In this episode of Be Anomalous, I sit down with Devreet Dulay, a Canadian-born entrepreneur whose nonlinear path spans real estate, fashion retail, tech startups, and now her own AI consultancy. From growing up in a South Asian immigrant community in Surrey, BC, to moving to San Francisco with nothing but a one-way ticket and intuition, Devreet’s story is about trusting your inner voice — even when it makes no sense on paper.
We talk about what it means to grow up thinking you’re the majority, how sports and immigrant parents shaped her grit, and why saying “no” can be just as powerful as chasing every opportunity. Devreet opens up about betting on herself, manifesting her dream job in Silicon Valley, walking away from it, and launching her own venture at the forefront of AI.
This episode is about risk, resilience, and redefining what success looks like when you’re the one writing the rules.
🎧 Listen to the episode
Spotify | Apple Podcasts
What You’ll Learn
Why growing up in a South Asian-majority community shaped her perspective on identity
How sports, strict parents, and loopholes built her drive
The lessons from balancing retail, real estate, and school all at once
What she learned from five years at Aritzia, and how consistency became her edge
The power of showing up 100% — even when you don’t know what’s next
How she said no to “safe” job offers and manifested her way into Silicon Valley
What it’s really like to be employee #2 at an AI startup during the boom
Why did she walk away to prioritize wellness, travel, and her own company
Practical ways founders can start using AI now, without overwhelm
Favorite Quote
“When you go after fulfilling your personal legend, everything in the universe conspires to help you achieve it.”
— The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favorite Book
📖 The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
In This Episode, We Cover:
(00:00) Name, meaning, and identity
(02:00) Growing up in Surrey, BC in a South Asian-majority community
(05:00) Ignorance as protection and learning about minority status later
(07:00) Parents, expectations, and loopholes to independence
(09:00) Deciding between medicine, business, and basketball
(12:00) Early advice for young students: talk to people and be curious
(13:00) Starting in real estate while juggling school and retail
(14:00) Five years at Aritzia: client lists, sales, and consistency
(17:00) Internship at Aritzia HQ during COVID and learning store ops
(20:00) Competing, showing up, and building a reputation
(23:00) Real estate lessons: thick skin and long games
(27:00) The one-way ticket to San Francisco and a crash course in networking
(30:00) Why she turned down safe offers and set a deadline for herself
(34:00) Landing her dream job as employee #2 at an AI startup
(41:00) Lessons learned, stress, and scaling
(43:00) Walking away from the dream job and living in Europe
(46:00) Starting Internal Automations to help businesses build an AI strategy
(47:00) Practical AI tools: note takers, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini
(50:00) Five-year vision: wellness, balance, and building with intention
(53:00) Saying no, trusting intuition, and building the muscle of risk
(55:00) What she’d tell her younger self
(57:00) Favorite book and quote
Where to Find Devreet
Referenced in This Episode
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Aritzia
Clerky (startup formation platform)
WeWork San Francisco
Perplexity, Gemini, ChatGPT
Internal Automations.
