ABOUT

Tell us who you are!

I'm Sharan Dhaliwal (she/her), I'm 37 and I'm the founder of Burnt Roti magazine. I am also an author and journalist, director of Middlesex Pride and creator of event Oh Queer Cupid.

So what do you actually do?

I do a lot of everything.

I run Burnt Roti solely on my own, so I do...everything. All the social media, emails, website maintenance, editing, commissioning, event curation and cross brand campaign managements. Then on top of that, my writing and other events.

What has your career path been?

I've had many different jobs that have led to this moment - payroll, video producer, animator, ride attendant at Thorpe Park (not as fun as it sounds).

It wasn't until I hit my 30s that I felt the need to consolidate all those experiences into something that formed meaning to me. Burnt Roti isn't a money maker (I technically lose money every year), but it's what has helped me learn and teach others along the way.

Knowledge, I feel, builds empathy, which is more valuable than money.

What is the best part of your job?

There's nothing more stimulating than learning more within your niche field.

As a British Indian (Punjabi), there was a lot for me to learn about South Asian culture and it has only filled me with more wonder, curiosity and passion.

Why do you do your job?

There was no other South Asian culture magazine that I could relate to at the time, so needed something for my own comfort.

I then had to create queer spaces for myself too, which allowed communities of colour to feel validated.

One piece of advice for someone starting in your role?

Harness the skillset and knowledge from people around you.

No matter how hard it is, don't take criticism to heart if you're working with an underrepresented community - especially if you only represent a percentage of it - listening to others makes you and your business grow.

Check out Sharan’s socials below!

DAY IN THE LIFE

Every day is a different rollercoaster - there are no weekends, so I just work whenever I need to.

Interestingly, and unlike a lot of people who have started their own organisation, I don't have a structure that works for me. I create a new one each time I need to. A typical day is atypical - I may get something in for Burnt Roti, I may have an article to write, I may have space to create a new project or I may just need to reply to thousands of emails.

It's never boring and there's always someone in my inbox or on my phone teaching me or telling me something new. The unfortunate truth is that stress can cause lethargy, so there are days of doing the bare minimum and then days of doing everything all at once.

You can never tell until you wake up and open your laptop (or in my case, slowly open one eye in the morning and look at my emails on my phone).