Solomon Ian-Sangala

My story began when I experienced a lot of bullying throughout school years. I was bullied (physically and verbally), about my skin colour and stammer. I made two terrible mistakes: one was fighting back which ended up in me getting excluded a few times; and the other, considering committing suicide. Not only did the bullying deteriorate, but I had also been branded around school by many as the "fool". So irrationally, I believed them. I did more ludicrous things and as a result, was excluded more times. Life was not going great outside of school either; growing up in a South London Estate, trouble was never far away; gangs, were becoming common. My school report came one day reading, "Solomon is often very disruptive, talking to much and I’m afraid that the harsh reality is, he simply wont make a living in life talking.” That was my inspiration to get out and prove everyone wrong! I started to comprehend that having a bad background does not mean one’s back shall always be on the ground. Subsequently I decided to use the bullying and all I had encountered, to inspire young people into being better people.

In secondary school, I noticed an opportunity to enter the food market; so I spent my lunch money buying sweets from the local shops to sell at school for a profit. I sacrificed lunch until students realised who I was and stopped bullying me. I first invested £2 and made £4, then invested £4 and made £8 and so on. I kept doing this for months until I was making £1000's of pounds. This was my first venture and it was at this point that I decided to go into the business world. When I was 14, miraculously, I met Kevin Patrick, an entrepreneur with a similar story to mine, I helped promote his two businesses, Label Noire (a clothing brand), becoming their top salesman within a matter of weeks and Team Tops, (Specialists in designing and producing high quality printed and embroidered clothing).

Today, running various ventures and mentoring young people feels amazing!