Please forward this to ONE Canadian immigrant today and tell them to subscribe here.
Abhishek Asthana is a business and operations leader with 20+ years experience in building reliable systems, leading teams, and driving performance across industries from enterprise technology to food manufacturing. He is a key part of the leadership team at Shivani’s Kitchen, a fast-growing Canadian CPG brand bringing authentic Indian flavours to mainstream retail.
Chapters
0:00 Before COVID
0:39 Intro
2:21 Build a business in Canada
4:25 How Shivani's Kitchen started
6:50 Opening the restaurant
10:57 Facing racism at the farmers market
13:41 Leaving home makes the risk easier
20:27 From spices to sauces to paneer
27:58 The mistakes that taught them everything
38:30 What the restaurant years cost his family
45:40 The book of questions
48:16 Outro
Takeaways
A big retailer saying yes can feel like the finish line when it's only the beginning of a long, hard journey. I kinda understand the rush, especially because as immigrants, it always feels like we are running against the clock. But keep in mind that the drive and hunger that got you those opportunities can also make you skip the boring homework you need to succeed.
The reason a lot of us overwork is that immigrating already put us behind, or feels like it did (I mean I feel like I have a lot of catching up to do). But I am beginning to wonder if that same need to make it up and get back to some semblance of who you were before immigrating also takes away our evenings and children and families. We tell ourselves it's for the family, right up until the family is the thing we miss the most. Worth mulling over.
Links
Where to find Abhishek:
The Newcomers resources
Want to work with us? Check out The Newcomers Media Kit.
Want more immigrant interviews? Listen to The Newcomers Podcast.
Looking to find out what Canadian immigration program you’re eligible for? Check out our Who’s Eligible For series.
Do you know anyone who would find this information useful? Please forward it.
Was this email forwarded to you? Join our mailing list.