Jodie Thorpe is managing director of e-commerce site Little Birdy, which she founded in 2015. The retailer stocks beauty, gift, stationery, lifestyle, homeware, wellness and baby care products and is the exclusive distributor of Kit and Kin, Plum and Ashby, Aery, Aroma Home, Peppermint Grove, Cristina Re, Yvonne Ellen and more. Based in Dubai, Little Birdy’s e-commerce site caters to customers across the UAE, Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Omar and Qatar.
Based in Dubai, Ms Thorpe shares how her passion for sustainability has driven her business decisions.
What is the best way to start your day?
Heading to Mat or Reformer Pilates at Mojo or Yoga La Vie, walking my dog and a healthy breakfast of overnight oats with berries.
If you could be any character from a movie, who would you be?
Erin Brokovich – a lovely rags-to-riches story and she shows that it is not just hard work that gets you far in life, but also caring for other people.
What is your greatest achievement?
Bringing Little Birdy to what it is today from starting it in 2015. I had ordered a 20-foot container to my small apartment, and we lived among boxes for more than a year. We now have a 10,000-square-foot distribution centre in Dubai Investment Park and export our brands across the GCC.
What advice would you give your 13-year-old self?
To not care about what people think and to always be true to yourself.
If you had 24 hours left on Earth, what would you do?
Spend time with my husband and my dog Poppy in our favorite place – home.
Who or what is your biggest inspiration?
My mum. She worked hard to give me a better start in life than she had, and I will be forever grateful for that. She manufactured all the babygros for Marks & Spencer in the UK and taught me everything I know.
What would you like to achieve in the next 10 years?
We’re currently focusing our time on bringing more sustainable products to the market with many of our products classed as B Corp, or giving back by planting trees. I would really like to see the Middle East focus more on quality products rather than price to help save our planet.
