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Meher Mirchandani struggled with financial setbacks and her self-esteem was hit, know how she recovered from it and built her business.
Meher Mirchandani belongs to a business tycoon family. She was a fashion designer but then also became an entrepreneur and leadership coach, taking a path distinct from others in her field.
“I’m super grateful. I don’t see privilege as a weakness. If you’ve been given a lot, you have a lot of responsibility,” says Meher in an interview with Gulf News. Along with family, she co-leads the Dubai-based Palmon Group and the Mannre Logistics Fund. “As soon as I joined the family business, I wanted to make sure we were leading a conscious business and a conscious life,” she added.
At just 22, Meher was one of Dubai’s pioneering homegrown fashion designers. Eager to showcase her creations on the prestigious catwalks of New York Fashion Week, she vividly recalls, “I did this beautiful ad for ADCB where I said I’d feel most fulfilled on the catwalk of NYFW. I could visualize it.”
However, along with ambition came the pressures of life. Juggling marriage, pregnancy with twins, and her burgeoning career made her question everything. “That’s when the questioning started: Do I really want this life? I kept struggling with what is missing in my life. Who do I want to be?” she shared.
Physical symptoms began manifesting as stress took its toll; she reflected, “There was something so wrong with my mental well-being that my body was showing it.” This led to harrowing experiences, including a serious car accident, a debilitating vertigo attack, and even a ripped rib cage from a mere cough.
“My body was resisting. I knew there was something missing,” she stated. This realization propelled her into various healing modalities like Theta Healing, quantum healing, and even past-life regression therapy, hoping to restore balance in her life.
Emerging from this tumultuous phase, Meher shifted her focus from the glamorous life of fashion to strategic management. In 2013, she paused her fashion label to join her family’s Palmon Group as Managing Director, a move that would pave the way for her impactful business journey.
At the time, the Palmon Group was multifaceted, dealing with residential assets, the Marina-based Marinascape Mall, facilities management, and even warehousing. “We had a facilities management company with 350 to 400 people,” she explained, highlighting the scale of operations she took on.
In collaboration with her brother and father, Meher co-founded the Mannre Logistics Fund, starting with $80 million. Today, they have amassed assets close to $200 million (around Dh734 million), showcasing her strategic acumen and leadership.
Beyond business, Meher’s heart lies in philanthropy through the Palmon Foundation, working tirelessly for children in India, Bangladesh, and Nepal, exemplifying her commitment to giving back and creating a conscious world.
