A force of nature, Nat Morcos is hard to pin down. While you may previously have known her as Natalia Shustova or by her former Instagram handle @shoestova, Morcos has undergone a rebirth of sorts. Changing her name and the paradigm she operates from, the creative has bloomed into her next season. 

Co-owner of Goshá Group, Morcos is the creative brain behind out-of-the-box brand Goshá, bespoke events company Goshá Buro, and soon-to-be homeware retailer Goshá Home. “Goshá is anything related to art – it’s a non-conformist business. I like the idea of not being defined in what I do,” explains Morcos about her multi-disciplinary portfolio. “We started as a flower business in 2020 as that was the right language for people to heal their trauma at the time. This was followed by Goshá Buro, which is a creative design studio – we do everything from workshops to events.” 

A former influencer turned serial entrepreneur, Morcos has created several successful businesses alongside her husband Michael Morcos. “I always knew how to make money,” she elaborates. “I bought my first property at 21 years old. I come from a very small village in Belarus and, though my parents were fantastic, they didn’t have any wealth or power. I’ve made everything from scratch.” 

Realising that not all natural creatives possess the same skill for monetising their talents, Morcos latest venture has seen her dream up a creative residence called Skooni. Located in a renovated villa in Umm Suqeim, the venue is currently one of the hottest event spaces in the UAE. 

“We have the art foundation to support talent in the creative space who don’t necessarily have the skill of converting their talent into money. The function of Skooni is to support and fund talent,” says Morcos excitedly. 

The villa has already played host to some huge names including Kanye West, who attended the Amina Muaddi pop-up event there. “We love to dance and host,” explains Morcos. “My husband and I wanted to create a communal space that artists could visit and where we could create a sense of community.”

She now opts for a physical community over a virtual one – if you’re one of Morcos’ 200,000 Instagram followers, you will probably have noticed her absence from the app. Deleting her old fashion-related images, the mum and stepmother of three “decluttered” her life when she moved from a penthouse to a small bungalow in Jumeirah. 

Once famed for having over 400 pairs of shoes, Morcos now only keeps 21 pairs in her home, with the rest tucked away in storage, or “in archive” as she calls it. It was an intentional process, Morcos says, “I decided to live in a smaller place, I drive a very small car, I have a very small dog and a very tiny wardrobe. By making everything smaller, I can dream bigger.” And dreaming big she is. “We are going to go international with Goshá and Skooni,” says Morcos with a glint in her eye. 

@natmorcos