Ketan Dattani on Race, Masculinity and Learning to Love Yourself
He invented a fake English name to escape racism, then built an environmental recruitment business from a box room
Ketan Dattani grew up in a two-bedroom council flat in Plumstead, southeast London, the only Asian family on the estate, where a bad day meant only getting spat at rather than punched. To survive, he took on a different persona entirely, dropping out of school and drifting into gang life before a chance encounter with a protected species during a community service placement pulled him back toward the environmental science he'd loved since childhood summers in Coventry.
He went on to study Environmental Biotechnology, but discovered that his own name was closing doors his qualifications should have opened. Applying for jobs and thesis research under the alias "Keith Draper" got him an 87 percent interview success rate, against the same CV under his real name. That experience shaped the rest of his career. Today he runs his own environmental recruitment consultancy, started from a box room in his parents' house, and hosts his own podcast, The Diary of the AHO, spotlighting underrepresented voices in environmental health. He also builds wells in Uganda, runs eye treatment camps in India, and organises monthly events for adults with learning difficulties.
As he puts it, "I can only compare me to me, and I can only compare me to the person I was yesterday. My competition is me."
Quotes
"I can only compare me to me, and I can only compare me to the person I was yesterday. My competition is me."
This Episode Is About
Ketan Dattani sits down with Naroop Jhooti to talk about growing up as the only Asian family on a southeast London council estate, where survival meant reinventing himself just to avoid daily violence.
The conversation traces his path through gang association, a redemption arc sparked by an unlikely encounter with a protected newt, and a discovery in adulthood that a fake English name got him interviews his real one never could.
It moves through building a recruitment business from a box room while his family questioned his sanity, into fatherhood, faith, and the charity work, from Ugandan wells to Indian eye camps, that now defines his sense of purpose.
Who This Episode Is For
- Men who grew up as outsiders because of their race or background
- Fathers of colour navigating expectations from two different worlds
- Men who've hidden parts of themselves to be accepted
- Anyone rebuilding their life after a difficult start
- Men struggling with self-comparison and self-worth
- First and second generation immigrants processing their parents' sacrifices
What You'll Takeaway
- Your only competition is yesterday's you
- Reinventing yourself isn't the same as knowing yourself
- A name can change how the world treats your CV
- Real masculinity is adding value, not status
- Loving yourself isn't selfish
- Hardship can become the reason you give back
- You can hold two worlds without losing yourself
