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Navin Chandaria had an obvious career path ahead of him. As the son of one of Africa’s foremost industrialists, the young man could easily have joined the thriving empire that his father, Velji, had built up. While inspired by his father’s example – especially given the challenging political climate in East Africa – Navin made a decision to find new frontiers for the family. Not long after completing his university education in the UK and only recently married, he packed his bags and left Kenya for Canada.
It was a bold move, but all that Navin could see was opportunity. This faraway land, he felt, offered a much larger and more competitive market, along with a much more stable political environment than existed back home. While Canada was welcoming to immigrants, its climate would prove especially harsh for someone accustomed to the pleasant tropical climate of Kenya. However, this less hospitable side of his adoptive nation would also inspire a winning business venture.
The small firelog company in New Brunswick that Navin decided to buy with the support of his family, faced many competitors. The young entrepreneur nevertheless saw scope for growth via innovation. A new product composed of sawdust blended with waste wax made for a convenient and cozy fire. The public loved it. A quarter century later, when the firelog business was sold, it had captured almost all of the Canadian market and three quarters of the US market.
“Our father had the passion and the skill to build something of his own from scratch,” says his son, Sunir. “He always told us that he felt such hunger in his belly that he was starving at times! And he was determined to instill that hunger in us children and in future generations.”
As Conros grew via ingenious innovation and nifty acquisitions, Navin’s thoughts turned increasingly to his business legacy. How, indeed, might he see that his children were best placed to build upon his success? Part of the answer, he felt, lay in giving them early exposure to the influences that had helped shaped his own development.
“Ever since I can remember, our childhood summers were spent going back to Kenya to connect with our extended family,” says Shernee, Navin’s elder daughter. “And so, while our schoolfriends were sent off to summer camp in northern Ontario, we were around our grandfather and uncles, visiting them frequently at their headquarters. This gave us the opportunity to see what had been built and how business, and more specifically a wonderfully successful manufacturing business, was run. It helped to inspire curiosity in us, to really think about how things are made.”
Ever since I can remember, our childhood summers were spent going back to Kenya to connect with our extended family.
Observing their grandfather hard at work – and hearing the story of his journey to success – made a lasting impression on all the grandchildren, as Sunir recalls. “When I was about fifteen, we were asked to write a story in English class about a hero of ours,” he says. “Many of the other kids chose their favorite sportsperson or other public figure. I wrote about our grandfather. He was only twelve when he migrated from our ancestral home in the Indian province of Gujarat to East Africa in search of opportunity. The British Empire was building a railway network across East Africa which brought a lot of new trade and commerce.”
The Chandaria children would become even more immersed in their family’s burgeoning businesses back home in Canada. Visits to the factory became a feature of their childhood from early on, creating vivid memories which remain with them to this day.
“Spending time at the plants really made me understand that this was what our family did,” says Shernee. “Even today, the smell of wax and sawdust reminds me of the firelogs we made. What really piqued my interest as a child, though, were the glue sticks and glitter that we also produced, as they were products that I loved using myself and could connect with. Learning and seeing with my own eyes how things are made was always a highlight for me.”
“I recall that even at the age of four or five, we were visiting the factory often,” says Sheena, the youngest of the siblings. “Later on, we’d start getting involved with tasks. I always loved to tidy up our dad’s office as I was the organized kid. And we heard many conversations about business at family dinners and get-togethers. It was just the norm, part of our upbringing.”
As the children got older, Navin and his brothers were keen for them to do more than observe and hear about the business. Summer holidays became a time for gaining valuable work experience within the company. Once their college education was complete, a new opportunity came their way.
“My dad and his brothers told us that the best business school of all was the Conros School of Business!” says Sheena. “They wanted us to come and work for the company, promising that they’d throw us in at the deep end and enable us to learn everything we needed to know.”
The offer came with a novel twist. In return for the family’s investment in their formal education, the siblings were each to spend two years giving back to the business and to the family. After that time, everyone involved would take stock and decide whether a permanent role was both deserved and desired.
“There was no presumption that we’d make a good fit or that we’d necessarily want to do more than our two years’ payback,” Sheena continues. “Maybe they wouldn’t have wanted us there after that or maybe we’d have decided to follow a different path.”
The experience proved fulfilling for the three children. The training they received began very much from the bottom up, as Sunir recalls of his first two years of employment. “My first two years were spent hustling and learning how to sell,” he says. “Before that, I spent summers on the factory floor, learning, for example, to stand up a coating line we affectionately called ‘The Green Monster.’ Initially, I asked myself why I was having to do this. One of my uncles also took me to Italy to visit suppliers of ours to learn about the slitting process by which our tape products got cut into smaller rolls and branding was printed on our product packaging. In hindsight, this helped instill in me a curiosity about how things work in detail.”
The family received a lucrative and compelling opportunity to exit the firelogs business that had fueled so much of Conros’ success. Navin thought he and his brothers ought to step back, leaving the next generation to run the ongoing businesses, such as its stationery and office supplies operations.
“My dad accurately sensed and concluded that it was the right moment financially to sell the business and, with this, he proceeded to champion a generational transition,” says Sunir. “His view was that, although we kids were still under 30, we were ready to take the reins, with him and our uncles in the background to assist if needed. I think this was great, as often leaders stay in control too long, depriving the next generation of opportunities to learn to take decisions, inevitably make mistakes and own responsibility.”
As much as they had been inspired and guided by the generation above, the young Chandarias were keen to make their mark and in their own way. This would mean both product innovations and changes in how the company operated.
Whatever the opportunity or problem, we want to absorb the facts. A growth mindset means always being ready to poke around and learn.
Since childhood, Sheena had been a passionate environmentalist. Now, with the responsibility of helping to set the strategic direction of the company, she could channel her green energies accordingly. Conros sought to improve the sustainability of its operations as well as its products. A special “green team” was convened within the company to assess its environmental footprint. A few of the resulting initiatives included the installation of energy-saving motion sensor lighting, cooling fans in the warehouses, and having what was believed to be the largest rooftop solar panel installation in Ontario on their industrial building in the Toronto area at that time.
Besides product innovation, the Chandaria sisters wanted to adapt the company’s working culture somewhat.
“One challenge in the workplace is that people can get set in their ways and may find it hard to think differently,” says Shernee, President of Conros. “It has certainly been a challenge – but also an opportunity – to encourage our team to transition to a growth mentality and to have them build their curiosity and resilience muscles. However, I’m so proud of our team’s personal growth journeys, helping us to become a better organization and deliver more value to our customers.”
The quest for innovation is equally a hallmark of the Chandaria’s family office, which Sunir runs. In addition to a portfolio of financial investments, the family office invests directly in commercial real estate and in private companies in various sectors. A successful previous holding included a stake in Canada’s largest microbrewer, of whose brewing facilities the family office remains landlord.
“We look for situations where we believe we can add value,” says Sunir. “We dig deeply, asking searching questions about each business. This is where my having the same spirit of detailed curiosity as my dad is useful. Whatever the opportunity or problem, we want to absorb the facts. A growth mindset means always being ready to poke around and learn.”
My siblings and I are lucky to have this incredible trust between us.
While building successes of their own, the third generation of Chandarias are already thinking about how to help the fourth generation extend the family legacy.
“We’re a major investor in an organic electrolyte hydration beverage that we introduced from the US to Canada,” says Sunir. “It’s sold at retailers across North America and my kids know all about it. We make a bit of a game out of doing store checks, getting them to run around a retailer trying to be the first to find it on the shelves. I want them to get familiar with our interests, as one day it could be a part of what they end up owning or being responsible for.”
“Between us, we have nine children who could join the business,” says Sheena. “But we know that not all of them may want to do so. So, we are studying how other families have navigated this. My understanding is that it’s about allowing everyone a space where they can thrive. If some of the kids want to enter a totally different profession, perhaps they can contribute to family philanthropic initiatives in their spare time instead. Figuring out where their interests lie is vital to us.”
“My siblings and I are lucky to have this incredible trust between us,” Shernee reflects. “And we have complementary skills with our respective strengths. Our grandfather would tell us that our father and uncles were very different but each represented a finger that made up a whole hand. Family togetherness is essential for me. We know we’ve always got each other’s backs.”
Shernee, Sunir and Sheena Chandaria: Our lives
“We were all born and raised in Toronto,” says Shernee. “During our childhood, our dad was usually on the road, traveling during the week, working hard to grow the business. So, we didn’t get to spend a lot of time with him, but when we did, he was always very patient and instilled great values in us. I learned a no-fear mentality from him, which I have really come to appreciate in the last few years. Our mum was with us three kids day in day out, which, now, as a mother of three myself, I realize must have been really hard.”
“As a family, we have always been very close,” says Sheena. “When we were growing up, our dad and his brothers were constantly together, discussing work but also for family time. This really helped to bring us together with our cousins. It was an amazing feeling, like having extra siblings. We are fortunate to be able to recreate something similar today, as Shernee and I live within walking distance of each other and Sunir is only a short drive away.”
“Education is really important to our family and, in our view, to the wider community,” says Sunir. “I was fortunate enough to receive schooling in Canada, Africa and Europe, which gave me many different perspectives on the world.”
“We created a system among ourselves where each child pays for the college tuition of a family member two down in age from them,” says Sheena. “So, Shernee paid for a cousin of ours and Sunir paid for me. It is more than just a monetary arrangement, though. It keeps the two family members engaged in each other’s lives, as they progress through university. The older member becomes a mentor to the younger one, as well as their sponsor, offering them advice.”
“From early on, we were all told by our dad that the world was our oyster, that we should go out and make the most of our lives,” says Shernee. “We had family friends whose philosophy was that their daughters could not join the family business. Sheena and I were very fortunate that our dad and uncles never thought that way and instead did everything they could to ensure we were ready to take on the world.”
“Our parents raised us to know the value of money – that it doesn’t grow on trees,” says Sheena. “For example, Dad would always tell us, ‘never buy the brand and never pay full retail price. Always look for a discount.’ Mum and Dad led by example when they shopped. We were never simply given the latest video games or the nicest clothes. And we learned the importance of hard work – and, with it, the genuine satisfaction of the reward from the hard work – from seeing Dad working round the clock.”
“Helping to advance gender equality is vital to me,” says Sunir. “It’s partly a question of natural justice. On a personal level, I have nieces and a young daughter and I want them and their generation to grow up in a fair and balanced world where they can maximize their talents and succeed. One of our family office’s investments has been in an initiative that assists companies to improve their culture of diversity, a phenomenal idea that is gaining a lot of attention and focus among corporate initiatives.”
We are a global family in many ways.
“I’ve recently joined the Canadian board of the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF),” says Sheena. “With our African heritage and my passion for the environment and wildlife, this is a vital cause for me. Between Shernee, Sunir and myself, we’ve tried to volunteer time for board memberships in a way that maximizes impact, so we’re not all serving exactly the same organizations and causes.”
“We are a global family in many ways,” says Sunir. “Our roots are in India, but we arguably have even deeper links to Africa. I am proud to represent Kenya as its honorary consul in Toronto. We have also more recently been spending extensive time with our kids in Barbados. So, I feel like the quintessential global citizen!”
“To me, global citizenship is such a beautiful concept,” says Shernee. “I love the idea of a world where we all care for each other in the way we do within our families and communities. Being a global citizen means being aware of the challenges out there, helping to be part of the solution and working to break down the barriers between us. We’re all human – the more we can bring out the best in each other, the better.
