Today we are talking to Ramona Gohil, a clever and passionate girl. Ramona is the founder of Rani&Co a fashion and jewellery brand she created to encourage women to be confident and realise their capabilities. Feminism is at the core of Rani&Co with a selection of well-thought slogan tees, beautiful jewellery and a founder with a strong will. Ramona is not only an entrepreneur but she has a 9-5 in marketing and runs a blog which makes her the ultimate feminist.
This episode is for every girl who is wondering what entrepreneurship looks like as a young woman and how you juggle between the requirements of a business while working full-time. So enjoy!
On her studies background and the beginnings of Rani&Co…
To be honest, I have always been creative. Art and creativity have always been my passion and I wanted to do art at university but, my parents said no. They told me to do something more stable which I think was fair enough so I did accounting and finance. But I don’t regret it because it was such a useful degree and it really helped me for my business. Eventhough I am quite good at analytics it is not something that I love so Rani&Co allows to do what I actually love. I knew that one day I wanted to be a businesswoman because that’s how I envisioned myself and I’ve always looked up to business women, strong women so I thought I’d start a business when I’ll be around 30 and married with kids but I started when I was 24 so that was my surprise.
My mom and dad have their own dental practice, so they are business people and I do admire them for that. I don’t really know where that come from [wanting to be a business woman]. I think my mom is a really strong person and so is my gran so I think I’ve always looked up to both of them and it influenced me in the person I am today.
On the skills she lacked when started Rani&Co and the challenges of starting a brand…
Eventhough I did finance and accounting at university – which is a business degree – I felt that I wasn’t really business-minded and I found my degree really tough. I wouldn’t have passed if it wasn’t for my coursemates but I didn’t let that get in the way.
When I started Rani&Co, I was so obsessed with it that I started reading business books like Rich Dad Poor Dad, How To Be An Overnight Success and I started researching about my favourite business women like Huda Kattan and how they started their brand. It helped me understand how business and successful people think.
The author of How To Be An Overnight Success actually started a skincare brand called Nip+Fab. She had no previous skincare experience but she now has a global brand so I thought if she can do it so can I. She also comes from a finance background.
I also didn’t have a lot of knowledge about manufacturing clothes. So when I came out with the idea of a fashion brand I was like “cool but where do I start?” So then I used Google to literally research everything because you know everything is on internet now. I actually think we are lucky to live in such an era where you can find everything you need on internet. I didn’t know anything about fashion, I did my research step by step and it was actually easier than I thought. All you need to do is just do your research.
On how she manages to be a business owner, a blogger and working full-time…
I don’t know I just do it to be honest. I can’t sit still, I always have to be doing something and I I think that’s because from a very young age I’ve always been involved in a lot of activities. At school, I was playing 10 different sports and I was in 6 sport teams and on the side of doing this I was doing piano. I love keeping busy.To be honest, for my blog and my business I love doing both of them so making time for them isn’t difficult.
Before work, I wake up early and I reply to emails and talk to suppliers if I have to. And I usually bring my laptop during lunch break and then after work, I’ll go to the gym and then once I come home I work on my business or the blog some more and I usually have Netflix on the background to chill out a bit. Then, I always allocate a day in a weekend – which is usually Sundays for photography or creating new recipes for my blog.
But I think it’s cool the more I work for my blog, the more opportunities I have for my business. None of them actually feel like work!
On why she decided to create a brand around feminism and how the slogan tee trend serves her purpose…
I’ve always loved slogan tees. I think it’s such a great way to express someone’s beliefs and values without having them to say anything. Because my brand is based on feminism, it’s actually the perfect way to express it. When I see these tops with these slogans like “girlgang” and “females of the future” and so on, to me this isn’t actually what feminism is about. To me, it’s about gender equality. So yes, a part of that has to do with women empowerment but I feel like these kind of tops suggest that women are better than men and that’s not true. I think that’s why men are so afraid to call themselves feminists and they think that feminism is purely a women’s movement so I wanted to create slogans around the true meaning of feminism. But I wanted to do it in a subtle and non-aggressive way. I started researching quotes from women I look up to and who are feminists themselves like Maya Angelou, Rosa Parks and Beyoncé because I wanted to create something that women can relate to and feel strong and powerful in so when they put one of my tops they can say “you know what, I am just as good as Beyoncé and Rosa Parks and I can achieve anything”. Each slogan has its own story and that’s what I love about this brand.
On the process of finding suppliers and her criteria of selection…
It took a little bit longer than I thought. I literally googled ‘printing companies in the UK’ and talked to lots of suppliers. I was constantly emailing them. It was especially difficult talking to suppliers in other countries because of the time difference. I had to wake up early before work to email them before their workday finished. It was also challenging when the supplier couldn’t understand my English and I couldn’t understand theirs.
I also had one supplier from Pakistan who told me he could manufacture my clothing for a really good price, we talked, I sent him the money and he just disappeared. He just ran off with my money! Luckily it wasn’t too much but I knew that if I want to start a business I have to be prepared to hiccups so let’s be cool about it.
When I’m looking for a supplier, I’m looking for someone who comunicates quickly, manufacture clothes and jewellery quickly and who is straight to the point. I had a lot of suppliers who would take days or weeks to respond and it wasn’t good enough because if I needed more supply quickly I couldn’t rely on them.
Finally Ramona’s advice on side-hustling…
First thing I would say is just go for it! Lots of people are afraid to start a business because they think they lack knowledge or they are scared of investing money in it for the possibility of it not working. But you never know unless you’ve tried. I know when people start they are afraid of investing but money comes and goes. When I started this business, I was on a minimum wage job and it took me months just to save up £2000. I just invested all of it in Rani&Co. Just because you invested all your money in your business, it doesn’t mean you will never make another penny for the rest of your life. There is always way to make money, you literally just have to go for it.
Another thing I would say that might sound a little bit weird, if you have a business idea keep it to yourself first or tell it to people who really support you. I think where a lot of people go wrong is telling it to their whole family and friends, then people start questioning your idea. They start asking about competition, if it’s going to work and where you’re going to get your money from and then you start doubting yourself. That’s when your idea starts loosing momentum and people don’t go actually for what they are going for.
Another important thing is to read business books because they really help. They help you to understand the mindset of a business and they are really inspiring for people who’ve just started their businesses. It helped me realise a lot of entrepreneurs go through the same.
I hope this episode gave you a great overview of what entrepreneurship is and that Ramona’s story inspired you.
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Such an inspiring story! Ramona’s journey of balancing a full-time job and running a fashion brand is truly motivating.