Entrepreneur to create range of diverse dolls after autistic daughter spots a gap in the market

Olivia Thompson, founder of Akila Dolls, is creating a range of diverse and disability dolls after her daughter, Amira, spotted a gap in the market.
Picture Bruce Rollinson — Olivia Thompson, founder of Akila Dolls, is creating a range of diverse and disability dolls after her daughter, Amira, spotted a gap in the market. Picture Bruce Rollinson

An entrepreneur who left her desk job last year to become a carer for her seven-year-old autistic daughter is launching a new range of children’s dolls after noticing a lack of diversity on the high street.

Olivia Thompson, a single parent who previously worked part time as a receptionist in a law firm in Leeds, has spent the last seven months working with designers and manufacturers to design the first toy, which she hopes will be the first in a long line of diverse and disability dolls under her new business name Akila Dolls.

She made the difficult decision to leave her day job following her daughter’s autism diagnosis last May. “It just got to the point where it was too much,” she said. “I was mentally and physically worn out and the doctor said to me, ‘you’re either going to end up breaking down or you’re going to be dead the way you’re going.”

After leaving her job, Ms Thompson went toy shopping with her daughter, Amira, now seven, and said they both noticed the lack of diverse dolls on the shelves.