making that decision and how it affected your family as a whole after leaving?
“My dad wanted me to be a fashion designer and my mom wanted me to study art history, marry rich and spend my life in museums.” Slava shared. ” Then added, “I always wanted to be a dentist.”
She continues that her father was hoping to secure the family Saudi citizenship through their royal connections, however it didn’t work out. And since she wanted to pursue dentistry. and is a non-Saudi, she wasn’t allowed to apply to professional schools because all spots are strictly reserved for Saudis. “My option,” she goes on, “was to go back to Jordan or come to the United States,” She chose the United States and arrived at the age of 19.
College in Cleveland
“College was interesting to say the least,” Slava says. “All my schooling encounters (while growing up) were with females. One of my biggest challenges was how to act around male classmates and male teachers. As you can tell, my social environment in my home world was very controlled, our social circle was very limited to royals, socialites and elites.”
She goes on to say that in her homeland, she hadn’t any social interactions with the public due to the family’s social status and this was another challenge.
“I felt totally out of my element,” she adds, “but I had to get comfortable with the uncomfortable. I literally went to class, studied in my room, watched TV and hung out with my brothers and their friends and that’s how I met my American Egyptian husband.” She has now been married for 32 years.
However, I sensed her biggest challenge came from the grueling Cleavland, Ohio winters. “I remember my first winter in 1988 at Case Western University. I literally woke up one morning, looked out the window (and) the whole world was covered in snow, I went back to bed, when my roommates came back from their classes, they laughed at me and said, “Are you going to sleep thru the whole semester? You get up, put your boots on and your winter jacket and go to class!” I replied, “you can walk in the snow?”
Slava continued by telling me that she never had to deal with, or even walk in snow ever before. Then added, “Saudi Arabia’s dessert climate allows rain every five years. Extremely hot and humid. I had to buy winter clothes and build a seasonal wardrobe and that’s how I got into creating my own personal style and grew the passion for fashion.”
Fashion
“Living in Saudi, I never needed to worry about what I’m going to wear because according to the traditional gender role beliefs we were expected to be covered up head to toe in public to protect all virtues,” Dr Slava introduces. “That said, as I was introduced to society and the cousin of my cousin princesses at age fourteen, I had to start dressing like a royal whenever I got to attend an event, designers’ gowns, jewels, limo, chaperones you name it. It was all borrowed since I am not a royal nor a Saudi, I have to give it back at the end of the night. When I’m not at royal engagements I was in my school uniform or in my swimsuit enjoying our private pool with my siblings and cousins.”
“It took a lot out of me because I was constantly switching hats of two identities. My humble Jordanian and my lavish royal relations. When I came to the U.S. I realized since I was free of my royal obligations, I get to pick out my style and to express my personality in many creative ways, the birth of my relationship with fashion,” Doctor Slava articulates. Not surprising, she’s currently signed with a Boston modeling agency as well.
Writing
I had first come across Doc through her writings. She tells of her past and stories of her mother in a unique, yet visualizing way. Truly an enjoyable read.
In one of my favorites, she tells a story of driving, or lack thereof, in Saudi Arabia for women prior to her leaving and her newfound freedom in the United States. “Now living in the western free world US, I’ve been driving for twenty-three years and the feeling of just picking up my keys and taking off whenever I want, to be wherever I need to be is an absolute sweet Freedom,” she typed just last year in an excerpt.
There are many others and if you’re interested in reading more, I’ll be leaving her social links at the end of this article.
“Writing is my way to process what’s happening in my life and the world around me,” Slava says. “My father Dr. Shaker Al-Nabulsi was a world-renowned writer and a political analyst. I read many of his books in Arabic before he went global and got his books to be translated into many different languages.”
In 2021, Doc tells me that at the suggestion of her life coach, she began to write her stories. And later added, “Writing about my past put things into perspective and made me realized how much I have achieved which made me approve more of myself. Reflecting on my memories has a nostalgic bittersweet element to it, to me it’s like watching my favorite classic movie over and over again!”
Mindset Mastery 360 Envoy
Per their website, Mindset Mastery 360, is a global movement dedicated to empowering individuals, fostering resilience, and transforming mindsets while creating socio-economic impact. And just recently, Slava announced that she had been chosen to be their Envoy to Jordan.
“As The Mindset Mastery 360 Envoy to Jordan,” she explains, “I am hoping first and foremost to serve humanity one country at a time and raise more awareness towards Arab women especially Jordanian immigrant women- hence my Instagram project Jordanian Women Entrepreneurs. I want the world to see us as people that are more than just a conflict and that we are worth the opportunities we peruse every day in our new world as an immigrant.”
Furthermore, Slava plans to help address all challenges to help others with life adjustment tools for their own immigration journey.
Quick Questions
A) Boston: Love, because it reminds us of a small London.
B) Orlando: Disney °o° 
C) Politics: Complicated. As a child of the Middle East conflict-politics has been my demon
D) Pets: My four fur baby cats. The lord didn’t have plans for me to bear children, so my 4 cats are my babies.
About Me
Finally, to uphold tradition, Doctor Slava S. Al-Nabulsi was asked, what is it about me and my platform that enticed you to follow me?
“My intentions were always to connect with everyday people ” Slava says humbly, of being on social media, “I believe they offer the best realistic life lessons, to support them and cheer them on in their journeys. I made sure to steer away from the boring celebrity “wanna be” on Instagram. I lived a very lavish and privileged life and I wanted to be inspired by the majority and not by the minorities of the world aka “the rich and famous”. What intrigued me was your cancer recovery story which reminded me of my dad’s cancer battle which unfortunately ended with him leaving us at the age of 74.”
Writers Note
As I type this, I envision my nineteen-year-old self-contemplating a move to a new country and leaving everything behind including my family in hopes for a better life. A life filled with dreams that I’d never be able to achieve where I was born.
Leaving it all behind would be an easy possibility, I suppose, if it were just that. But there’s much more that I hadn’t included. Like the fact of the arranged marriage proposals to wealthy suitors that never entered the story until now. Could you still walk away for a ‘dream’ knowing you’d already be set for life? Now I’m not so sure. Yet Slava was.
Recalling a line from the movie ‘Field of Dreams,’ where actor Burt Lancaster says, playing Dr. Archibald “Moonlight” Graham, to a Ray Kinsella’s, Kevin Costner, question, “Fifty years ago, for five minutes you came within… y-you came this close. It would KILL some men to get so close to their dream and not touch it. God, they’d consider it a tragedy.”
Doc Graham’s reply was simple, “Son, if I’d only gotten to be a doctor for five minutes… now that would have been a tragedy.”
In this case, Doc gave it all up for that ‘dream’ and came away knocking one out of the park. Congratulations Slava, you’ve made your mark in history!
Dr Slava S. Al-Nabulsi’s Instagram’s are below:
Dr. Slava AlNabulsi🇬🇧||🇯🇴سلاڤا الاردنية (@slava_como) • Instagram
♠️JWE*Project (@jordanian.women.entrepreneurs) • Instagram
Greenwood Dental Partners (@greenwooddentalpartners) • Instagram
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