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Dimple Tahiliani, 22, Head of Operations; Heena Tahiliani, 22, Head of Business Development, Arab India Spices
Tell us a little about yourself.
Heena: Dimple and I share a similar educational background. For high school, we went to Gems World Academy and received an IB diploma. Then we both graduated with a BBA, majoring in finance from the American University in Dubai. However, at university while pursuing a major in finance, I opted for international relations and decided to pursue a minor in politics. This additional qualification complemented my business and finance learnings besides improving my ability to think critically with larger perspectives.
When not at work, I enjoy working out, eating healthy and cooking. I also love reading, traveling, being outdoors and indulging in adventure sports.
What do you think defines you as a person and as a business head?
Dimple: As a business head, I look into the Horeca division and work towards improving the operation efficiency. We are focused on having a friendly work environment. I believe that employee satisfaction and recognition is key to growth. I am a very hands-on member in my team where my doors are open to any positive discussions or suggestions.
Growing up were you interested in pursuing the business?
Dimple: From a young age, I knew I wanted to carry the family legacy forward. My father would take me to the office every Friday, and although I would sit and watch him work, for the most part, I would always want to follow him. I walked around the mills with him and he would take me through the processes and tell how to differentiate the spices by quality, aroma, flavour etc. Once I began coming to office regularly, I started learning quicker and was assigned a few responsibilities. Over time and after gaining experience, I was made head of the company’s Horeca division recently. This challenge has been an encouragement. With the support of my father and his faith in me as a leader, I’ve been able to handle any task, issue and situation that has come my way.
Three business-related lessons that you picked up from your father/mother.
Heena: The most important lesson I learned from my father is patience. When I joined the business, I wanted immediate results. However, he taught me that nothing sustainable ever comes overnight. He taught me the values of team building and working progressively.
The second has been to take up new challenges and learn from failures. Our father has always encouraged new ideas, sometimes even radical ones. He treats us like assets to the company. Now I treat my team members as our assets which allows them to thrive in an environment where they can learn, grow, sharpen risk taking abilities and learn from their failures. As long as your risks and failures teach you something, to me, it isn’t a failure at all. At the least, you learn what works for your company and what doesn’t.
My mother has instilled in us the ability to trust and communicate with each other. Working In a family business can be stressful so it’s important to be open, transparent and honest with each other. Only when we trust each other can we find a way to work through uncomfortable and tough situations.
A difficult issue/problem you faced and how you tackled it.
Dimple: Initially, I didn’t understand how to balance my work and personal life. I was taking too much stress and overexerting myself. I knew I had to schedule my days better to juggle so many things that were going on. I now make sure to take some time for myself every night where I listen to podcasts on topics that interest me or I meditate to help me unwind from a stressful day at work.
One thing you would like to change in your company.
Heena: I admire the framework that my father has built. However, as a woman that believes in woman empowerment, if there’s one thing I could change within the company it would be to have a balanced mix in our workforce and we are working towards it. I believe that diversity and the co-existence of men and women will lead to more innovation and creativity within the company. Women worldwide also influence around 80% of purchase decisions which makes it even more important to make sure that the employees represent its client base and provide a diverse and more accurate knowledge on the consumers preferences, especially more so in the retail space within the FMCG industry, which is the division I’m currently heading within the company.
What do you think is your strength? And your weakness?
Dimple: My strength is that I stay focused as a problem solver in any situation; my weakness would be that I can sometimes get overly critical of myself.
An important lesson life has taught you?
Dimple: To always be grateful and grounded and to never take your successes for granted.
Inheriting a business comes with a baggage of expectations. How do you deal with that?
Heena: The shoes are undoubtedly big to fill. However, any expectation is my motivation. Meeting those expectations and excelling in them, is much more rewarding personally. What Dimple and I are dealing with today are relatively new business verticals within the company and we are very confident to take these to higher heights in due course.
