My life as a serial entrepreneur began in middle school. I bought candy in bulk at a local wholesale club, sold it at retail, and reimbursed my mother who financed the operation. Later, I sold designer handbags, co-founded a music streaming start-up, and opened a fast-food franchise in Washington Heights, New York City.

Though I majored in finance and economics at Fordham University, these real-world experiences provided me with invaluable insights into running a business. After serving as Vice President of Madison Realty Corporation, I joined the family business, Krazy Kat Sportswear. By day, I worked alongside my father, Bansi Lakhani. By night, I oversaw the franchise, receiving deliveries at 3 a.m.

In hindsight, my biggest failure was operating the restaurant. I rushed into it during an economic downturn to mitigate issues with the family business without firsthand exposure to the sector. I learned more from this mistake than from my successes.

In 2009, my father and I diversified the business to include medical uniforms. We called this new brand Healing Hands Scrubs, and I became the CEO in 2010. I immersed myself in every aspect of the business — sales, design, finance, operations, and sourcing. We drove ten years of explosive growth and achieved outsized results, culminating in the acquisition of the company by Careismatic Brands in 2020. I became Chief Operating Officer of this global leader in medical apparel in 2022.

As a leader, I provide strategic vision, build and motivate teams to execute, and generate profitability through top-line growth and efficiencies. I forge deep relationships with my associates, creating connection and a sense of shared purpose that is rare in corporate settings. Our goal is to achieve abundance, thereby enabling us to help our own community as well as the world at large.

First, we need to make a profit. And then we must ask ourselves, “Why? What is the purpose behind it?”