Here the businesswoman discusses her journey and how giving back to society should always be part of an entrepreneur’s gameplan
People question whether entrepreneurs are born or made. For me, it was in my DNA. I grew up above my father’s plumbing shop in Bradford. He had moved to the UK from India with the intention of starting his own business and always said I brought him luck because he started to experience success when I came along. I have memories of being locked in the car with a bottle of milk while he went to business meetings. It wouldn’t happen today! Sadly, my father passed away when I was 15.
But my family didn’t want me to have an education and go out to work. They were very traditional and there was a lot of pressure – particularly from my extended family – to get married and stay at home. Some of those cultural expectations can still hold black and minority ethnic women back today. But from a young age, I have always fought against those barriers. I was never going to do what I was supposed to do. My mother is my biggest champion – when I was a child, she used to sneak me out of the house to go to ballet or tap lessons. She has always said: “I will support you, but don’t let me down.”
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Source: Guardian