Often, creating a successful business and making a positive difference in the world can seem like two incompatible goals. But there are lots of examples of entrepreneurs who are building brands and turning profits, all while fighting the good fight.
One of these individuals is 53-year-old Mona Shah from Cambridgeshire who, along with her husband and son, founded Harry Specters – a luxury chocolate brand that aims to improve the lives of people on the autism spectrum.
We sat down with Mona to speak about the inspiration behind the company and how they made it a reality.
“When Ash was almost three years old, he was diagnosed with autism”
Born and raised in Dubai, Mona moved to Pakistan when she was 18 and married Shaz two years later. Then, in 1991, she gave birth to her daughter, Mina – and seven years after that, the pair welcomed their second child, Ash.
“When Ash was almost three years old,” Mona says, “he was diagnosed with autism. That was the first time we’d really heard anything about autism. The internet wasn’t a thing back then, so we had no clue. The only representation we had was the film ‘Rain Man’, and that’s not a proper reflection of what autistic people are like.
“After the diagnosis, there was a lot of reading up and trying to find therapists, and unfortunately, our family experienced a lot of discrimination in Pakistan at the time. Professionals weren’t always professional and there was a tendency to blame parents – particularly mothers.
“Then there was the religious side of things; some people believed I must have committed some sort of sin, and that I needed to pray to God for forgiveness. But those things didn’t tie in with our beliefs. We didn’t see Ash as a punishment. We thought, ‘this is somebody who has a disability and we need to try and do what’s best for him.’”
Mona explains that she and Shaz did their best to make things work for their family in Pakistan. Although, after experiencing difficulties with finding a school and a therapist that would accept Ash, they decided to emigrate…
“Because Ash couldn’t speak until he was almost six, he would do things like flap his hands when he was excited or run over to other kids. And parents would call them away, saying, ‘Come over here, he’s mad.’
“I thought, he doesn’t understand what ‘mad’ is right now, but once he does, it’s really going to affect his mental health and self-esteem. So it was at the peak of my frustration that I decided we had to go.”
“This was our last resort; the one thing we could do to change Ash’s life”
After making the decision to move countries, it was now up to Mona and Shaz to decide where they would go. Mona explains, “We tried Canada first because we have friends and relatives there – we also tried Australia and New Zealand. They each said, ‘You’re welcome, your daughter is welcome, but your son isn’t.’
With no friends or family here, the UK was Mona and Shaz’s last port of call. And after their previous experiences, they weren’t exactly optimistic.
Mona says, “There was nothing on the visa and immigration paperwork about autism. I was looking at the fine print thinking, there must be something somewhere. But there wasn’t, and we were invited for an interview at the embassy.
“While we were there, Ash started flapping his hands and making noise. I’d begin to sing and pretend that we were just singing along together. I was terrified that they’d notice him, say ‘You didn’t disclose this,’ and reject our application. That interview was our last resort; the one thing we could do to change Ash’s life. It was desperation at that point.”
“But when Shaz came out and said, ‘We got the visa.’ That was the happiest day!”
“We thought, maybe we should start something of our own, not just for Ash but for others too”
As an electrical engineer with a master’s degree, it wasn’t long before Shaz secured a job in High Wycombe, a market town an hour outside of London. He travelled ahead to the UK in March of 2006 to get settled, with Mona and the children following in August.
In the next few years, Mona joined an autism support group, enrolled Ash in a special needs school, and eventually moved the whole family up to Cambridge for Shaz’s work.
With Ash looked after during the day, she even found time to volunteer for a handful of mental health charities, which eventually led to a job with the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, where she worked for over four years. This was another big step for Mona as, between parenting and working towards her business degree, she’d never had the time to hold down a job.
But, despite all the good things that were happening during this time, there was still one thing that was weighing heavy on the Shah’s minds…
Mona says, “I remember the National Autistic Society had these statistics at the time that said something like 85% of autistic people are unemployed. So I was thinking, Ash’s in education and we’ve achieved that sort of normalcy, but once he leaves school, then what?”
“I went onto the hospital autism wards with my work and saw that they were a mess. I couldn’t help but think, what if Ash ends up here? If he doesn’t have a job, he might end up anxious and depressed. It was all negative thoughts.
“But at the time, we were very happy job-wise and money-wise. We were completely settled. So we thought, maybe we should start something of our own, not just for Ash but for others with autism too.”
The eureka moment
While Mona and Shaz knew that they wanted to start something to help autistic people find employment, at first, they weren’t sure what it was they would do. It was important to Mona that whatever they did was varied enough to include as many different people on the autism spectrum as possible.
But as it happens, it was a family trip coupled with one of Mona’s lifelong passions that proved to be the keys to unlocking the inspiration they needed.
She says, “I’ve always had a sweet tooth and I’m a self-taught baker. If we had an event at one of the kid’s schools, I’d bake something and take it in – cookies, brownies, cakes. Lots of them were chocolate-based, I loved working with chocolate, but I’d never actually made it.”
So on a trip to Scotland in 2011, the Shah family visited the famous Iain Burnett Highland Chocolatier’s shop in Grandtully, which inspired Mona to enrol in a two-day chocolate-making course with the Academy of Chocolate.
It was during this course that she had her “eureka moment”. Not only was this something she was passionate about, but it was also something that autistic people of all different abilities could get involved with.
“We didn’t know what to call it, so we asked Ash and he said, ‘Call it Harry Specters’”
So Mona and Shaz got to work and started a pilot operation in a tiny workshop in the back of their house. Mona would take her homemade chocolates into work, where she found a willing test audience, and before long, the Trust was placing orders with her.
However, it wasn’t just the chocolate side of things that they began testing. They also had to assess whether or not their new venture could be a feasible source of employment for autistic people of all abilities.
Mona says, “I got Ash and his friends to help out with all the truffles and packing and folding the boxes. We were trying to work out how many jobs different people could do. Because not everyone can become a chocolatier. You can’t have 20 chocolatiers, and people have different capabilities and skills.”
Once Mona and Shaz decided that their business model was viable, Mona applied for a school for social entrepreneurs funded by Lloyds Bank, which involved a one-year course and a start-up grant. “The application was like a Dragon’s Den-type thing,” Mona says. “So we went in and pitched our company – and we got it!”
With some funding secured, the pair felt confident getting started on their entrepreneurial journey. And in November 2012, they registered their company.
“We didn’t know what to call it, so we asked Ash and he said, ‘Call it Harry Specters.’ It was just something he came up with, but we thought it was catchy and there’s a story behind it. After all, the company is for him, so it should be a name that he’s come up with.”
“Seeing the bars on the shelves was a wow moment for us”
Over the next decade, what started as a tiny project in the back of Mona and Shaz’s house became a thriving company from both an entrepreneurial and social perspective.
In 2014, Harry Specters took top prize in The Guardian’s best social enterprise Easter egg competition. And last year, they were crowned one of the winners of Aldi’s Next Big Thing – a show on Channel 4 where British brands compete to secure a supply contract with the retailer.
Mona says, “Winning Aldi’s Next Big Thing was a big achievement for our 10th year because we had only sold online and to corporate partners. It was crazy publicity and it helped to get the story out there. Seeing the bars on the shelves in the supermarket was also a wow moment for us – the whole team went out and took pictures.”
“Autistic people have so much to offer”
While these achievements are undoubtedly impressive, the social cause has remained the beating heart of Harry Specters.
In fact, over the past 10 years, they’ve provided employment to nearly 400 autistic people, whether it be temporary, permanent, full-time, or part-time.
Out of their 10-12 person team, just Mona, Shaz, and their packing supervisor are neurotypical. The other seven to nine employees are autistic, some of which have been with them for as long as five years, including a pool of trained workers that they call on during busy seasons like Christmas and Easter.
Mona says, “autistic people have so much to offer, but their self-esteem can be very low. Most of our staff were bullied in school and then struggled to find work when they left.”
In Mona’s opinion, one of the main hurdles that those on the autism spectrum face when looking for work is formal interviews. Many autistic people experience communication difficulties, and this can make hiring processes (which are typically designed with neurotypical individuals in mind) challenging.
“We don’t do formal interviews at Harry Specters. Instead, we get students in from schools and assess them during work experience. We move them across different jobs and see where their skills lie. Then, if they’re good, we’ll say, come after college and do a couple of hours of paid work.
“For many of the people who come to us, this is the first time they’ve had proper pay. We even had someone who was doing unpaid work experience somewhere for two years before they came to us. His attitude was – I don’t think I’m good enough to get paid. But then he came here and became a chocolatier. I remember one of the first times we paid someone, their mum was in tears.”
As Mona explains, although she tries to hold onto her chocolatiers, who she spends a great deal of time training, she likes to think of her business as an “incubator”. By this, she means that it’s somewhere individuals on the autism spectrum can come, get some experience, transferable skills, and confidence, and then move on. Previous employees have moved onto roles at a wide range of companies – from KFC to Sainsbury’s to Amazon.
“You have to be really determined, with thick skin and perseverance”
While it’s undoubtedly been a successful 10 years for Harry Specters, both in its entrepreneurial and social aims, the ride certainly hasn’t been all easy.
Mona says, “There are so many things that a business degree prepares you for, but there are also so many things that it doesn’t. It doesn’t teach you how to handle sleepless nights worrying about your company, or what to do when a supplier lets you down.
“And, of course, when you’re running a social enterprise, it’s not all about profits. It’s not about making cold and calculated business decisions. It’s a very fine tightrope that you’re walking – balancing your social cause and making sure your business survives because no one’s going to benefit if your business fails.
For those looking to start a business, whether it be one with a social cause or not, Mona has this to say…
“You have to be really determined, with thick skin and perseverance. It’s not easy. And if you have a social cause, it needs to be something that you care very very deeply about, because that will keep you going.”