Manisha is an investor, business owner, interior and design consultant. On this episode she talks to Marina about her journey to becoming a multi-million-pound entrepreneur, and how to build a 50k following on Instagram without showing your face!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• It’s taken me a long time to be able to say that I consider myself successful and I’m proud of my successes, but it’s come with a lot of hardship as well, it hasn’t been easy. But, as I walk through my house in the small of the night, I think to myself I can’t believe I’m here at 42 years old with my kids, happy, healthy, and I consider myself successful because of that.
• Looking back, I was really naïve and stupid and not academic at all, I went to one of the top girl’s schools in the country but always came at the bottom. It wasn’t until I fell out into the big, wide world and onto a graduate scheme at Barclays that I started to become more savvy in business and corporate land. Meeting my husband who was a teacher and so never going to be the bread-winner really egged me on to be ‘successful’.
• My Dad decided that, because I had loads of disposable income – he never asked for rent (I’m very privileged) – instead  of asking for money, he made me buy a property, renovate it and had my sister and her friends move in and pay me rent at market rate. After a couple of years the property had gone up in price so much they gave me a cheque for £100,000! With that I bought three more dilapidated ex-council properties, did them up and rented them out to graduates or students and property has been really fruitful for me.
• The only way to get out of the City was to get pregnant, I became indispensable and kept getting money thrown at me, so that’s what I did. But after a while I started to feel bored and needed to get back to work, but there were no nurseries to look after my children, so I set up my own nursery. That’s how the next chapter of my life unfolded and I never went back to the City.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Sometimes, when the reins are taken off children, they begin to flourish in their environment. I became much more studious at university.’
‘I did a lot of falling over.’
‘You need a side-hustle, something where you’re ticking along in a 9-5 job but you’re hustling on the side.’
‘Whenever I’m faced with adversity I have a flipping good cry and within 3 seconds I’m like: “No, this is not happening”.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Manisha is an Entrepreneur, Interior & Design Consultant, Self-Builder and highly addicted to being organised. 

From Banking, Management Consultancy, Property Development, Self Building her dream home and owning businesses in Day Nurseries and Consultancy, Manisha’s favourite job is organising her Tupperware drawer and belly-laughing at her own inappropriate PG posts on Instagram.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/write_to_manisha/

ABOUT THE PODCAST

Woman Self Made podcast brings you interviews with hugely successful women from all walks of life – world renowned business leaders, disruptive entrepreneurs, world class athletes, self-made multi-millionaires, entertainment and TV personalities. In these conversations we dive into their unique stories with an aim to deconstruct their secrets for success. We talk about their journeys, ups and down, while distilling along the way the habits, tools, tactics and tips, which you can learn and use.

So, grab your favourite drink and join us every Thursday for open conversations with the most inspiring women talking about building successful businesses, careers and living the lives of their dreams.

ABOUT THE HOST

Marina Bennett had a high-flying international career in strategy and finance, and in 2019 she decided to leave her £300k/year City job to take entrepreneurial plunge from scratch. She is now a multiple business owner on the way to her first 7 figures. Marina is also a founder of Woman. Self-made. (@womanselfmade.inc) - an online community of confident, ambitious women who want to achieve success and live the lives of their dreams.