Immigrants Building Companies

“Most people think founders have to sacrifice themselves.” James says that belief can make you successful, but broken. In this episode, I sit down with James - who once lived overseas building businesses as “the only foreigner in the room”, scaled a company 40x in three years, and later scaled a family recruitment business to 88 people across five countries before selling it in 2020. We talk about...

Your stress isn’t just “in your head”, it’s built into your environment. In this episode, Karina Valencia breaks down how the spaces we live and work in quietly shape our sleep, stress, energy, and long-term health and why the “fix” isn’t more biohacking… it’s rebuilding the fundamentals. What you’ll take from this conversation: Why passport/visa limbo can delay your dream and how she used that ti...

She survived a collapsing healthcare system, a rejected US visa, political turmoil, and a pandemic that nearly killed her and still built three companies from scratch. In this extraordinary episode, Jasmine Sayyari shares her journey from medical doctor in Iran to UK tech founder, community builder, and Inspiring 50 award winner. She takes us inside the fear of working through COVID with no PPE or...

What if being “delusional” is the only reason he made it? In this raw and revealing episode, Tobi Oluwole shares how he built his life with intention, storytelling, and a level of delusion he believes every successful immigrant needs. From moving across continents to quitting Shopify the day after buying a house, to generating over 300 million impressions on LinkedIn, Tobi explains the mindset, st...

She grew up in a war zone, arrived in London with nothing, and built one of the UK’s most exciting female-led creative agencies. Tijana Tamburic, co-founder and CEO of Female Narratives, shares her extraordinary immigrant journey, from bunk beds and burnout to building campaigns for global brands like Bumble and Merell. This is a story of resilience, hustle, and redefining success on your own term...

What if the outfits you wore once could have another life and save you money while saving the planet? Anoli Mathur, founder and CEO of Circular Threads , shares her incredible journey from management consulting at EY to creating the UK’s fastest growing platform for pre-loved South Asian clothing. From the struggles of cultural identity growing up in London to spotting a gap in the wedding fashion...

He never worked for anyone. And he doesn’t regret a single failure. Harris Cheng, co-founder and CEO of Jupitrr, takes us on an inspiring journey from photographer to entrepreneur, breaking down barriers and disrupting the content creation space with AI. From his roots in Hong Kong to building companies in Toronto and London, Harris reflects on the mindset shift that led him to create a platform t...

What’s the future of cybersecurity in a world where quantum tech is transforming everything? In this episode, Wenmiao Yu takes us through her journey from Singapore to the UK, from growing up in a highly competitive education system to pioneering the use of quantum technology in cybersecurity. Key Takeaways: Cultural Shifts: Moving from Singapore to the UK and how it shaped her view of resilience...

Bobbie King never planned to become an entrepreneur. She never even planned to move to the UK. But a cancelled project, a packed suitcase, and a leaky ceiling changed everything. In this raw and deeply honest conversation, Bobbie shares how she went from a Romanian mountain village to becoming the CEO and co-founder of SquepTech, a competency intelligence platform transforming high-risk industries...

They copied his idea. So he dressed as a burglar and went to war. This is the extraordinary story of Giuseppe, the immigrant founder behind Gusto Snacks, a sustainable snack brand born from food waste and bootstrapped with grit. When a major UK retailer copied his product, he didn’t hire lawyers. He went guerrilla. In this raw, unfiltered conversation, Giuseppe shares how heartbreak turned into hu...

She quit her job. Got divorced. Started again with nothing. And built something extraordinary. In this episode, we sit down with Cien Solon, immigrant founder, ex-product lead in fintech, and now CEO of Launch Lemonade, a no-code AI agent marketplace empowering a new generation of entrepreneurs. Her journey spans continents, heartbreaks, reinventions, and ultimately, impact. Cien opens up about: H...

He lost all his revenue overnight. What he did next changed everything. Juan, a Venezuelan-born entrepreneur, joins us to share an unfiltered, deeply human journey through immigration, identity, failure, and reinvention. From sleeping in small towns to falling in love with London’s chaos and possibility, Juan reveals the emotional cost of building and rebuilding in the middle of uncertainty. In th...

You’re not losing deals because your product sucks. You’re losing because you’re too slow, too manual and your buyer moved on. In today’s episode, I sat down with Erdem Gelal, the CEO and co-founder of Flowla, a company quietly transforming how sales teams operate after the discovery call. From building sexy music startups to selling an unsexy B2B marketplace, Erdem's journey is anything but o...

In this powerful episode of Immigrants Building Companies, Asim sits down with Sonakshi, co-founder of YourCue, a groundbreaking healthtech startup reshaping how we monitor patient vitals and respond to emergencies across the UK and developing nations like India. From her journey as a first-time international student in Manchester to founding a medical-grade device company targeting cardiac arrest...

In this episode, South-African-born Chris shares how a lifetime of competitive sport and four international moves, shaped his mission to improve employee wellbeing worldwide. Raised in Cape Town, Chris left home at 18 on a golf scholarship in rural Arkansas, trained with Ironman pros in Boulder, and finally relocated to London in 2021, navigating red-list travel bans, an ancestry visa and a 10-day...

In this powerful episode of Immigrants Building Companies, we sit down with Arnold, co-founder of Unbound – a preventative health startup with a mission to help people live longer, healthier lives. Arnold shares his deeply personal journey: from growing up across multiple African countries as a Third Culture Kid, to navigating the corporate world at Goldman Sachs, and ultimately finding his callin...

What happens when you've built success, earned accolades, and led a thriving business only to move countries and have to start from scratch? In this episode, Sydney Scott-Sam, founder and CEO of Workspace Global, shares a deeply raw and human story of identity, rejection, resilience, and reinvention. He unpacks the struggle of being an outsider, the reality of racial and cultural navigation, and w...

How do you carve out a sense of belonging when you’ve never really had one place to call home? In this episode, we sit down with Imii founder Jane Fisher, a self-described “forever immigrant” who grew up in Japan with Russian parents, found home in multicultural London, and is now building a tech platform that helps newcomers integrate faster and thrive. We dive into: - What it means to be a third...

Raj grew up as one of the only Sri-Lankan Tamil kids in a small English town—caught between curry at home and fish-and-chips at school, always questioning where he fit. That outsider lens never left; it simply sharpened into a founder’s advantage. Fast-forward: he’s the co-founder of Hytro, the first wearable blood-flow-restriction (BFR) technology trusted by England Rugby, NFL franchises, and (ye...

What happens when one impulsive decision changes the course of generations? In this inspiring episode, we sit down with Laura Notaro, founder of Synergy Immigration Solutions, to explore how personal upheaval, cultural identity, and entrepreneurial grit led her to become a powerful force in UK immigration. From quitting her job and falling in love just days before a major trip, to launching a busi...

Twelve years ago, Elisabetta arrived in London with a one-way ticket, barely speaking English, armed only with courage and a desire to build something meaningful. Today, she’s the founder of Mint and Lemon, a fast-growing agency helping founders turn their personal brands into powerful business tools. In this deeply personal conversation, Asim reconnects with the very first guest of his podcast, n...

What happens when failure isn’t an option? In this episode, we sit down with Deepak Ravindran, co-founder and former CEO of Oddbox, the trailblazing UK startup transforming the way we think about food waste, sustainability, and the meaning of success. From investment banking in Canary Wharf to becoming the face of one of the UK’s most loved D2C brands, Deepak shares how fear of failure, immigrant...

In this raw and powerful conversation, Zaahirah Adam, founder of Hati, the dating app challenging swipe culture opens up about the experiences that shaped her: childhood trauma, immigrant identity, and the loneliness that followed. She shares how surviving adversity led her to build a platform that prioritises genuine human connection over mindless matching. From being one move away from homelessn...

In this deeply personal and candid episode, Shoaib takes us through the emotional and inspiring journey that transformed his relationship with self-expression, culture, and career. From initial anxiety about sharing his voice publicly on LinkedIn to finding confidence, joy, and a sense of purpose, Shoaib reveals how embracing vulnerability reshaped his perspective. He opens up about his family&#39...

Kanu didn’t just move countries, she left comfort, career security, and the Singapore skyline behind to tackle one of the most urgent crises today: youth mental health. In this unfiltered conversation, Kanu, founder of Speak, shares how growing up in India, witnessing addiction in her family, and studying at LSE shaped her mission to rewire how we support young people in distress. From self-harm t...