When Zak Shafi was growing up, his family did everything they could to make ends meet. The 23-year-old had no idea how short of cash they were until a classmate spotted his school trousers on the changing room hook in PE and noticed he was wearing girls' uniform - and started to bully him.
He tells The Mirror: "I went to school at Wembley High, it was a state school, it improved massively during my time there but to begin with I think it used to be one of the worst performing schools in the country. It wasn't all that at all. A lot of my clothes growing up came from my family, they were passed down to me, little did I know there was a difference between girls' and boys' trousers - the boys had buttons on the back pockets and the girls didn't.
"One day in PE one of the guys asked who was wearing girls' trousers as they were hanging up, and I thought it couldn't be me - but it was. I asked my parents why I was wearing girls' trousers - they always did their best but they said they couldn't afford to buy new ones."
Zak said that initially, his family hadn't struggled so much, but a series of bad investments left their finances in tatters.
He continued: "Post 2008 there was a real squeeze for my family, a lot of the things my dad had done to try and protect us, like investments, had nosedived south.
"He tried to give us the best start but everything went south very quickly. My childhood wasn't always like that, it turned out like that - one day we were ok then we had to be careful what we bought, couldn't put the heating on, nothing.
"We were told to put a jumper on if it was cold, just because the cost for heating was too much.
"Finances were thin, I remember going to the supermarket and having to diligently pick out things we could afford to buy. I remember other kids picking out things they want from the shops but we couldn't do that.
"It was very demoralising to begin with, getting bullied for wearing girls trousers and not getting the opportunities to do things the other kids could, and having to negotiate with my parents because I didn't understand what was happening."
But those tough years just made Zak more determined to be successful when he grew up, and he's managed to do just that.
Zak was inspired and set about changing his fate - setting up his own business at just 12-years-old.
He's now a successful entrepreneur who has a string of profitable enterprises, including his latest project - a business selling reusable and sustainable water bottles.
But Zak, from Wembley, London, insists he is true to his roots and makes sure his products are of good quality and value - so less affluent families can justify buying them.
He explains: "But it gave me the drive and determination to thrive on my own. I didn't like the situation I was in and I thought I would figure a way out of this, that was at 11 - thinking I was going to take on the world."
Zak, who was always a gifted student, initially went door-to-door offering his services as a maths tutor and by doing so earned his first £20.
He then used his profits to start his next business, which involved organising a sports day for his local area - offering prizes and trophies for the competitors.
After costs, Zak walked away with £60 in his pocket - so he treated himself to a brand new pair of trainers, and reinvested the rest.
He then started buying and selling phones, repairing broken phones for cash, and installing his own software on Apple devices for a fee.
Then when Zak was doing his GCSEs he had his first lightbulb moment that would lead him to make several thousand pounds.
He said: "I realised I had a knack for academia and studies, as I got noted for being in about the top one per cent of students in my exams - I got 15 a* at GCSE.
"I realised there was a method to doing well at GCSEs, so I turned it into a business.
"It was called Cloud Tuition - it would be face-to-face tuition but online.
"It was the uber of tuition, people would come on and book a tutor and you'd meet them for a session. It was the most well developed and successful business I had run and I did it for two years right up to my a-levels.
"The way staff would work, I would pay them on an if needed basis - I had about 16 tutors and five mediators, and I would do all the running the software, building the software, and the day-to-day.
"I realised I couldn't spend money on advertising so I went to local charities and said they could take 100 per cent of the profit from anyone they brought in - I just wanted to see if it worked.
"The first set of students came from the charities, then it spread by word of mouth, and the money went to the business. It grew very quickly and soon became too much to manage - we had to start turning away new students. I think it made about £3,000 after costs."
While not all of Zak's ideas have made money, he's learned from each success and now he runs Agua London - a 'luxury reusable bottle brand' that's out to make a real difference.
He said: "We're dedicated to making a positive impact - this is born out of all the experiences that I've had, it's a culmination of everything I've been through. Through all my hardships, I have learnt the importance of values, community and supporting each other.
"We have three brand pillars, For you, For the Planet, and For the People.
"For you, it's a very luxury product - going through life I noticed that products break quite quickly, they're designed to fund a consumer market but I never had that growing up - everything had to last.
For more of the news you care about, straight to your inbox, sign up for one of our daily newsletters here.
"These are made from medical grade materials, free from toxins, and we have a patented design that protects the glass so they don't easily break - our bottles have 12 mathematically designed grips to protect the glass.
"For the Planet, our bottles remove carbon dioxide equivalent to 3,500 plastic bottles. We do it through our own forest - that's slightly different to tree planting, the problem with those initiatives is if you throw a tree where it's not meant to be it has a detrimental effect.
"What we do is build a forest in the Philippines, regenerating previously degraded land while supporting ecosystems, wildlife and animals - and because we use bamboo in our bottles it's completely circular, we plant more than we take.
"Plus we can support ecosystems, wildlife, animals - and because we use bamboo in our bottles it's completely circular, we plant more than we take.
"For the People, we do two things. The first one is supporting people through our forest, we support communities with access to jobs and regular fair income, to break them free from a poverty trap that exists in the Philippines.
"And secondly, we're partnered with an UN-affiliated charity - with each bottle we sell we provide someone in need with drinking water for 60 days - no one should go without water.
"Those are our three brand pillars, each bottle is more than just a bottle."
Zak's bottles are available for sale now for £30 on Agua London's website.
Do you have a story to sell? Get in touch with us at yourmirror@mirror.co.uk
