Riya Patel on LinkedIn: Do I look good in a hairnet? 👇 *wrong answers ONLY* I've spent the last… (2025)

I’ve now been on Linkedin for a whole 4 months...Here are my reflections 👇 ❤️ I wanted to hate Linkedin in but really I hate to love it. 🙄 Getting personality across on Linkedin is pretty hard. I fear my profile is sad and boring on a daily basis and have changed the cover picture about 10 times. It’s no better than the last few. Recommend: no cover picture should do just fine. 👻 Ghosting isn’t just reserved for dating apps. Recommend: it’s a numbers game, persistence and a thick skin are necessary. 🤺 Hustle culture is strong, and Linkedin is its humid incubator. It can often leave you wondering if you’re ever doing enough. Highly recommend: not scrolling on LinkedIn in bed before sleep. 📒 Writing style directly correlates with reach. Linkedin networking is a skill and it should be a business studies module if you ask me. Recommend: socialising your first few posts to avoid embarrassment, also using emojis (🚀or 💰 tend to be popular)😎 Often posts are accompanied by graphics of inspirational quotes…do people pay for these? Recommend: some kind of picture…even if it’s just a selfie🔔 Linkedin notifications are out of control. Comment on a post once, ping squared. Big mistake. Recommend: Don’t get excited about notifications and sort out your alerts. 💯 For raising it’s an unreal platform, and there are so many amazing and inspirational people out there. Founders, investors, legends. I’ve connected with many of these people over the past 4 months – if you are one of them, thank you. Recommend: getting on Linkedin!! Am I right or am I right?? (here are some pictures of what I've been up to recently for good measure)

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Exam results season always feels so nostalgic. I was definitely a late academic bloomer. 🙅♀️ I was never top set📔 I was put in 'homework club' where I was 'supervised' while I did my homework...🔕 I was the archetypal 24 hour exam crammer To be honest, I definitely wasn't the classic type A overachiever and I thought that was just me. But then - I moved school. From my uptight girls grammar to a huge tertiary comprehensive (shout out Richmond College).It changed my life. 👩💻 I was trusted with my academic choices regardless of whether or not it was my 'best' subject.📒 Attending classes was a 'choice'. You either turned up or you didn't, no-one was going to come after you. 🤔 I was encouraged to consider choices and options that weren't simply academic. My world opened up. We all learn and grow in different ways. The exam system is challenging and just because you might not be thriving in it doesn't mean you won't thrive in something/somewhere else. I needed space, breadth (turns out that was the IB) and freedom to truly understand how I enjoyed learning. 'Lillypadding' between schools, courses and jobs was the best thing I ever did for myself and i'd recommend it to anyone! If I hadn't I definitely don't think i'd be Miss Cheese right now 🧀 What worked for you?

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A few weeks ago I filmed this video with Mission Kitchen and Monwar Hussain.I’d been pressing paneer for about 24 hours that week and been hurriedly taping together the prototype packaging (nb- it’s still not final!!). I wasn’t going to do it because -🥹 I was worried about how the homemade product would look - not totally consistent and perfect 😬I thought the taped packaging would be too noticeable 💯I wanted everything to be perfect BUT thanks to the patience of the team, this video alone helped grow All The Aunties instagram by 25%. Perhaps I’m not as awkward as I thought… or maybe I am and that’s fine 🤷♀️Not going to lie, I thought my whipped paneer recipe might get me viral but turns out it’s not that easy…I hope this is a sufficient teaser for our launch. Thanks Mission Kitchen for the opportunity. 🙌

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Aunty R had a big day out last week at . (If you're new here, Aunty R is me, by the way 👧 ) 👏 We pitched in front of investors, made it to the final and then won!I felt nervous and out my depth but who doesn't? I had the pleasure of pitching alongside some amazing brands making real 🌊 in the FnB space.Lonkero, JNCK Bakery, Mission, Sweet Lounge ® to name just a few. I came away absolutely buzzing to see what the retail shelves are going to look like in a few years time… 👀 🤼 We also pitched to real life retail buyers. Buyers are inundated with people, products and faces. When you're starting out it can feel almost impossible for them to notice you as a small fish in a big pond. But it turns out they do, and as it happens they're real people too!Thank you to for an excellent event - that opens doors 🚪 and champions small challenger brands like All The Aunties. Pre-revenue businesses would be pre-revenue for much longer without it. Oh - and if anyone loves paneer, get in touch 🙏 All The Aunties is launching this October and is on a mission to shake up the vegetarian protein category for good. 🚀 Paneer in a taco? Yes please.

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💃 'You're so confident' 🐟 'You have real big fish energy'🗣 'You're a great speaker'These are some of the comments I've had over the past few months. Don't get me wrong, I'm flattered. But more than that, I'm taken aback. I used to be so shy - that kind of crippling, red cheeked shyness. Growing up I was never 'the big fish in a small pond', and quite frankly I've always very happily seen myself as a 'small fish'. For those who know me now, that might seem absurd (truly peacock energy), but it's true. After University I had my sights set on stable, purpose driven professions. Because that's what I thought suited me. I wasn't 'A-type' enough to ever run a business, I don't like early mornings, I don't listen to podcasts on 2x speed and certainly don't read the FT in my spare time.So where did this 'confidence' come from? 👵 Age - the older I've gotten the more I understand myself. What I'm good at, what my drivers are and what I want my life to look like. 🤝 Support system - friendships have been the most pivotal driver in encouraging me to pursue my 'dreams' (ick, sorry!). I'd be a far less confident woman if it wasn't for the inspiring people in my life who champion me.😨 Fear of regret - I was terrified of losing the opportunity to pursue my passions because I didn't have the guts. 💰 Financial stability - starting a business with 0 savings is really really hard. Being older with some of my own money has meant I can contain the risk and I'm ok with that.🥘 Insatiable love of food - and of course, an undying, exponentially growing love to eat. I'm a privileged lady - friends, grad jobs and all that - and that's a key reflection for me. But I really believe that confidence grows over time, and when it comes to having the confidence to make a big move, whether it be moving country or quitting your job, when the time is right, you'll know.And right now it's time for All The Aunties 💫 Do you agree? 🧚♀️

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I have, for want of a better word, become a big cheese 🧀 I spent 24 hours this week making paneer - 6pm to 11pm every, single, evening 🤓 Deadlifting 30litres of milk 💪 scrubbing 100litre pans till my hands are swollen, and splashing a whole ton of whey onto my clothes 🌊 .I'm not moaning - I actually love it. Promise 🙏.It's hard, laborious work but I'm physically building something from nothing. And that's so satisfying. Bubblewrap level satisfying. Only 1 month more of the handmade stuff. Then our precious paneer is off to a wonderful manufacturer... I'll miss the process but excited to take All The Aunties to greater pastures 🐄 . Literally. Can't wait for more and more people to experience how good All The Aunties paneer really is. Give this post a thumbs up if you want to grab the last of our homemade stock! 3 flavours available 🌶

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I’ve learnt a tonne over the past few months. But the most valuable thing? Never wait for 100% - if you’re launching at 100% you’ve done something wrong 😐.Yesterday was my first time officially sharing our brand - All The Aunties -and our products. I’ve been developing them behind the scenes over the past few months, a vision that’s been isolated to just myself, my friends and my family. I was terrified. Half a cheese sandwich (regrettably not paneer), and 3 litres of water was all I had all day. A serious case of nervous dry mouth 😰 I didn’t have samples and I didn’t even give out package prototypes…I genuinely wondered if I’d lost my mind. But - I not only got an opportunity to pitch my business on stage in front of actual buyers but I got the exact confidence boost I needed by winning the pitching competition. It felt good. It was the smallest step forward on a long road ahead but I’m celebrating it as a win 🌟 . You don’t get many of those as a solo founder starting out. Especially when I spend most of my time hunched over a laptop, or making cheese in a kitchen alone. You can find me tonight at a Midsommar party tonight with five flowers in my hair 🌸 sayonara🌸 A big thanks to for the opportunity - genuinely invaluable for small pre-launch business like All The Aunties.

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This is my first ever post on LinkedIn...and something I've been putting off for a while. If 'LinkedIn imposter syndrome' was a thing, I'm pretty sure I've got it. I'm not a multi millionaire business owner 💸 and don't know much about instagram algorithms 🤳 But I can offer an honest, valuable and hopefully entertaining insight into the process of starting a small business (hence the linkedin refurb). From idea to minimum viable product to, one day, the retail shelves 🙏 *manifest, manifest, manifest, visualise, visualise, visualise* What I know for sure is: 😎 All The Aunties are offering something new, fresh and exciting and I truly believe in what we're building. 🎁 Third culture kids have so much value to add in shaping British culture, and it's truly a gift. We're bridging the best of 'East meets West' in an authentic and modern way.🌎 Regenerative agriculture is the future of food and we ARE the future. 🤷♀️ We should always know where our food comes from, who made it and what's in it. Anyway Looks like we've got a serious hole to plug ⛳ ...so let's get going 🚀

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