Dhwani Thakrar is a Co-Manager and E Commerce Manager at Ladlee Direct. Ladlee is an Asian clothing business specializing in occasion wear for men women and children. The business is located at the heart of the Golden Mile in Leicester and was established by her parents, Mahesh and Kiran Thakrar in 1992. She works alongside her parents and siblings jointly run the business whilst being based in London. Since 2010, they have launched their clothing busines onto an online e commerce platform. They are well established in the European market and they are looking to expand their Global presence in the coming years.
She is a first generation British Asian and was born in Leicester in 1991 to her parents from Indian and Tanzania. Dhwani completed her studies at Aston University in Birmingham and graduated with BSc International Business and Management. In 2015, she went onto to work on a graduate scheme at Diageo Plc in commercial sales and marketing.
1.Which place, or city or country do you most feel at home in?
As someone who was born and raised in Leicester and now living in London, I feel most at home whenever I go back to see my friends and family in Leicester. I move between the two cities often and enjoy different aspects of both.
2. What are your proudest achievements?
My proudest achievement was completing my BSc International Business and Management in 2013. I studied in Birmingham at Aston University.
3. What inspires you?
I am inspired by the amazing family role models in my life. I come from a family business going back many generations in India. I enjoy having conversations related to strong work ethic with my parents who came to the UK in the late 80’s.
4. What has been biggest obstacle in your career?
I work on the Ladlee ecommerce platform whilst being based in London. Travelling between Leicester and London regularly, has by far been the biggest challenge in my career. With the help of digital platforms such as Zoom, I have found myself to overcome this challenge in recent months.
5. Who has been the biggest influence on your career to date?
My parents have been the biggest influence in my career. I knew from a young age, that I wanted to study Business and Management. As a first generation British Asian, I am the first of my family to have earned a degree and this is something which I am very proud of.
6. What is the best aspect about your current role?
I enjoy the digital marketing aspect of my role as it is constantly changing to suit the needs of the consumer. I spend my free time listening to podcasts and online seminars on the subject and apply it to my role.
7. And the worst?
I don’t have a ‘worst’, aspect to my role, as I see every unwelcomed challenge as a learning lesson to better my skills and personal growth.
8. What are your long-term goals?
In the future, myself and my brothers wish to expand the online business to a wider and more global audience. We are working towards it and only hope to grow in the coming years.
9. If you were Prime Minister, what one aspect would you change?
I would introduce a scheme to help retail stores. The scheme mentioned by Mr Sunak was favourable for the hospitality and tourism industry. However, the retail industry employs and generates as much as these industries and I feel more could be done to help businesses like ourselves in these circumstances.
10. If you were marooned on a desert island, which historical figure would you like to spend your time with and why?
The recent Black Live Matters campaign has been really inspiring. I would love to meet Barack Obama and discuss these issues with him. During, his time as US President he emphasised the need of equality and inspired me and the world. Therefore, it would be a dream to meet him.
