It came at exactly the right time. Although, I had studied international business at university, I didn’t have any practical experience of running a business. Therefore, when this opportunity arose, I thought that it would be a great way to learn the practicalities, while at the same time get the support that is needed to run a successful business. There were 3 words that convinced me to join the opportunity Lord Sugar (who is 50% owner of the brand), vegan products, and life coach. I’ve been vegan for nearly 22 years. Although, there are a lot of vegan skincare brands out there. None of them ticked all the boxes in the same way as this brand in terms of not only being vegan, but also natural, harsh chemical-free, eco-friendly, and cruelty-free. As a result of running my business, I have had the opportunity to give talks about veganism, chemical-free living and entrepreneurship to a wide range of audiences, including university students. 3 years ago, I also took over running the London Vegan Business Network. We are a network of over 600 vegan business owners, self-employed traders, start-ups, vegan events organisers, and budding entrepreneurs. I organize regular networking meetings.

Schooling system has not changed even for a bit. But we have! Several professions and job roles such as those of doctors, lawyers, accountants are believed to become redundant over the coming years. But the Schools are still making us believe that it is important to study traditional books in order to become successful in life – become real doctors, accountants and lawyers. Will there be a gap in the learning process of our society? Most of us have smartphone and all forms of gadgets that answer our immediate questions in just a few seconds. Whereas our current education system believes in memorization of information. Robotics, AI and digital technologies are fast changing our worlds every day. Does this mean alternate means of Education is becoming a necessity in our lives? I have read fascinating autobiographies of successful people like Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Jack Ma and various others which has changed my way of thinking in life. I have launched a YouTube Channel and have attended many seminars and various kinds of business events. I have also spoken in property investment seminars. I am currently learning a lot about asset, liability and things that define Debt, Inflation, difference between money and currency, etc. If somebody asks about anything related to property investment, I can jolly well answer that without a hassle. All thanks to my interest in alternate education. Reading books on entrepreneurship, self-development and motivation is defining my ideas and thoughts in a big manner. I read Rich dad poor dad by New York Times Best Selling Author, Robert Kiyosaki when I was 6.

Be fun but firm – balance is key. No one wants to be working with someone who is set in their ways, so being open to ideas is important. My mum always says that ‘no five fingers are the same’, and I never really realised this until I was leading a group of different personalities. I’ve embraced this, as bouncing ideas of colleagues has been a testament to BAME in Property’s success. There is no right way of being a leader, as everyone has their own style, but for me, a relaxed approach works.

I have found that people think it’s an easy journey and it isn’t – sometimes far from it. I mentor others because when I started my business I didn’t have anyone to help me even with the basics sometimes and it was so frustrating – so I like to let people know I am here if they need assistance but I don’t just give the answers out. I point people in the right direction.

A mentor of mine used to say, entrepreneurship is hard, but it doesn’t have to be lonely. Find your people. They’re out there! But it just takes a little bit of work to find them. If you’re an introvert and not much of a networker – put yourself into situations where you can organically form relationships. It might mean online communities or attending some group workshops.

In the past few years I have encouraged some friends to take the plunge, entrepreneurship is very much risk oriented than anything else. As a mentor I have learned you have to have clear communicating skills, supportive of others and their ventures, honesty and self-belief. Having started my business at the age of 24, I would love to help more young entrepreneurs to take that step towards starting their own business.

When I was at school, college and university, I was not a natural leader. Through my business, I’ve learned that leadership is not about whoever shouts the loudest. It’s about working together as a team and knowing and utilizing your own skillset and the skillset of others. I’ve also learnt that there are skills that you can learn as an entrepreneur, but you also need to listen to your gut instinct. There will be a lot of time wasters, so it’s about spotting them quickly and sifting those out so that you are not wasting hours of your time on activity that is fruitless or unproductive. In regard to mentoring others, how you can motivate them is key to their and your own success. There is a quote by Joel Osteen, which encapsulates this very well: “Being successful doesn’t necessarily make you great. What makes you great is when you reach back and help somebody else become great”.

To listen and to speak with intention, it’s so easy to rush in with a million great ideas but someone else in the room may build on it or have a more practical idea. To walk the talk, people invest in you when you live your ethos. You aren’t alone, to lean on others, there’s so many people who are willing to sit with you and share their business knowledge. Give back, a big part of starting our business was finding a way to help young people, mentoring is a great way to do that. We work with our community in Harrow to speak with young people about their futures, it’s such a lovely way to keep ourselves connected in our community.

Honestly, I am on my own journey, learning something new every day. The only thing I can do is communicate where I'm going and make sure there is room for others. As a woman I have some fierce beliefs that impact everything I do, impact the person that I am, impact my leadership. One of the fundamental things I believe is that there is enough sun to shine on all of us. As women when we enter the boardroom we should not be fighting over the 1 seat assigned to us, we should unite in fighting for more seats. As an entrepreneur, I want to work with amazing people, smarter than me, better than me, so I can learn something every day. Everything I learn I give to others, I hope it offers them value. I share my success, but that's easy. I also share my failures, because if I show the challenges I run into and how I failed, someone else might choose a different path and succeed for all of us.

I have learned that you learn new skills, every single day. I feel like I am back at university, learning a new course everyday. You also need to be passionate about what you do, as you will get rewarded.

I've learnt that you never stop learning!

Our kids need a stable comfortable future it is up to us as the adults to prepare them, through self awareness, business and to help others if they can make a difference

To me, entrepreneurship is not what we all do - it's about coming up with something new / different. I don't see myself as an entrepreneur - I see myself as a business owner! I admire people who create a new product or service as it's harder. Leading others is also a privilege, a gift and a learnt skill. Leaders have a big responsibility to take their teams on a journey and look after them / support them on it. It's not enough to lead a business - you lead people. Mentoring is an interesting one. I wouldn't be where I am without the wisdom, advice and support of people ahead of me. and yet so many people contact me wanting free advice / well-being advice. I have paid for many business coaches and mentors as I try to respect people's time and experience - there's a limit to what you can ask for free. The biggest thing I have learnt is that most of the journey is slow, takes time and there are no shortcuts to be picked up from people- you just have to do the work!

I am still learning every day. Thanks to the support of my partner Tom, I've recently started to think much more visionary - looking for the big picture (my tendency is always to get bogged down in detail). Once you have a clear vision of where your business needs to be, it's so much easier to bring on new team members. With regard to mentorship, I'd say it's kind of similar to what I've said about the imposter syndrome question - you don't have to teach your mentee everything. Just teach what you're passionate about (that's most likely going to be your biggest strength).

I have learned a lot from my father, who himself is a great public speaker and an entrepreneur too. He faced many challenges right from his childhood days, as he was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Some of the books, I read so far, are on the lives of Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Jack Ma, who have motivated me to a greater extent. I try my best to motivate my friends, brother, and cousins to do the things that they are best at.

The women I look up to most are those who support and nurture other women’s successes. I personally live by the famous Madeline Allbright quote “There is a special place in hell for women who do not help other women”. Being surrounded and supported by other amazing businesspeople is essential for leadership success and is a key ingredient when mentoring others.

Believe in them. To whoever is dedicating time and effort to your business, whether that is an employee or an external agency, they are using their energy and brainpower to help your business succeed. Show them the person who runs the brand is just a normal human, and allow them to connect and feel inspired in your presence.

A little contradictory but two underrated pieces of advice.. 1) The internet is a goldmine. Learn from the mistakes of others, and do your homework online. 2) What you read online is not necessarily the only way to do something. Talk to people, and get creative. There is no rule book in entrepreneurship – which is challenging for many people who have gone thru a traditional school to job route to embrace as we have been taught to learn the rules and pass a test.

I’ve recently been reading AI Superpowers by Kai Fu Lee. It’s not necessarily a book about women or female entrepreneurship – but it’s a stark reminder that 1) the world is changing and 2) there are different ways to do things than what has worked in the last few decades.