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This Life: The rough with the smooth
Jaz Rander, 52, owns Mirage beauty salon on Roundhay Road in Leeds and is about to open another salon in Manchester. For 20 years she ran her own clothes manufacturing business in the city.
I was taken out of school and sent to work in the family factory when I was 16, and then taken to India and married when I was 17 so no one expected me to be doing what I am doing now. It has been hard work, but I want to be able to pass something on to my sons.
I lived in India for a year and then we moved to Germany. I liked living there, there were good employment rules so the hours were not too long, but then I lost my son, and I lost heart. I carried him the full nine months but then his heart stopped beating. We came back to Leeds and I started working in the family business as a machinist again.
I knew the family business would go to my brothers so I wanted a business of my own. I gave my brothers a year's notice and then I started my own clothes manufacturing company in partnership with my sister. It was very unusual for Sikh women to do that in those days. By then I was 29 and had my two sons, Vishal and Parshant. I ran the business for 20 years but it was a very big responsibility and in the end I gave it up. Now my youngest son works in the beauty business with me and my oldest son is in investment banking.
I am most proud of surviving through all the rough times. I don't dwell on what I have lost, that can drag you down, I just keep going. This is the second recession I have worked through.
My first job was as a sewing machinist, I did it for many years including when my children were young. When they were born I took a week off and then carried on working from home.
I couldn't live without my ambition, I would be lost – it has carried me through . Work is what I do, if I have two days off I don't know what to do with myself. I trained as a beauty therapist when I was 40, as well as running a factory, and now I make sure my skills are updated. I have often worked 18 hour days but If you don't think of it as work then it isn't as tiring.
I recently went to India to train in Ayurvedic treatments and I will be using them in the new salon. Waxing is a very popular treatment in the salon, and so is hair removal by threading. There are lots of new non-surgical treatments available now .
I like Leeds because it is a smaller version of London, it has everything but it's not too big. I live in a Victorian house in Sowerby Bridge, it has a huge wall round it and is very secluded. It is my fortress.
I relax by cooking for my family – but only on Sundays, and then in the afternoon we will watch a film, which is the only time I really watch television. I never get involved in watching a series because I would always miss episodes.
I went to Stainbeck High School and had a very happy-go-lucky childhood. I was the youngest by eight years and I have two sisters and three brothers. everything changed when I was 16. I would have liked to have stayed on at school, I wanted to train to be a lawyer.
The best advice I ever received came from my mum who told me never to be disheartened but to believe in God and he would look after me. Although I don't come across as very religious I do believe in my faith.
It would probably surprise people to know that, although I am very business-minded, I have never used a computer and I have never sent an email. I deliberately stay away from them, if I learned how to use one it would be one more thing to do, and I already have enough to do. I leave my sons to do that.
I can cry at any time, I am an emotional person and I don't always have a shoulder to cry on. But I try to be optimistic. My philosophy of life is just to work hard and be happy. If everyone around me is happy, then I am happy.
The person I would most like to meet is James Caan, from Dragon's Den. I like self-made people, people who are go-getting and self-motivated.
I didn't have a first love, I didn't get the chance. I was taken to India and married.
Here is my joke: Did you hear about the magic tractor? It turned into a field.
FAVOURITE THINGS
Favourite food: Thai
Favourite Book: Any business book
Favourite actor: George Clooney
Star sign: Virgo
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Weather for Leeds
Thursday 24 May 2012
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