The Secrets of Sri Lanka’s Snack Dynasty - Shea Wickramasingha

In this episode of The Quest for Success Podcast, we sit down with Shea Wickramasingha, Group Managing Director of CBL Group, to explore her inspiring evolution from a self-described reluctant entrant into her family’s business to one of Sri Lanka’s most respected leaders in the FMCG space.

Shea opens up about how her definition of success has changed over the years, shaped by education, personal experience, and her unique vantage point as a second-generation leader. She reflects on the challenges of navigating leadership in a legacy business, and how she learned to adapt her style to cultural and generational shifts while holding on to the values that define her family and company.

From the importance of innovation in staying relevant, to the critical role soft skills now play in leadership, Shea offers a candid and deeply human perspective on what it takes to lead with intention and impact. She also speaks about the responsibility businesses have toward the communities they serve and how social responsibility is baked into the DNA of her leadership.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone navigating leadership transitions, balancing tradition with innovation, or striving to make a meaningful difference in their organisation and community.

Key Takeaways
 - Success is a personal journey, not defined by societal expectations
 - Education and life experiences shape leadership philosophy
 - Leadership in a family business demands emotional intelligence and adaptability
 - Innovation is essential for long-term business sustainability
 - Understanding cultural context is key to effective leadership
 - A diverse, young workforce requires evolved management styles
 - Recruiting for cultural fit supports organisational growth
 - Soft skills like empathy and communication are vital for modern leaders
 - Female leadership in male-dominated industries brings unique challenges and opportunities
 - Social responsibility is not just strategy - it’s purpose in action

Connect with Shea Wickramasingha: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shea-wickramasingha-221a9b25/

Follow us on all your favourite platforms:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheQuestforSuccessPod
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/The-Quest-For-Success-Podcast/61560418629272/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thequestforsuccesspod/
Twitter: https://x.com/quest4success_
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-quest-for-success
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thequestforsuccesspod
Website: www.thequestforsuccesspodcast.com

Please share this around to anyone you think will get value from it : )

Transcript

Speaker 2 (00:01.346)
All right, welcome back to the Quest for Success podcast. And thanks so much for tuning in once again. Today on the show, as many of you know, we're here in the beautiful Sri Lanka, and we are so grateful to be able to sit down with Shia Wickramasinghe, who is the group managing director at Salon Biscuits Limited. And we're really looking forward to diving into a bit about family business, her story, and understanding how she got to where she is today. So yeah, really grateful to be sitting down with you. And yeah.

Manchi biscuit used to be my favorite biscuit when I was a kid. And coming to the Manchi factory is like going to chocolate factory kind of remind me. So it's lovely to have Shia Wekrensinger today and thank you so much Shia joining with us. And we got so much questions that we want to go and deep dive into your understand your story.

Thank you very much. Such a pleasure to be here. Thank you.

So Shaya, this podcast is all about success. So we need to start with a pretty fundamental question. And that is, what does success actually mean to you?

So it's funny. I think success is one of those cliche words. And I don't measure what my life has been through that word. So yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:23.736)
So how do you measure your life then?

So my life, when I look back, has been the result of certain circumstances which happened. And then that shaped the journey, the route I took. And it's about immersing myself into where I took me. And I think that's where I am today. I never want to come and work actually in the family business when I was younger. That was not, but as I said, circumstances.

led me to take decisions and changes in the path that I had envisaged for myself. And here I am.

May.

So it's all about making the most of the opportunities you've been given. Is that what you say?

Speaker 1 (02:09.389)
I think for me, again, this is a very personal thing for me is, I think we have been very privileged. I think I've had a very privileged life. So I had choices, but it is getting drawn into something. I think for me, life is driven by it being meaningful to you. It's giving you a purpose. And I've found purpose in

Mm-hmm.

some of these things that I'm doing.

Yeah. And then when you achieve some of those purpose, then you feel success.

I guess, as I said, success is defined in so many ways and it's a word that doesn't come to my mind. It's just funny because I just go the journey. I just go on my journey.

Speaker 2 (03:02.03)
So Shia, we have an international audience and many of whom might not know what Salon Biscuits actually does. Can you give us a little bit of a high level introduction to Salon

So this business started when my father had an idea to develop a high protein biscuit because at that time in the late 60s there was an American NGO called CARE that was funding a school midday feeding program where they were giving a bun and a glass of milk because it was also tied into US wheat.

So this had all kinds of issues in logistic issues. And the idea was to get better nutrition. So he came up with this idea of doing a high protein biscuit. He developed the formula. He presented it to the officials and care. And they realized it was a much more, it was a better way to deliver the kind of nutritional targets that they had. And that was a birth.

Yep.

our business. the contract was so big, it was shared among the other manufacturers as well. the first few years, that's all this company did. And as that weaned off, we went into commercial business.

Speaker 2 (04:28.558)
So what your dad was doing before he started the biscuit

So my grandfather, who was actually also an entrepreneur, he bought into a very small biscuit business. He bought it over. It was called Williams Biscuits. But I my dad dream big. My dad had this big vision. And honestly today, I would say in Sri Lanka, we are the largest FMCG business. And it's been a journey when I say that because

Yep.

Speaker 1 (05:00.69)
You know, we used to always look at the big multinationals. You know, we have the Unilevers and the Nestle's here and they were like unreachable when, you know, 25, 30 years ago. But so proud to be in this position and actually Manchi, which is our biscuit brand, actually has been nominated, I think four years consecutively as the brand, the number one brand in Sri Lanka. They do this research globally and each country has a

prominent brand. it's very often a multinational and I'm proud to say we're flying.

flag high. Congratulations. And I suppose for us to understand the woman who's sitting in front of us today, we need to understand a little bit about your early life. Can you walk us through kind of your early years and how you think you were shaped, especially by, you know, your mother and father who were obviously quite entrepreneurial.

Yeah. So, I come to my dad a little bit later, my parents, divorced when we, when I was very young. So I didn't have a very traditional relationship with my dad. days, I, I was a very average in everything I did. was like, I got decent grades, but not exceptional. I participated, but I was, you know, I was in the tennis team, but I wasn't a great tennis player. Yeah. I did things, that I shied away.

honestly, from commitment and leadership. And I think the real aha moment came for me when I did my secondary education in the UK and with the intention of going to university in the UK and I didn't do so well. I didn't get the grades to get into the universities I wanted to. So I was given a choice by my dad. And this is what I say, you your life changes due to circumstances.

Speaker 1 (06:51.448)
to go and study bakery science, which is more in tune of this business. And there's this one course in the Midwest, in the U S Kansas State University. And I ended up there after my A levels. And it's not something I enjoy to be quite honest. But there were lots of things being in a Midwestern small American town. There was a lot of learning.

And, you know, we didn't have the connectivity we had. that weren't many Sri Lankans. So it was, I was immersed in a completely new experience, which I had to navigate through. That was one. And in the course itself, I didn't enjoy it. It was not my thing. So I changed it to a more wider food science sort of thing. And I was never that great in science. And I wasn't doing so well in the first year.

And then I said, look, my dad's spending all this money. I really need to do something about this. I actually started studying and my latter part of my university career, I became an A student actually. And the aha moment was really that if I really immerse myself and commit myself to something, I can do it. And that has been a changing point in how I look at myself. From that point onwards, I had a lot more confidence in myself. think, and that I went on to grad school.

I worked in a really good lab at Purdue University. I also started a PhD. I enrolled in a PhD program, but at that time I'd been away from Sri Lanka from the time I was 16. I almost felt homesick. So I told my professor, let me take a small break. And then that break just began.

Yeah.

Speaker 1 (08:42.324)
So, and that's how I ended up coming in and then I ended up coming and working here. And even coming back and working here, it was, we had one business, which was our biscuit business. We're just diversified into manufacturing chocolates. And I'm a technical person. I have a master's in food chemistry. So I immersed myself in technical stuff. I was in product development. I kind of standardized the specifications of the business. I just found.

I didn't have a defined role when I came. So I just found things to do. then early on to a couple of years into working here, we decided to go into ISO 9000 certification. My uncle, who's the current chairman now, is in charge of that. And he said, okay, you do this. And I'm very grateful for that because that gave me an opportunity to immerse myself into every aspect of the business. From top to bottom, used to

us.

talk to the operators, the girls in the factory. And it was also a little bit of change management transitioning into, know, being documentation was not something we did very well. you know, lot of training and working with people. that gave me a really good insight into this business itself. And look from, you know, I've been working for over 30 years in this business. So I'm quite old.

It's been a journey and I've worked in various aspects of the business and we've diversified. And I think one of the things that this company has as a strength, my dad didn't go to university, but he knew a lot about biscuits as does my uncle. They are very passionate about what they do.

Speaker 1 (10:38.598)
And all of us, even in the next generation, I have my sister works here as does one of my cousins. We are all very technical people. So we understand the business. The core of the business and we have professionals driving the growth and the management of the business. And I think that combination works really well because

We don't drive a piano. We drive a business. think that's a big distinction.

I want to go back to a point that you mentioned a little bit earlier, the fact that even though now you're the group CEO, you've worked at kind of all the levels in the business. I want to know to you, how important is that having the experience at all the levels and especially how it's shaped your leadership style now.

very grateful for that. So it was funny. Apparently while I was, I came at a management entry level, which was in accordance to what I had studied as well. you know, dealing with people, also the fact that while I'm Sri Lankan, I went to school here till I was 16. I had also had a lot of my formative years outside Sri Lanka. So thinking is different, my language skills.

I can speak in Singalese, but communicating formally in Singalese, my team still laughs at me. It's like, it is difficult. I can talk well in English. I struggle translating that in Singalese. But I've got better, I think, over the years by doing it. So I think that was a fabulous opportunity. And apparently my dad encouraged me to start my own business.

Speaker 1 (12:34.39)
My, he gave money for my sister and me to invest in this business. It was a packaging business. It was something that, Z Bill was importing. He introduced me to the supplier and we formed this JV. he's a Singaporean guy with four people. And I always think I don't, I have not done an MBA, but

Starting that small business with four people, not knowing anything. I didn't have managers to turn to. At CBL, there were always specialists. If I didn't understand something, there's a specialist you can go to. When you do your own business, you pretty much have to learn a lot of things. So again, I'm really grateful for my dad for pushing. And he never interfered. He didn't hold my hand. It was like my baby, you do if you need help, you come. But actually, I rarely went to him.

And it's, so that company is, you know, it's now, I think it's 30th year as well. And we've got two world star packaging awards for design. It's something to be proud of. So yeah, you can use the word success. Has it been successful? But it's not a word I like to think. I'm proud though. I am very proud.

And I want to understand, know, also being in family business, I want to understand your perspective of being a second generation leader. I want to understand, have you faced any challenges or do you feel like you have to prove yourself as, you know, being the founder's daughter?

Speaker 1 (14:10.213)
So the family business is a bit wider than just, know, so I have, as I said, my father's youngest brother is chairman now and he has a son. My dad was a very forceful. And as someone said, when we, you know, we were doing this, trying to see how we, you know, grow the business and do, we had one of these consultants say, you know, the founder is generally a very big tree.

with a very large shadow. And it's really hard for people to thrive. you can't, you have to find your own way to navigate this. I think in my circle, I I'd worked in this business for a long time before I became the group managing director, which was in 2011. And despite

Having worked here a long time, knowing all the people, I remember the first day I sat on that chair, I got on your office. I felt very intimidated. Suddenly it was a lot of responsibility. And I think when I look at myself over the years too, you grow as a person, I used to be a very impatient person. And the way I relate to people and also the kind of people who joined the organization has also evolved.

You know, as we grow, we need different skills. So it's been a journey for me personally on navigating myself to give the kind of leadership or the inspiration. Because I think that's what is required and certainly not perfect. it's constant learning. So one of the things that I'm now working on is people say, I don't listen enough. I interrupt people. you know, I think.

Okay.

Speaker 1 (16:06.444)
We were talking life is a journey which you need to constantly build awareness into.

Yeah. So, Shia, especially like you had that foreign education coming to Sri Lanka, you probably see lot of opportunities that you could do to change the process. I mean, I see that every time I come to Sri Lanka and also change of your style as well, which is important. Have you done any adjustments like all over the years, 30 years been here? anything?

Even if you like that you want to change, you thought, well, I might not be able to change.

yeah. So I think, as I said, it's also about believing. If I give some examples, I took a small break from the business for three years and I lived in Australia. And, during that time, I had time to research and I went back to college. Actually, I started a course in nutritional, medicine because I have a personal interest in traditional.

medicine and it was a very interesting course which took aspects of Chinese traditional medicine and Ayurveda and the functionality of food. And I wasn't doing it. I mean, I didn't finish it, but I used to go off classes because it was more about information.

Speaker 1 (17:33.816)
So for me, one part of what I've tried to influence is how do we add value? And value is not in terms of dollars, but in terms of what we do. We are in the food business. How do we become more relevant? We are in a country that has so many challenges. And there are many ways to make impact.

So yes, think at the end of the day, to all boys, it's not that there's a foreign education, but the foreign education gave me a lot of confidence. I think the one thing that I'm bringing back is that and the ability to look at things. So when I see things, I see them in images.

Yeah,

So, so that's what I think that's what I bring into the business too, because sometimes you think it's so obvious, but people don't see it. Now, is this something that has evolved over time with more knowledge? think knowledge gathering is really important. I believe in surrounding myself with people who can educate me in different ways. I have friends, you know, I have friends in IT business, very, very varied businesses. And I think they brought so much.

into my life, which I'm again very grateful for.

Speaker 2 (19:02.734)
What about leadership style? Because I know I, my business, I have a small team here as well. I've been always told by my colleagues or even the Sri Lankan friends that style not gonna work here. And you have to be different. Like you have to adapt to the Sri Lankan way of doing it. And you've got thousands of people working for you. Have you, what's your leadership style and how you manage?

So that's another one. I don't like labels. So recently I was asked the same question beforehand. I actually, I put the question to some of my senior team and I said, what is my leadership style? Why do you think my leadership style is? I mean, it came back very, one was contradictory. One said, okay, I can't remember. It's in my phone, some of it. But so I think.

I don't like labels. At the end of the day, I have a team of great professionals. mean, they're really the top of that game. So I have to provide, they need to believe in me. I need to add value to them. Actually, I need to add value to them. So I've been told, I'm also very direct. So at meeting, this is why I've also told sometimes before you make your comments, listen a little bit more.

Because I don't like fluff. Get to the point and get on with it. So that's, so I'm very direct in my leadership. I'm quite decisive. But I also want change. I don't want static. So I believe we are in a constant evolutionary process. And I think I try to bring that into the business and that's tough because most people don't like change.

Yeah.

Speaker 1 (20:58.732)
So no labels. And I think at the end of the day, if I can't inspire these great people who work here, then I can't do my job. So the day I stopped, I think I still add value. I believe I do. And when I asked them that, you know, what do you think? I it was mostly positive.

Yeah. And off on the back of kind of this, this thread that we're going down, you know, in family business, there's a lot of tradition. And I want to know, you know, as a second generation leader, how do you view balancing tradition, but then also innovation? How do you balance the two?

yeah.

Speaker 1 (21:46.126)
I think one of the underlying things about our businesses, we've always been in product. Product innovation has always been there because in Sri Lanka, we've always been ahead of the curve in whatever we did. I mean, one of the, you know, when we launched chocolates, for example, there were big brands already present and we didn't go to challenge them in what we do. We just came up with new

product ideas, we just went in from different angles in that chocolate space and attacked them directly when we had a certain business built up. So innovation in that perspective has not been a problem because everything we do is driving new things into the market as an FMCG company. But innovation in how we do things.

how people do things. Yeah, it's challenging. So we have companies of different ages. So Ceylon biscuits here is around 55 years, coming on 55 years. We have younger companies that are 10 years or under 10 years. So the dynamics are very different because those companies have a lot younger people. And today now,

Yeah.

Speaker 1 (23:08.046)
We, I was told in our group, have almost just under 6,000 employees and over 50 % of them are Gen Z. Yeah. So, but all the leaders, don't think hardly any of them are in the Gen Z category. And it was just, you know, we opened an office recently and we're saying it's not about again, labeling yourself. We must, you know, if we are, if we are in business, we need

Really?

Speaker 1 (23:38.1)
be young in how we think. It doesn't matter if you're eight years old, but if you can, if you can, you know, engage with anyone, regardless of the age, and that's what our business is. It's about engaging with people. you know, so it doesn't, you know, it's your mindset. It's your mindset that has to be whatever level you want it to be and not whether you fall into an age category. So,

That's where right now driving a transformation. We're driving a digital transformation, know, cognitive. It's, it's not easy, but I think you need to again, believe in it. You need to have your team believe in it and you just need to get on with it.

Yeah

Speaker 2 (24:23.63)
And how have you seen culture shift, know, considering you have so many Gen Z employees, how has the culture of your company shifted?

For example, we have been a very hierarchical organization. had chairman, I'm called GMD, group managing director. So now trying to get people to each other by first name basis. works in some of our companies, there's no issue, but some people are so used to calling a GMD, it doesn't come naturally. Even sometimes they've left the organization.

And they still tend to address me as GMT. So, you know, that is, but I think that's, it evolves and more and more now, I think with the younger people coming in, the younger people coming in are so much more confident and they're so much more demanding. So it's no longer that you work in an organization and, you know, people are grateful to be there. Now it's almost like, you know, I have to be happy that you're working here and how do I keep you engaged?

Yeah.

Speaker 2 (25:30.51)
Yeah, yeah. You mentioned you have a great leadership team, like so pretty much they drive your business. How do you kind of maybe like recruit the right people onto the right seats and develop like you know what strategies are you use normally to

That shift is happening.

Speaker 1 (25:50.67)
So I spend a lot of my time in recruiting my direct reports. And if I don't, I don't recruit to fill a role. I look, I spend a lot of time. And what I first do is I have a coffee with whoever. And we just have a chat because the fit, you know, our organization is an evolving organization. And some people come with

Yep.

Speaker 1 (26:20.32)
certain expectations on how things should be. So I need to see whether there's going to be a cultural fit to the way our organization is evolving. And so that's the first thing I assess. And I've made like once we had a CEO position vacant and I, you know, I went through many CVs and then one was given to me. I went to have a coffee and he was not

in this space, but 10 minutes in the conversation, I knew I wanted him to be here and he, you know, he, he's still with us. You know, I think it's eight or nine. I lose track of time years later and, you know, excited to be with us. So I think that connectivity between people is important. It's, it's not that you don't make mistakes. You do make mistakes sometimes.

But I try to make sure that connect. The word I would like to use is connectivity.

So just on the back of that, know, for a young person listening to this, how important do you think is the balance between technical knowledge, but then also that personality and relationship building? Soft skills.

I think it also depends on the role. Obviously some roles need very, you need to be, that tacit knowledge needs to be there. But as you go up the leadership ladder, knowledge can be gained. One of the biggest compliments I had was the fair hours when I went looking at equipment and the guy said, I thought you were an engineer. I'm not, but I know enough about what I'm looking at.

Speaker 2 (27:43.832)
technical

Speaker 2 (28:02.621)
Speaker 1 (28:06.85)
to ask the right questions. So that's what being, you you have to have an understanding of, you can't run a business if you don't understand the business. It doesn't matter whether it's anybody. So, but the real depth of knowledge can come from somewhere else. And then you had to provide leadership. So for us, we have been a very technical business, as I told, because we're all technical people.

Yeah.

Speaker 1 (28:35.37)
Our transformation has been in driving leadership now, in encouraging people, know, giving more soft skills. How do we, you know, impart?

So I want to go back to your business biscuits, right? So you're in the manufacturing business. But do you see that more than that? Like, you know, do you see you're doing more impact to the country than selling biscuits?

Yes, definitely. So we manufacture not only biscuits, we are in a whole range of food products, a big range. And we work with supply chain. And that is where we have done a lot of impact, I think, in terms of how you do things. For example, we grow a lot of soil. We work with small farmer holders. And it took us a while because, you know, changing habits is very difficult, but we no longer use

any chemical fertilizer because soybean is one crop that can actually naturally fix nitrogen in the soil. but it's educating people. This is not rocket science, but changing the way people perceive. We are the largest coconut milk exporter of this country and we're having a coconut crisis. don't know, Sri Lanka is having a coconut crisis. So we are trying to engage to see how can we make impact in this because this is such a

I'm

Speaker 1 (30:03.438)
important crop for the country. If I were to give another little example was we also buy about 100,000 eggs and the egg industry is when it comes to animal welfare or you know if look at it's such a cruel industry because eggs are penned in these tiny little cages and they're so stressed and that they're meant to produce eggs so we

I got my CEO and he actually drove it that we are going to eliminate this. And I'm so proud to say that we don't buy any caged eggs anymore. Sort of more barn type. And to me that's transformation. You're educating people. People sometimes don't see this.

No, yeah. But do you ever sit down and think, wow, I'm actually really creating that impact?

proud, but also I can't do this on my own. Right. So I had the idea because, okay, you have different strengths. I think for me, as I said, I see things I can, but maybe my implementation skills are not as good as some of the others who could do it. So I think that working together in driving change is really important. And so one of the things also I think that's inherent to me is

if I'm doing something, I'm like a dog with a bone, I need to get on with it. So when one finishes, the next project starts. So there's no time to sit and say, you know, that's great. That's done and dusted. Now we work on, you you go to the next.

Speaker 2 (31:45.486)
I know that feeling. So, you know, sometimes, you know, when you, when you see things in pictures, that's kind of a vision, right? So you're very visionary leader, but you know, some of the frustration, visionary leaders have, you know, ideas are great, but you can't get them executed because there's a lot of work required and there's a lot of limitations. Do you find that way? Or do you have a great team that

That's the thing I have, I'm so grateful for the people in my life that they are amazing. Honestly, this team at CBL, because as I said, you know, if you take the egg, if it wasn't driven, if it wasn't taken over and driven by that team, it wouldn't happen. So I think, I believe people...

find purpose as well, working for our organization. Yes, there is a job. Yes, the CEOs have to drive P &Ls. But I think people can see that they can make impact. We are in a position to make impact in almost everything, especially in a country like Sri Lanka. Somebody once told me many years ago, know, when you work in a developing country, the difference you can make

Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (33:09.248)
is so great rather than working, you you're working in a developed country. It's a different perspective, but really you make much.

more impact. Yeah, you're just a number or you're just a CEO, Doing, making a lot of profit for a large company. But here you're actually making a true impact. Absolutely. I totally agree. But my next question, you know, as a female leader, how do you find, you know, culture like in Sri Lanka? Do you find any challenges that you see like a gender?

Yeah. So personally, I think maybe that is my education and that surroundings are being it. I never think of myself, I'm a woman or, you know, I just walk into a room and I do my, but I know, you know, being in a lot of forums and yeah, women, I mean, I myself have had instances where it's been taken from, you know, my role as why I'm there is kind of downgraded because they think I'm a secretary or whatever, you know.

But there are also society pressures. there are a lot. I'm very fortunate. I have a very understanding husband who doesn't say no to anything. And that's a big thing. Having family who support you. Not everyone has that. also, I mean, we have leaders here within the organization. Sometimes their careers are progressing faster than the spouses. these are also...

These are problems. Definitely challenges.

Speaker 1 (34:38.392)
These are challenges. you know, and I think as an organization, what we need to do is be more enabling. We have a lot more to do in this organization as well. We don't have as many female leaders as we should. But part of the reason also is there are less leaders to recruit from. So I think you have to create that. So we have a, I mean, we've started a middle management leadership program. I think you need to empower people to aspire.

But for a woman, it is also difficult because there a lot of choices. I mean, I have one son. And when you become a mother, there are other priorities. But look, if you're working for an organization, those priorities are also there. And this is a constant balance. is tough. I had tough positions. mean, I wasn't around all the time, so I tried to compensate in different ways. I often reflect back and said,

Did I do the right thing or not? There's no right answer to this. But there is a sacrifice. There's always an opportunity cost to everything you do.

Do you think you have a responsibility as a female leader in Sri Lanka, you know, just to empower other other female leaders or encourage or as a role model? Because I'm sure there's so many look up to you.

When the opportunity arises, I try to, I can only share, think.

Speaker 1 (36:11.852)
Honestly, if I look back at the people who've inspired me, most of them have been men rather than women. It's who you are exposed to, right? But that's not saying there are some amazing female leaders here in Sri Lanka. I mean, I interact with a bunch of great women and I think it's all our collective responsibility to see how, you know, the role of people in society are changing.

Yep.

Speaker 1 (36:40.902)
You don't have traditional marriages. mean, maybe we are a little bit behind in how things are happening. Behind is a word, but the change is. But now women no longer have a guaranteed life just because they get married. And if you're not prepared to, I came from a family. mean, my parents divorced when I was six. So my mom's one mantra was.

Yeah

Speaker 1 (37:07.138)
doesn't matter if you work, but you need to be financially independent. That was one mantra. She pushed us to go to university. She didn't want us to just join a business. So I have to be thankful for her for that. my parents in different ways have... the way we're thinking, honestly, I really realized what my mom did for us in the little thing she did only after she passed away. I really...

Yep.

Speaker 1 (37:35.958)
actually had true appreciation.

Yep. Yeah. And you mentioned, you know, you are in the circles of some incredible women entrepreneurs. in 2014, you were ranked among the 50 most powerful women in Sri Lankan business. And in 2021, you won the women in management outstanding women entrepreneur award. I want to understand, you know, what do those accolades mean to you? And also what do you think is your secret ingredient to...

those secret ingredients. But it's funny about the awards. When I first started out, I used to actually apply for a few. I have to admit. All those I didn't apply for. And I think as you, you know, when you're young, you are trying to prove yourself. You're trying and you know, it's one way. So as an example, like when I was younger, I used to wear saree to work sometimes, especially if I was having outside meeting I'd wear saree because it made me look older.

Yep.

I'm trying very hard to look younger. now, know, I don't still, you sometimes when you go to meet government ministers or whatever, I might decide to donate a sari. I might not, depending. But I think I have enough years behind me now to stand up. It's like that. Right now, I'm very grateful. actually, it's obviously nice to be recognized. mean, it's a very good feeling. But

Speaker 2 (38:36.142)
You

Speaker 1 (39:03.34)
It's not as important now as it would have been maybe 20 years ago.

And you mentioned before just how important the impact that your mom had on you now looking back as a mother yourself, what are you trying to impart onto your children?

Yeah, so, you know, it's a constant ongoing conversation, I should say. I think values are really important. I think you need to believe in what is good. Now, you know, it's an age old thing, right and wrong. So I think you need to do what's right. Now, that's a very broad definition, but I think as parents, that is a primary responsibility.

I

Speaker 1 (39:49.422)
Um, and you know, I, this is, we are in difficult with everything that's happening with all the technology drives. think children are finding it difficult to find a space and a purpose. So I think it's also a role that we try to help. I, what I try, I mean, I, the way I learned, I've been again, very fortunate is to have access to so many people in my life. And that's what I try to.

For him to meet as many people, he has to shape his...

So, Shiel, I know you're a very busy person, right? So how do you kind of manage your work and life?

Yeah, I'm not the most organized. I don't have organized genes. I can blame that on my father's side of the family. So I rely on others to help. I think sometimes I wonder. So during COVID, when we had this whole COVID and the economic crisis kind of back to back. But I think it was during COVID that we started.

Thanks.

Speaker 1 (41:00.31)
adding value added products in our local food supply chain. Because when you go into a supermarket here, there very few Sri Lankan products that are up the value chain. So I got together with three other friends and we launched this brand called Gomi Twist. And it is basically what I like to call their flavor bombs. that flavor paste made with herbs and spices and chili.

And it's a small factory. It's a small startup with a millennial CEO to actually introduce different flavors to people. so now I'm giving this an example. I actually have a lot of my plate. These things excite me.

Bye!

Yeah, definitely.

So that's what it is. you know, I often think I shouldn't get involved, but then I suppose you want to make this different. mean, we have a big vision for this tiny little startup. And I think we'll get there. It's been, it's not been easy because, you know, people don't have money and herbs and spices are expensive and how do you add value?

Speaker 2 (42:13.858)
Yeah. But it excites you. Yeah. It excites me. Yeah. You mentioned something there, which we kind of brushed over and I want to go back to, you know, COVID and the economic crisis that hit Sri Lanka. You know, it was a rough time for Sri Lanka as a whole. How did you, you know, end the business kind of right through that period?

Again, I have to be so grateful and thankful for the team in our business because the leadership that they provided during that time to harness people together because there was a lot of fear mongering going on in the country because nobody knew what a pandemic was. We all know that people die. That's basically what you know, right? So, I mean, we try to educate people, we try to give them confidence and everyone's

you know, right from the bottom, everybody came to work. We never stopped work because of the pandemic. And I think that is a testimony of trust that people have in us. That's not us when I say it's not me. It's our organization, which encompasses everybody who is there, you know? And yeah, we did.

we were able to run our factories, were able to, and know, organizing supply chain was during the economic crisis was a huge challenge because the country had no money. So everyone was on the phone trying to, you know, so you had dollar allocation. So the banks, the bank CEOs just tell me, our job in the morning is to see how many dollars we're going to give to who. Our job was how many dollars can we get?

It's a challenge. Shia, you mentioned about your small project, but what's the overall vision for CBL?

Speaker 1 (43:50.293)
Unbelievable

Speaker 1 (44:01.454)
I think we have an opportunity and we already are making footprints and from, you know, our focus now is we have brand leadership in actually every category that we're operating in Sri Lanka. it is, you know, yeah, we might go into one or two new categories, but I think we want to be more global. I think we have opportunity to do that and that's where we're heading.

What about you as a person?

So I want to enable that journey a little bit more.

Think.

Speaker 1 (44:38.006)
And for me personally, what I'm, you know, as you get older, it's exposure. My dad, another thing that he, you know, exposed me to is a spiritual journey. He exposed me to starting a meditation routine. It's not a everyday thing I do, but it's something I do when, especially if I am, if I have anxiety or stress, so I need to.

I find that shape the way so I've become from this very impatient person. think I'm no longer so impatient. And I think I attribute it to that, to that centering you get when you look more inward. So that journey needs to continue. And I'm finding it hard to engage in that now because of you need to be in a space. I can't say I'm going to get up and I'm going to meditate for an hour when my mind is so cluttered and it is very cluttered these days.

So do you think the meditation kind of helping you to I think

I also believe, I know this sounds really cliche, but I believe in universal energy and I believe if you think you have good intentions and good thoughts, what comes back at you.

So that's what I work on. And there are times, none of us ride a success line. It's a sine wave. There's ups and downs constantly. So it's how you navigate the time.

Speaker 2 (46:06.934)
It's like what you give, it's coming back to you. doesn't matter if it's positive or negative. And talking about giving back as an organization or person, I mean, you're giving so many jobs to people and looking after directly, directly families, so many families. And we talked about distribution channels, et cetera, you know, so you're pretty much employing thousands of people. Apart from that, any other other activities that you do as an organization or individuals?

Meaning and what?

charitable events or...

We do, we do some charity. mean, whenever there is some, what I, what my, my stemming actually from my dad's vision too, he, he was, he was a very passionate Sri Lankan and his thing was about poverty elevation because he grew up in a time where Sri Lanka was just coming up after, you know, the world wars and all that. So I'd like to look at rather than charity.

that we build. We give ability for people to build themselves up. So we do, we support a lot of scholarships. We support enabling communities. So we fund schools for, know, various things, whether it's labs or, you know, sometimes I remember one school, we funded a peer system because they had one English teacher for the whole school.

Speaker 2 (47:14.892)
Yep.

Speaker 1 (47:40.686)
And so they had one class that so many multiple students can listen to. you know, sometimes when you go into rural Sri Lanka and even some urban, what we take for granted is just not there. So I think children are our future. We do a lot of support to try and uplift people's community and ability for people. But also I think,

Speaker 1 (48:10.444)
We also, you know, the big buzzword is sustainability. And we've just had a couple of days ago, a meeting and I said, for me, what I would like to see is sustainability has to be integrated into the DNA of our business. we are in a business that we can do it quite easily. And we are doing a lot of things. We do a lot of ad hoc things right now, like, you know, like, but I want

Yep.

Speaker 1 (48:39.412)
a sharper focus. And that's what we're right now in this coming year. That's where we want to take the business so that it's, I think people, you know, people come and they're very used to doing their job. So I think the responsibility and the transformation that I want in the business now is that people also start seeing pictures of what they can do. And that's the change I like to see.

Yep.

Speaker 2 (49:06.924)
Do think that will happen? know, only...

think sometimes it's exposure. Again, we've been so fortunate to we have a lot of exposure and it's also enabling people, showing them how you can think, right? It's like when I walk into a supermarket, it's sometimes annoying actually, you just see things that, know, so we also have, we also got into retail business here. yeah, so you have different perspective because that's at the front end of the supply chain.

Nice.

Speaker 2 (49:37.334)
Yeah. Amazing. And, know, given this podcast is a lot about learning and there's a lot of young people listening, you know, given your 30 years experience in this business, what advice do you have for a young person listening today on how they can improve themselves or, you know, especially if they're, they're looking towards those leadership positions in a business.

And that's all there's things to do, you know?

Speaker 1 (50:00.386)
Stimming from myself, what I have learned, I think the first thing is you need to believe in yourself. I think it's really important and you need to also be self-critical. Understand what your strengths are and where you need to grow more. Because I think self-awareness is really important. I think it starts there. And, you know, I think if you chase what you

believe and you had the resilience to stay. It works. Why do a lot of startups today not work? They say one in 10 survives. And I think working with some people, and I do do some work with the angel networks here is the resilience is not there. You know, people chase success. They don't chase the vision.

And I think that's a big difference. I've mentored a few people and you can't be shallow in a vision. You need to have depth. really need to. And I think that is something I don't know whether it's our education system or what, because everything counts a lot easier now to younger people. And the expectations are also you want to grow.

In our generation, I sound really old when I say that, but it was all about hard work. And we didn't have tools. There's a lot of slog, you know? So I think how that expectation, and this is what I see with my son, know, everything has to be like, yeah. And sometimes it's difficult because there is some deeper understanding that needs to be gained.

Yeah.

Speaker 2 (51:35.726)
Thanks.

Speaker 2 (51:53.39)
And do think that's, you know, given that there's so many tools and things out there now, do you think there will be a new wave of entrepreneurs not doing necessarily the, the hard work route that you guys took, but like a new wave of entrepreneurs?

I think hard work is a state. You we might have worked hard in a different way. Everyone still has to work hard because the world is that much more competitive. So if you're going to excel, where is your point of difference? If you're just going to do what A, B and C are doing, are you going to make it so that there is a chance that you might not? So you need to differentiate and excel in something that you're doing.

Yeah.

which is not easy because it's so competitive. is quite tough, I think, for young people starting out.

Thank you so much for this conversation. Like my last question to you, how do you want to be remembered?

Speaker 1 (52:54.336)
I don't know. I don't know if I, I think my personal journey, rather than being remembered is it's more important for me to have that satisfaction that I've been able to do something. I think that different people will remember you differently, right? It's how you impact people. But I think for me, it's more important that what I, what I feel. that is.

Yep.

Speaker 2 (53:22.542)
Yeah.

And that's what I believe I have a few more years, but I think I can do a few things, but that is, you always have to let go at some point.

And, know, looking back on this incredible journey that we've spoken about today, I suppose, even though you said success wasn't a word in your vocabulary, your definition of, you know, having a meaningful life with a lot of purpose. Do you think you've achieved that? Do you feel successful?

You want to that? I think, you know, one thing I've learned, I'm not going to answer that question the way you want me to answer it. In life, it is about how contentment you feel within. And there are times where, you know, I don't think we're all human beings, we don't get there, but

to a large extent, and I think this is a journey, this is the personal journey, the professional journey, the whole journey is about getting there. And I'm on that journey, I think in the right direction.

Speaker 2 (54:34.542)
You're on the quest, the quest for success. I like it. And I think that's a fantastic place for us to wrap up there. But, you know, throughout this conversation, I've been jotting down a few core traits, which I think have been part of your, what I would say, quite a successful life. And I'd like to share them with you. The first one is you're very much a constant learner. Whether that's, you know, taking on feedback from your, your team.

And you said you're actively working on things that you've been suggested by your team. And I think that's really important, having that humility to learn and take on feedback. And whether it's that or going out and doing so many different courses and education programs, even in your, a few years ago. So always learning and having that thirst for knowledge. I think that's a really key trait. The next one is one that I don't think we've seen too many times before, but it's

You're incredibly decisive. You make clear decisions quickly and with a lot of clarity. And I think that's really important, especially in your role with so many people that report to you, you could go back and forth, back and forth, but to have lasting impact and have that purpose, you really need to make a decision at the end of the day. So that something gets done. And I think that's really important. You get things done. You said you had the vision.

then you passed on to your team and things got done. And I think that's really important. The next one is you're a developer of people. You have the humility to admit that you can't do it on your own and you need a great team to support you to get those things done. And you really foster their learning and their development to make sure that they're the best that they can be so that they can help support you on the kind of vision that you're creating. And I suppose that leads me to the last one is

You're very much a visionary, a change maker. You have big ideas of how you want to impact and live a life of purpose. And as you said, you see the picture, you see the vision that you want to create. And I think that's really special. And we see a lot in entrepreneurs and really successful people is they have the vision and they drive it to get it done.

Speaker 1 (56:49.802)
So kind. Thank you.

Yeah. And, and quite, quite like this conversation and thank you so much being with us and spending quite a lot of time. And, just to add to that, you know, I quite like your authenticity. You know, you're quite authentic, what you see, what you get kind of person. And it's very easy to do business with people like that. You know, so I think that also helped you to succeed in your journey and fantastic conversation. Thank you so much.

Thank much. You guys are really too kind. Thank you.

And with that, if you guys have found something useful from today's episode, if you could do us a massive favor and go and like and subscribe to us on all our channels and you can see all of our inspirational content over on our website, thequestforsuccesspodcast.com. And with that, we'll catch you guys in the next episode. Thanks for listening.

Thank you. was very, very, very kind.

Speaker 2 (57:41.46)
Time went so fast, I know.