#11 - Shiada Drysdale & Hari Ghotra - Virgin Atlantic

Today I have the honour of speaking with two incredible women at Virgin Atlantic - Beverage Development Manager, Shiada Drysdale and Inflight Food & Beverage Development Manager Hari Ghotra.

Shiada has over 25 years working in Aviation (17 of those at Virgin) and now looks after 'anything that pours on board.' She is a huge champion for challenger brands, having helped onboard Trip, Perfect Ted, NICE Wine, Tom Savano and more.

Hari is an accomplished chef, has released multiple cookbooks and is the founder of the UK's biggest Indian digital food platform HariGhotra.co.uk. We discuss where her passion for cooking came from, her time as a Microbiologist at Birds Eye, working in 1 star Michelin Indian restaurant Tamarind collection and more.

This conversation covers:

The importance of operational practicalities & relationships with suppliersAllergens on boardKeeping the food & drink exciting & on-trendWhat it's like to work for VirginWhen things didn't go well... (Covid and finding wine)Witnessing Richard Branson trying food that Hari got on boardAnd SO much more

It was an absolute honour and a privilege for me to speak to Shiada and Hari.

Thanks for tuning in and let me know what you thought of this episode ⁠⁠here⁠⁠ or in the comments below!

Ps - Have you got a guest you'd love to hear from? Submit a guest request form on our website ⁠⁠here⁠⁠.

(New Intro Jingle Credits to All Good Folks - Free Flowin' from Uppbeat)

Closing the door on my startup opened the door to more opportunities than I could have imagined. I’m proud to be an Unfounder, helping startups grow from day one. I’ve been both founder and Unfounder and now I want to share the stories no one hears; applauding the day one drivers behind brands.

You don’t have to start the brand to be the reason it made it. Forget founder fairy tales. We’re here for the Unfounders. Real talk from the people who took the leap (and what they ’d tell you before you do).

• No. of episodes: 49
• Latest episode: 2025-07-20
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