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Sukhvinder Javeed, a close-up in black and white
Photo: her own

Chapter titles: SPHYNX Tequila

Her story

Sukhvinder Javeed

A British entrepreneur and author from Leeds. She invented the MilkySnugz baby bottle comforter, co-founded SPHYNX Tequila, was a housemate on Big Brother UK in 2017, and wrote 33 Laws to Make a Hoe a Housewife.

The 1970s

Roots in Yorkshire

I was born in Leeds. Working-class, Sikh Jatt, into a culture with very firm ideas about what a woman like me was for. I had other plans.

DEDICATION

To my father, who prayed for a girl and bought the whole pub drinks when I arrived - you saw my power before I even knew I had it.

To every woman who refused to stay small,
To every man brave enough to grow alongside unstealable women. And to the next generation who will inherit a world where power and love coexist.

This is your revolution.

33 Laws to Make a Hoe a Housewife, Page 4

The 1980s

The playground chase

Fate first brought us together at Scott Hall Middle School in Leeds 7. It was an innocent era of childhood crushes and playground games.

A determined eight-year-old Sukhvinder set her sights on Imran, playfully chasing him around the schoolyard. However, a young Imran wasn't quite ready for romance and remained delightfully uninterested.

SPHYNX, the story of the brand

I was seven years old when my aunty looked at my mother and said, "You need to keep her quiet, she talks too much." Without missing a beat, I looked at my mum and said, "Don't let her tell you how to raise me. I'm magic."

33 Laws to Make a Hoe a Housewife, Page 5
Sukhvinder and Imran Javeed, both in black, each holding a SPHYNX decanter in front of a stone distillery wall
Sukhvinder and Imran Javeed, over 30 years married. Photo: SPHYNX Tequila

1995

Reconnection and a secret vow

I married across religion before anyone was quick enough to tell me I couldn't. Thirty years later, people are still trying to work out how it lasted. They're welcome to keep trying.

On September 11th, 1995, we took a leap of faith and entered into a secret marriage.

SPHYNX, the story of the brand

Imran is Muslim. Sukhvinder is Sikh.

PERSONAL REVELATION

I was never the quiet girl. I didn’t water myself down. I was bold, vocal, visibly married at 18, visibly a mother at 19, visibly in love with a man they never approved of. I had a mortgage before most of them could spell equity. While they watched and whispered, I built.

33 Laws to Make a Hoe a Housewife, Page 103

The 2000s

Weathering the storm

We faced immense pressure and prejudice from family members who disapproved of a Muslim and a Sikh marrying. They told us it wouldn't last, casting dark clouds of racism and negativity over our relationship.

We lived in a humble back-to-back house in Harehills, Leeds. Times were tough, and the daily struggles were real, but we refused to give up.

SPHYNX, the story of the brand

My twenties would have flattened most people. Two babies. Postnatal depression nobody diagnosed, in a decade nobody discussed it. A degree I put myself through anyway. Two children in private education from the ages of one and three, every fee earned, every year, all the way to eighteen. I wasn't surviving underneath all of that. I was building.

PERSONAL REVELATION

They wanted me docile. Pretty. Palatable. Easy to ignore. I was born into a culture where women were groomed for silence, built for service, and expected to shrink. But I was never made to fit inside someone else’s design.

I broke every rule. Married outside expectation. Raised children while building empires. Walked through gossip, betrayal, religious condemnation and still stood tall.

33 Laws to Make a Hoe a Housewife, Page 21
The MilkySnugz range: six plush animal comforters, each holding a baby bottle
Photo: MilkySnugz

2012

MilkySnugz

In my thirties I invented a baby bottle comforter, MilkySnugz. I didn't wait for permission to make it real. I flew to China, took it from idea to product, and got it into Tesco, Mothercare and Toys R Us, with exports to the USA, Russia and South Africa. A working-class girl from Leeds, selling her own invention across three continents.

PREFACE: THE REVOLUTION BEGINS

This book was born from a simple observation that echoes through every generation, we've been playing by rules that were never designed for us to win.

I built my first real business by flying to China at 32, proving that ambition recognises no expiration date. While others my age were settling into "realistic" expectations and accepting society's timeline, I was just getting started.

33 Laws to Make a Hoe a Housewife, Page 8
MilkySnugz award badges, among them Theo Paphitis's Small Business Sunday
Small Business Sunday winner, 2013. Entrepreneur of the Year, 2015.

2017

Triumphs and television

In 2017, we decided it was time to share our story. We appeared on the UK's Big Brother, not for fame, but to show the world—and those in Leeds who once doubted us—the true power of our love.

SPHYNX, the story of the brand

They walked in together, husband and wife, on day one. On day 12 the public voted Imran out. She went after him, and walked out of the front door beside him, the first housemate ever to leave that way.

Then I made history on Big Brother UK. A civilian who walked in and walked out a name. People queued up to tell me what to say, how to sit, when to soften.

PERSONAL REVELATION

I wasn’t born into power I carved it through defiance. I was told to sit down, be less, stay silent and I roared instead. But over time, I learned the real flex wasn’t just being loud, it was being unshakeable. I became magnetic not by chasing status, but by mastering self-command. I walked into rooms where I was underestimated and left those rooms unforgettable. I didn’t wait for someone to give me the mic, I became the moment.

33 Laws to Make a Hoe a Housewife, Page 75
Sukhvinder Javeed in big black sunglasses, holding the SPHYNX Cristalino decanter
Photo: SPHYNX Tequila

2023

Our love in a bottle

I should have walked straight onto panels and primetime sofas. Instead I had people who'd never built a thing in their lives trying to manage my mouth. So I stopped asking, and built a tequila brand with my husband instead: SPHYNX, whose Cristalino Añejo took Bronze at the IWSC in 2025.

The SPHYNX Cristalino Añejo decanter, a clear glass cat's head with blue ears

From 2018 to 2023, we made multiple trips to distilleries across Guadalajara, searching for the singular tequila that embodied our love story.

SPHYNX, the story of the brand

To my husband, the man who chose to build an empire beside me instead of asking me to shrink. You didn't just support my vision. You became part of it.

To my children, the next generation of sovereigns. You are the reason I burned every script handed to me and wrote new laws in fire. You will inherit freedom, not silence.

33 Laws to Make a Hoe a Housewife, Page 159

Now

I never hid

Three decades of boardrooms, betrayal, two religions, and the kind of family warfare that sends most people into hiding. I never hid. I walk into rooms built to shrink me and leave them rearranged.

A product that crossed oceans. A spirit with my name behind it. A marriage that outlasted every prediction. And one book, where I finally wrote down how I see what I see.

Too much for the mediocre. Just enough for the throne.

Unstealable. Unapologetic. Unforgettable.

33 Laws to Make a Hoe a Housewife, Page 161
Get the book

Paperback £19.98. Hardback £35.00. Free UK delivery.

The facts

From
Leeds, England
Known for
MilkySnugz, SPHYNX Tequila, Big Brother UK 2017, 33 Laws to Make a Hoe a Housewife
Television
Big Brother UK, series 18, Channel 5, 2017
Awards
Entrepreneur of the Year, British Indian Awards 2015
Small Business Sunday winner, chosen by Theo Paphitis, 2013
IWSC Bronze 2025, SPHYNX Cristalino Añejo
Companies
SPHYNX Tequila, co-founder
Downhall Consulting Ltd, director since 2022
SnapImported Ltd (MilkySnugz), director 2010 to 2021
Studied at
Leeds Metropolitan University
Elsewhere
Instagram @sukhyjaveed

The timeline

  1. 1980sMeets Imran at Scott Hall Middle School, Leeds 7.
  2. 1995Marries Imran Javeed, across religion, in secret, on 11 September.
  3. 1997Their daughter is born.
  4. 2001Their son is born.
  5. 2010Sets up SnapImported Ltd, the company behind MilkySnugz.
  6. 2011Flies to China to find a factory for her invention.
  7. 2012Launches MilkySnugz, a baby bottle comforter.
  8. 2013Named a Small Business Sunday winner by Theo Paphitis.
  9. 2015Entrepreneur of the Year at the British Indian Awards. MilkySnugz is stocked by Tesco, Mothercare and Toys R Us.
  10. 2017Enters the Big Brother UK house with Imran on 5 June, series 18 on Channel 5. Walks out beside him on day 12, the first housemate to leave through the front door.
  11. 2022Becomes a director of Downhall Consulting Ltd.
  12. 2023Launches SPHYNX Tequila with Imran in March.
  13. 2025SPHYNX Cristalino Añejo wins Bronze at the International Wine & Spirit Competition.
  14. NowPublishes 33 Laws to Make a Hoe a Housewife.

What people ask

Who is Sukhvinder Javeed?
Sukhvinder Javeed is a British entrepreneur and author from Leeds. She invented the MilkySnugz baby bottle comforter, co-founded SPHYNX Tequila with her husband Imran, was a housemate on Big Brother UK in 2017, and wrote the book 33 Laws to Make a Hoe a Housewife.
Who is Sukhvinder Javeed married to?
Imran Javeed. They met at Scott Hall Middle School in Leeds and married in secret on 11 September 1995. She is Sikh and he is Muslim, and their families disapproved. They have a daughter and a son, and run SPHYNX Tequila together.
Was Sukhvinder Javeed on Big Brother?
Yes. She was a housemate in Big Brother UK series 18, shown on Channel 5 in 2017, with her husband Imran. She entered on 5 June and walked out on day 12, 16 June 2017, when he was evicted. She was the first housemate to walk out of the house through the front door.
What did Sukhvinder Javeed invent?
MilkySnugz, a baby bottle comforter she launched in 2012. She travelled to China to find a factory, and the product was stocked by Tesco, Mothercare and Toys R Us, with exports to the USA, Russia and South Africa. Theo Paphitis named it a Small Business Sunday winner in 2013.
What is SPHYNX Tequila?
A premium tequila brand she co-founded with her husband, Imran Javeed. It launched in March 2023, and its Cristalino Añejo won a Bronze medal at the International Wine & Spirit Competition (IWSC) in 2025.
What is 33 Laws to Make a Hoe a Housewife about?
It's a framework for understanding power in relationships and in life: who holds it, who hands it away, and why. It sets out 33 laws across 8 parts, from reclaiming power to building legacy, and is sold at sukhvinderjaveed.uk in paperback and hardback.
Where is Sukhvinder Javeed from?
Leeds, in West Yorkshire. She grew up in a working-class Sikh Jatt family and studied at Leeds Metropolitan University.

Sources

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