Despite just joining a new sixth form, and trying to cope with the stress and workload of A-levels, Gauri Prabhakar has risen to the challenge of leading a Young Enterprise team in managing a company selling real products for competition.  

 

Gauri Prabhakar is a 16-year-old student of economics, maths, geography, and chemistry at the Tiffin school for girls, and is currently Managing Director of the Young Enterprise company, Aurum. Young Enterprise London is an educational scheme for students who wish to gain knowledge, skills, and practical experience in business and entrepreneurialism. Those involved with the scheme undertake designing products and marketing them to others, whilst still juggling the pressures and workload of school. Presently, Aurum sells locally sourced, vegan friendly, cruelty free soy-wax candles with an impressive promise of a 45-hour burn time. The profits from these candles will go towards creating another original product that will go up against others in competition. 

 

Gauri was interested in applying for the role of Managing Director of the company because she has a great interest in business, and hopes to study economics and management at university. Her work at Young Enterprise has also allowed her to gain real life experience in managing a business and solving the many problems that arise. Gauri has become adept at switching between schoolwork and working with her team at creating, distributing, and selling their products. As managing director, Gauri’s role involves chairing team meetings, delegating and overseeing work to her team of 25 students, and communicating with the team about issues with the project.  

 

This role is not without its challenges. A key issue for Gauri is designing a core product for the company that will be created using the profits from Aurum’s candles - she emphasized this was a significant challenge for the team as often “it’s difficult to come up with an original idea which aids in the values we want to have,” by this she refers to one of the company’s focuses on a sustainable product that brings attention to the climate crisis facing the world currently. Another challenge facing Gauri was the fact that she became Director of her Young Enterprise team just weeks after joining the sixth form! Because of this, it has been somewhat difficult for Gauri to get to know everyone well enough on a personal level to lead them in such a short space of time but she still maintains that she has felt welcomed by the group and finds the pressures of her new role can be well-managed and she believes these challenges will be easily overcome as long as she stays confident and communicates well with her team. In addition, running the company has been very enjoyable according to Gauri, who has said “my favorite part was seeing our product sell successfully and satisfy consumer needs” and she appreciates being able to make her own decisions and having independence with her team, so this freedom has helped her connect with the team and reflect their ideas in the products they create. 

 

From my interview with Gauri, I have been given an insight into the demanding role of company Director that she balances with the stress of studying four A-levels, as well as multiple extra-curriculars like her role as school Prefect and her hobby of Bollywood dancing outside of school. She manages all of these with excellent poise and modesty, and acts as an excellent role model for all students struggling to cope with the demands of school.