Usamah, demonstrating his trademark "visionary gaze into the middle distance" - also adopted by his namesake, Obama'h
Usamah is a bit of a health & fitness buff most likely to be heard saying "This one time, at McKinsey..." He has introduced some fantastic innovations to onefinestay, not least the introduction of "flying bikes"*. Hear all about him below...
When did you join onefinestay?
December 2010
And what is it that you do?
In general, in a startup like this, you all muck in and do a bit of pretty much everything and anything! However, I have two major roles: as part of the operations team, I’m helping build the core of the business and its processes. My other role is running internal tech product development, helping define and develop all the internal tech products required for the business to function.
Where do you live in London?
I have moved around a lot, driven mostly by my vibe-of-the-moment. I used to be trendy, and so lived on Upper Street in Angel. However, all the skinny jeans (not mine) soon got boring, and, wanting to experience ‘real life’, I subsequently moved to Bethnal Green. More recently I have acquired a taste for living dangerously – yep, I now live in Kennington.
Where do you wish you lived in London?
Lakshmi Mittal’s pad at 18-19 Kensington Palace Gardens – it has Turkish Baths, and the marble comes from the same quarry that supplied the Taj Mahal. Such a lad.
What is your favourite type of tea and why?
The thick, sweet, spicy, and very milky pink tea they serve in little plastic cups by the roadside in the north of Pakistan – we did a road trip up the Karakoram Highway, along the mountain ranges in that part of the world (Himalaya, Karakoram, Hindu Kush), and the local tribes pretty much live on the stuff! It’s incredibly comforting, and surprisingly filling – really useful in the cold at altitude.
When making a cup of tea, do you pour in the milk or the tea first?
Tea first - it’s a cup of tea, with milk, after all! The other way round would be like going to a party but only inviting the host afterwards.
What is your favourite word?
‘Pontoon’. Such a delight to say, every time! Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia is also a strong contender (although slightly more difficult to say) – somewhat ironically, it means the ‘fear of long words’.
When did you last get lost?
Last weekend, Dad and I went back to the street I grew up on in Wales: I lived there until I was 10! There’s a huge, beautiful park called Clyne Gardens near our old house, which must’ve been laid out by a madman: when I was little all the neighbourhood kids (at least the cool ones) used spend hours there, getting completely lost in the woodlands and streams and parklands, and discovering the random follies dotted about the place (including a large spooky old tower with beautiful views over the bay we once found entirely by accident). Anyhow – I forgot how many of the paths in this park lead to absolutely nowhere… meaning when we did eventually find a gate out, it was locked and we had to hop a fence. I never knew Dad was so graceful.
When did you last have an epiphany?
Easy – shower this morning! Same as everyone, right?!
What is the furthest North you’ve been?
Stockholm – awesome in the summer! Close second is John O’ Groats, at the end of a Lands End – John O’ Groats bike ride last year.
What was the best experience you ever had on holiday?
A while ago, I was living in the Old City in Fez for a month or so, brushing up on my Arabic. Fez is incredible - the Old City is the largest pedestrian-only area in the world - and there’s always so much going on that just mincing about the streets talking to the locals is a great way to find mini-adventures! Indeed, one such conversation led to one of my most memorable experiences from Fez: one clear, warm African summer night, some friends I’d just met in Chefchaouen (a tiny village in the Rif mountains) and I got to sit on top of the tallest roof in Fez, looking out over the lights of the entire Old City, and beyond. We stayed up until early the following morning, drinking sweet mint tea and talking until we fell asleep there! It was incredible, and it brought us so much closer together: given we’d all only met a few days before, it was truly memorable.
What is your favourite spot in London which you wouldn’t find on a map?
The dome at the top of the 7th floor at No. 1 Jermyn Street – a real secret, and accessible to only a few! More generally – people don’t look up enough! London’s got so much to offer, if only you lift your head and look above and beyond the ordinary and the mundane at street level.
Tell us a secret.
I won 3rd place at our College’s (female) talent / beauty contest – a beautiful victory marred only by my inability to endure leg-waxing pain.
What will the title of your memoirs be?
1,000 epic months: a true story
* Our new space saving ceiling bike racks
