Leeds founder of Akila Dolls on why children need diverse and disability toy options

“I started to think, is there something wrong with my home environment?”

And now, 30 years later, the single-mother-of-two from Leeds is hoping that her passion and commitment will convince some of the UK’s most influential investors to dig deep and give her award-winning business the financial boost it needs to drive it forward.

Olivia is the founder of Akila Dolls, which makes diverse and disability baby dolls – because of her daughter Amira, 10, who is mixed-race and has ADHD and autism.

While on a shopping trip she said her daughter got upset at the fact that all the dolls seemed to look alike, and nothing like her – and so, Akila Dolls was formed.

Despite being knocked back several times by major toy companies who didn’t buy into her concept, Olivia has not been deterred and now believes the right level of investment is the key to her business’ successful future – and could lie in the hands of the stars of the popular BBC TV show Dragons’ Den.

She says: “I kept being given answers such as ‘we’re constrained by shelf space in our shops’ or ‘no-one in our community would be interested in this type of toy.’”

“To say we live in such a multi-cultural society, this is absolutely disgusting.

"We should have a similar system to what happens in the United States. A consultant from Hasbro told me that they have a law

which states one in every six toys must represent diversity.”

From her vast amount of market research, and the response from her local community, Olivia knows there’s an appetite for her dolls.

She continues: “When I first started the company, the only way I could think of to get financial support was a crowd funding campaign.

"I was amazed that this raised an impressive £6,000 which allowed me to build a website and do some initial branding work.

“But there’s only a certain amount you can rely on family, friends, and the local community for.

“That’s why I’m looking for other avenues for funding. My main focus now is researching how to get onto Dragons’ Den.

"This would be absolutely amazing, and I genuinely believe the investors on the show would be extremely interested in what I’m doing.

“I just need to get everything in order and think of any questions they might ask.

"I’ve seen times on the show when people go on with an extremely interesting business concept but then completely fall apart when the Dragons start digging deeper into their business strategy.”

No-one can fail to be extremely impressed by Olivia’s infectious enthusiasm and commitment.

She previously had no business experience or knowledge, but market research, sharing her ideas with others, and signing up to an intensive business course with the Prince’s Trust has now clearly put her on the path to entrepreneurial success – all at the same time as juggling looking after two young children.

Contacts she met through the Prince’s Trust have helped her develop a prototype doll named ‘Bessie.’

This is in honour of Bessie Coleman, the first African female aviation pilot.

“I want my dolls to be educational. So, the concept is that every doll will be named after a figure in history, and I’ll choose people that we don’t tend to learn about within school.”

Olivia says: “Whilst it’s been a complete whirlwind, it’s all about having a dream, believing in that dream and sticking to it, no matter what obstacles might be in the way.”

And her dedication has not gone unnoticed.

She recently scooped ‘Luxury Doll Company of the Year 2022/2023 in leading business publication Corporate LiveWire’s Yorkshire Prestige Awards. The awards team has conducted extensive research to identify the major cities and regions around the world with a vibrant SME community and independent scene.

They believe that SME businesses are the backbone of any economy, whilst also typically reflecting the unique characteristics of a particular city or region.

Osmaan Mahmood, founder and CEO of Prestige Awards, said: “Although small businesses may not be able to compete with multinational companies on their size and scale, there is a personalised service-driven focus that is often void from large organisations.”

The judging panel base their decisions upon areas such as service excellence, quality of the product/service provided, innovative practices, value, ethical or sustainable methods of working, as well as consistency in performance.

The winners selected are those who can best demonstrate their strengths in these areas.

All winners feature in a celebratory awards magazine, published both digitally and in print.

And she was recently invited to share her inspirational story with members of the WYSE Networking Group at Leeds Library.

So, what does the future hold for Olivia and Akila Dolls?

She concludes: “Everything is in place to grow the business – the designs, the manufacturers, and the marketing strategy.

“It just rests on securing the investment – and hopefully, fingers crossed, that will only be a matter of time.”