Name: Clotilde Chohan

Business(es): Canterbury Road Consultants Ltd and Discover Whitstable

Location: Whitstable

Founded: 2026

➡️ What does your business do, and who do you help?

I am the founder of Canterbury Road Consultants and Discover Whitstable (https://discoverwhitstable.co.uk) - two businesses connected by a common purpose: helping organisations and places grow through better experiences, stronger connectivity and customer-focused thinking.

For over 25 years, I have worked in business transformation, customer strategy and operational improvement across large private and public sector organisations, with roles in global consulting firms such as Capgemini, KPMG, Sopra Steria and Baringa. My work has focused on helping organisations improve customer experience, modernise operations, align strategy with delivery and create sustainable growth.

Fourteen months ago, I relocated to Whitstable and decided to build something closer to home and closer to the communities and businesses I wanted to support directly.

That led to the creation of Canterbury Road Consultants, through which I help SMEs and organisations with customer strategy, operational transformation, service improvement and growth planning - bringing large-scale consulting experience into a more practical and accessible local business context.

At the same time, my own move to Whitstable highlighted a different opportunity. Despite being one of Kent’s most loved coastal towns, information about Whitstable - where to stay, eat, explore, shop and experience events - was highly fragmented across multiple websites and channels.

That insight led me to launch Discover Whitstable, a visitor-first digital platform designed to become the most comprehensive, current and useful guide to the town.

The platform helps visitors discover more of Whitstable whilst helping local businesses increase visibility and attract more year-round footfall and spending. But the vision goes beyond tourism promotion alone.

I believe coastal towns like Whitstable have enormous untapped potential if businesses, local authorities, transport providers, technology partners and communities work more collaboratively around shared goals rather than in silos.

Discover Whitstable was created to support:

The response so far has been incredibly encouraging. The platform is attracting growing visitor interest, positive engagement from local businesses and support from local stakeholders who recognise the wider opportunity for Whitstable and the Kent coast more broadly.

Both businesses are ultimately about helping people and places thrive - whether that is through supporting a local business with growth and transformation, or helping create a stronger future for Whitstable through a more connected and collaborative destination experience.

➡️ What sparked the idea for your business?

The spark behind Canterbury Road Consultants came from a desire to continue doing the work I have loved for over 25 years — helping organisations grow, transform and improve customer experiences — but with a renewed sense of personal purpose and values.

Following significant personal life events, I began rethinking where and how I wanted to live my life. After just two visits to Whitstable during peak season, I had completely fallen in love with the town and decided to make it my new home 14 months ago.

Whilst I fully intended to continue my consulting career, the move also made me realise I wanted to focus more closely on supporting local businesses and communities where possible, bringing the experience and expertise I had developed in large corporate and public sector environments into a more local and accessible context.

That became the foundation for Canterbury Road Consultants.

The spark for Discover Whitstable (https://discoverwhitstable.co.uk) came as I prepared for my move and tried to familiarise myself with the town.

What struck me was how fragmented the information available about Whitstable was. Discovering the town mostly came through conversations with local businesses and residents, chance encounters, scattered resources and disconnected online sources. Despite Whitstable being such a well-loved destination, there was no single platform or resource that truly captured the richness, personality and breadth of what the town offers.

That was the moment the connection between my professional experience, my personal journey and the opportunity I could see for Whitstable crystalised into a clear direction.

Having spent years helping organisations improve customer journeys and connect fragmented experiences, I could immediately see the potential for a far more comprehensive, current and visitor-led platform that could better represent Whitstable, inspire visitors to discover more of it, and help support local businesses and the wider coastal economy in the process.

I also became increasingly aware of the challenges faced by many coastal towns outside peak season - quieter weekdays, reduced trading hours and businesses struggling to maintain year-round momentum despite the area’s popularity and potential.

Discover Whitstable was created to help address that challenge by encouraging longer stays, more sustainable year-round visits and greater visibility for the town’s independent businesses and experiences.

Both Canterbury Road Consultants and Discover Whitstable are rooted in the same purpose: creating stronger connections between people, businesses, ideas and opportunities in ways that improve experiences, encourage collaboration and help local places and communities thrive.

If Discover Whitstable and Canterbury Road Consultants can play even a small role in helping businesses grow, supporting coastal communities, encouraging collaboration and accelerating positive change locally, then that feels deeply meaningful to me.

➡️ How did you win your very first customers?

The very early stages of Discover Whitstable have been less about “selling” in the traditional sense and more about building relationships, trust and visibility within the community.

Although I am only now moving into the first formal commercial stage of the platform, the response from local businesses so far has been incredibly encouraging. Some businesses have proactively approached me after discovering the platform, whilst others have responded very positively to conversations about the vision and opportunity behind it.

I made a conscious decision early on to focus first on building something tangible and valuable before formally commercialising the platform. That meant investing time into developing the platform itself, showcasing local businesses and experiences, growing visitor interest organically and understanding what visitors are actually looking for when planning time in Whitstable.

Part of that investment was also deeply personal. I wanted to immerse myself in the local community and understand the stories, ambitions and generosity behind many of the organisations and businesses that shape the town. That included learning about cafés supporting mental wellbeing initiatives, churches and community spaces bringing people together, and organisations supporting elderly residents and vulnerable groups. Discover Whitstable does not charge selected local charities and community organisations to be represented on the platform because I believe they are an important part of what makes a place truly meaningful and welcoming.

At the same time, I have been putting the operational foundations in place to support sustainable growth — shaping subscription packages, creating onboarding processes, setting up payment system and building a CRM structure to manage long-term relationships and engagement properly.

Some of the warmest leads so far have actually come from businesses I have already featured organically on Discover Whitstable. Being able to show them how their business can appear within curated visitor content, destination guides and seasonal themes has helped bring the value proposition to life far more effectively than a traditional sales pitch alone.

The platform is not simply a directory listing. The vision is to create an evolving digital shopfront for Whitstable itself — one shaped around real visitor interests, search trends, local storytelling and continuous insight into how people explore and experience the town.

I also believe that relationships matter enormously, especially within local business communities. Much of the momentum so far has come through genuine conversations, physical presence in the town, curiosity about people’s stories and ambitions, and a willingness to listen before trying to sell anything.

Professionally, I think my experience helps me see both the immediate practical needs of businesses and the bigger strategic picture of where Whitstable and the wider coastal economy could go. But equally important is being approachable, collaborative and genuinely invested in helping others succeed.

For me, each commercial conversation feels less like an individual transaction and more like a shared step towards building something beneficial for the wider community and local economy.

Of course, commercial success matters because it enables Discover Whitstable to continue growing and evolving. But the real reward is seeing the vision begin to take shape — businesses connecting more visibly with visitors, partnerships emerging, and the wider ecosystem I imagined starting to come to life in practical ways.

➡️ What do you enjoy most about running your own business day to day?

What I enjoy most about running my own business is the sense of freedom and ownership that comes with it — the feeling that I am now actively shaping my own direction, ambitions and way of life.

After many years working in large organisations and demanding consulting environments, there is something incredibly rewarding about building something that feels deeply personal, values-driven and connected to the community around me.

Day to day, that enjoyment comes from two things in particular.

The first is the constant learning. Building Discover Whitstable and Canterbury Road Consultants has pushed me to develop entirely new skills at a fast pace — from digital platforms and SEO to content creation, back-office systems, subscription processes, CRM setup, operational design and workflow efficiency.

I genuinely enjoy that process of continuous learning because it feels empowering. Every new capability I build creates more independence, more confidence and stronger foundations for future growth. Even relatively small things, such as improving a business process or automating part of the operational workload, feel meaningful because they create more time and space to focus on the parts of the business that matter most.

The second thing I enjoy is the people.

One of the biggest gifts of this journey has been the opportunity to meet local business owners, community leaders, residents and wider ecosystem partners, hear their stories and better understand what drives them, what challenges they face and what they care about.

I have always been naturally curious, and running my own businesses gives me the freedom to follow that curiosity in ways that often spark new ideas, collaborations and opportunities. Many of the best conversations happen informally — walking through the town, attending local events, meeting people unexpectedly or simply stopping to talk to someone about their business or their connection to Whitstable.

Those relationships feel meaningful because they are rooted in genuine human connection rather than purely transactional interactions.

And perhaps the real “cherry on the cake” is that all of this happens within the place I now call home.

Running Discover Whitstable gives me a reason to constantly explore the town and surrounding coastlines with fresh eyes — discovering places I had not noticed before, capturing moments through photos and videos, observing how people experience the town and continuing to deepen my own connection to the area.

Even after 14 months living here, Whitstable still surprises me regularly, and I think that ongoing sense of discovery is part of what keeps both the business and my own enthusiasm evolving every day.

➡️ What has been the toughest challenge you have faced as a business owner so far?

The toughest challenge so far has probably been accepting two things at the same time: firstly, just how steep the learning curve would be in building Discover Whitstable from scratch; and secondly, that I needed to invest significantly in the idea personally before expecting others to invest in it commercially.

Although I come from a strong consulting and transformation background, building a destination platform is incredibly multi-disciplinary. It involves technology, content creation, branding, digital marketing, SEO, customer journeys, photography, community engagement, partnerships, business development and operational setup — often all happening simultaneously.

From the beginning, I wanted Discover Whitstable to feel authentic and genuinely representative of the town rather than become a generic tourism site. Much of the content, photography, storytelling and curation comes directly from my own experiences exploring Whitstable, meeting people, attending events and discovering places firsthand.

That authenticity matters enormously to me because I believe people connect most strongly with places through real stories, experiences and human connections.

At the same time, I also knew I needed to move at pace to turn the vision into something tangible quickly enough to test the concept and build momentum. That meant embracing technology and AI where it genuinely added value — helping accelerate the development of the platform, streamline content production, shape operational processes and build the foundations of the business whilst keeping capital investment manageable.

The learning journey was intense and fast-moving, but also incredibly energising. In many ways, it reinforced my belief that smaller businesses and founders now have opportunities to build and scale ideas much faster than previously possible if they are willing to learn continuously and adapt quickly.

The second major challenge has been the financial reality that many startups face: balancing belief in the vision with the practical need to fund and sustain the business.

So far, Discover Whitstable has been entirely self-funded. I made a deliberate decision not to rush commercial activity too early because I wanted to ensure the platform was credible, valuable and mature enough before asking businesses or partners to invest in becoming part of it.

That meant personally carrying much of the upfront investment in time, energy and cost whilst building the initial platform, audience, relationships and operational foundations.

I am now reaching the stage where commercial success becomes essential — not simply for the sustainability of the business itself, but because it enables the next phase of the vision: growing Discover Whitstable into a more powerful long-term platform supporting businesses, visitors, partnerships and wider coastal growth.

Despite the challenges, I remain optimistic. The relationships, encouragement and support I have built within the local community and business ecosystem so far give me confidence that others can see the opportunity too.

I genuinely believe Discover Whitstable has the potential to become something meaningful not only for the town, but as part of a wider conversation about how coastal communities can grow more sustainably, collaboratively and successfully in the future.

➡️ What moment has made you feel most proud of your business?

I think the proudest moment so far has not been one single milestone, but the growing evidence that Discover Whitstable is genuinely beginning to resonate with people — both visitors and the local community - despite being only a few months into its journey.

The platform has been live for around three months, and during that time I have seen visitor interest grow steadily and organically. Weekly search impressions are now reaching around 1,200 and continuing to grow, with Discover Whitstable increasingly appearing on the first page of Google for a number of Whitstable-related searches without paid advertising.

As someone who built the platform from scratch, that feels incredibly rewarding because it reflects the amount of time spent understanding what people are genuinely searching for, refining content continuously and improving the visitor experience and SEO as the platform evolves.

I have also been encouraged by the increasing engagement levels. Click-through rates from Google searches are now regularly above 4%, reaching around 7% on some days, which tells me that people are not just seeing the platform — they are actively choosing to engage with it.

One feature that has been particularly exciting to watch grow is the Discover Whitstable weekend events calendar. I now publish a curated weekend guide each week both on the website and via Instagram, alongside forward-looking content highlighting what is coming up in the months ahead.

During the first May bank holiday weekend alone, more than 1,200 people viewed the events calendar content on Instagram.

In the context of large social media platforms those numbers may seem modest, but what matters to me is the quality and intent of the audience. The people engaging with Discover Whitstable are typically either already visiting the town or actively planning a trip, meaning they are highly likely to act on the recommendations, businesses and events they discover through the platform.

That is where real value for local businesses starts to emerge.

Another proud moment has been seeing local businesses begin to approach me proactively wanting to learn more about partnerships and subscriptions, with some already progressing through onboarding conversations. That early validation means a great deal because it suggests the wider vision behind the platform is being recognised and understood.

On a more personal level, one of the things I value most is the feeling of connection and belonging that has grown alongside the business.

As someone relatively new to Whitstable, I did not know whether the town would embrace what I was trying to build. The encouragement, conversations, introductions and support I have received from local businesses, residents and community groups have made me feel that the vision is being heard and shared by others too.

That sense of collective belief is probably what makes me feel proudest of all.

➡️ Have any mentors, role models, or other business owners influenced your journey?

Absolutely. One of the things that has struck me most since moving to Kent is how generous and supportive the local business community can be when people genuinely believe in what you are trying to build.

A particularly important influence on my journey has been the Active Business Group, which I joined in December whilst looking to build local connections in an area where I initially knew very few people.

The group has been incredibly welcoming, supportive and encouraging from the outset. Beyond regular weekly meetings, members have consistently offered practical help, introductions, feedback and encouragement whenever needed — whether that was printing marketing material, connecting me to valuable local contacts, sharing expertise or facilitating mentoring conversations.

As someone building a business and a new life in parallel, that support has meant far more than simple networking. It created a sense of belonging and confidence at a time when both were incredibly valuable.

I would particularly like to mention Sarah Hawes of Izzy PR, who has been an invaluable business buddy and exceptionally generous with her encouragement and introductions.

I would also like to recognise Wesley Baker, local author and founder of a travel operator and media group, who gave thoughtful and constructive feedback on the original design and structure of Discover Whitstable. His perspective helped me rethink aspects of the platform’s usability, visitor journey and visual presentation at an important stage in its development.

I am also grateful to representatives from Canterbury City Council and Visit Canterbury who have been open to conversations around collaboration, connectivity and the wider opportunities for supporting Whitstable and the Kent coast more strategically.

And finally, my biggest thanks probably go to the wider Whitstable business and community network itself. So many people have given me their time, shared their stories, listened to the vision behind Discover Whitstable and encouraged me to keep building.

For someone who arrived in the town only 14 months ago, that openness and willingness to engage has been incredibly meaningful, and I genuinely feel that Discover Whitstable is becoming something shaped not just by me, but by the community around it too.

➡️ If you were starting your business again today, what would you do differently?

Because I am still relatively early in the journey, I honestly do not spend much time looking back with major regrets or thinking I should have done things completely differently.

One thing I have learned is that building a business is rarely a straight line. Both Canterbury Road Consultants and Discover Whitstable have evolved continuously as I have learned more, met more people and better understood the opportunities and challenges around me.
If anything, I think one of the best decisions I made was allowing the vision to evolve rather than trying to force everything into a fixed plan too early.

I have tried to approach the journey with a combination of pace, discipline and openness — embracing new challenges as they emerged, learning new skills quickly, making good use of available technology and support networks, and staying flexible enough to adapt as the businesses developed.
That has meant everything from learning new digital tools and operational systems to building processes, content, partnerships and community relationships simultaneously whilst still making space to enjoy the journey itself.

Of course, like many founders, there is always an awareness of the need to create long-term financial sustainability. Building Discover Whitstable has involved significant personal investment upfront before reaching the commercial stage.
But I also felt strongly that I needed to build something credible, valuable and authentic before actively asking businesses and partners to invest in it.

Now, I feel I am reaching an important transition point where the foundations, relationships and audience growth are aligning with the next commercial stage of the journey.

More than anything, I think this experience has reinforced the importance of staying curious, adaptable and connected to people. Every conversation, challenge and new skill learned has shaped the direction of the businesses in positive ways, and I still feel very energised about what comes next.

➡️ What are you most proud of building so far, and what is next for the business?

What I am most proud of building so far is not simply the platform itself, but the foundations of something that feels genuinely meaningful, connected and capable of creating long-term value for Whitstable and potentially the wider Kent coast.

In a relatively short period of time, Discover Whitstable has evolved from an idea into a growing visitor platform attracting increasing organic visibility, engagement and support from both visitors and local businesses. Seeing the platform appear on the first page of Google searches, watching visitor engagement grow week after week and seeing local businesses proactively reach out to explore partnerships has been incredibly encouraging.

I am particularly proud that the platform has remained authentic throughout that growth. Much of the content, photography, storytelling and curation comes directly from my own experiences exploring the town, meeting business owners, attending events and listening to the local community. I wanted Discover Whitstable to feel personal, human and representative of the real character of the town rather than like a generic tourism website.

I am also proud of the trust and relationships that are beginning to form around the platform. As someone who moved to Whitstable only 14 months ago, building credibility and meaningful local connections mattered enormously to me. The support and encouragement I have received from business owners, community groups and local stakeholders have reinforced my belief that there is appetite for a more connected and collaborative approach to supporting the town and its economy.

Alongside Discover Whitstable, I am equally proud of establishing Canterbury Road Consultants as a way of bringing the strategic and transformation experience I developed over many years in large organisations into a more local context where I can support SMEs and organisations more directly and personally.

What comes next is the stage where the vision starts becoming more scalable and sustainable.

For Discover Whitstable, that means growing the subscriber and partnership base so the platform can continue evolving and delivering greater value to businesses, visitors and the wider ecosystem. It also means expanding the depth of visitor insight, strengthening curated content, developing more partnerships and continuing to improve how different parts of the local experience connect together.

Longer term, I would like Discover Whitstable to become part of a broader model for coastal connectivity and regeneration — demonstrating how businesses, communities, transport providers, local authorities and private sector partners can collaborate more effectively around shared ambitions for place growth and visitor experience.

For Canterbury Road Consultants, the ambition is to continue helping organisations grow and transform sustainably through better customer experiences, operational improvement and more connected thinking — particularly supporting businesses navigating change and growth in challenging environments.

Ultimately, both businesses are connected by the same ambition: helping people, organisations and places thrive through stronger relationships, better experiences and more collaborative ways of working.

I still feel very much at the beginning of the journey, which is both exciting and motivating.

➡️ What makes your way of doing things different?

What makes Discover Whitstable different is that it is not simply a tourism website, directory or advertising platform.

The ambition is to build the first truly comprehensive, curated and continuously evolving digital platform dedicated to Whitstable as a complete destination experience — bringing together places to stay, eat, explore, shop, events, practical information, local stories and seasonal inspiration in one connected visitor journey.

Most destination platforms still operate in fragmented ways, with businesses, organisations and initiatives promoted separately rather than as part of a wider ecosystem. My approach is fundamentally different because it focuses on connectivity as much as visibility.

Rather than building a purely transactional business model, I am trying to create something that connects visitors, residents, businesses, local authorities, transport providers, community organisations and potential private sector partners around shared ambitions for the town.

At its core, Discover Whitstable is visitor-led — designed around how people actually discover, plan and experience places today. But the impact and opportunity extend far beyond tourism alone.

A better connected visitor experience can help:

Importantly, I also see Discover Whitstable as a platform for storytelling and representation. Some of the most meaningful parts of Whitstable are not just its commercial venues, but the people, charities, community organisations and local initiatives that give the town its character and sense of belonging.

My professional background in customer transformation also shapes the way I approach the platform. I naturally think in terms of journeys, ecosystems, operating models, partnerships and long-term value creation rather than isolated marketing activity.

That means I am constantly thinking about how different parts of the local experience connect together — digitally, physically and economically — and how collaboration can create far greater value collectively than individual efforts operating in isolation.

In many ways, the model is less about building a conventional tourism business and more about creating a connected platform that helps a place thrive more sustainably over time.

I genuinely do not believe that kind of connected, ecosystem-led approach currently exists at this scale or in this form for Whitstable or many coastal towns more broadly.

➡️ Can you share an example of a customer, project or job that sums up what you do well?

One example that probably best captures what I do well is how Discover Whitstable has started supporting local independent businesses in practical, highly personal ways rather than through a purely transactional advertising model.

Early on, I discovered a small retail business in Whitstable located in an area with strong visitor footfall during peak season. The products were genuinely beautiful — unique, handcrafted and deeply connected to the character of the coast — and I found myself returning several times as a customer because the owner’s passion was so evident.

As I got to know the business owner through conversation, I began to see both the strengths of the business and some of the challenges many independent businesses face: limited time, limited digital visibility and little capacity to actively market themselves online despite having something genuinely distinctive to offer.

That is where my consulting background naturally came into play alongside the Discover Whitstable vision.

I could quickly see how the platform could help showcase the business more effectively through curated content, destination recommendations and stronger digital presentation. I created an initial feature for the business on Discover Whitstable, included it within broader visitor-focused content and shared examples with the owner to demonstrate what greater visibility could look like were they to become a subscribing partner, without requiring significant effort or investment from them upfront.

The encouraging part is that the business is already attracting regular clicks and visibility through Discover Whitstable, which I can track and share back as evidence of growing interest.

For me, success does not necessarily start with huge numbers. If Discover Whitstable helps even one additional visitor discover an independent business they would otherwise have missed whilst researching what to do in Whitstable, that matters. Small visibility gains, repeated consistently across many businesses, can collectively make a meaningful economic difference over time.

At a broader level, another example of the way I work has been my effort to connect local ambitions with wider strategic opportunities around coastal regeneration, tourism and economic development.

Alongside building the platform itself, I have spent significant time meeting local authority representatives, attending community meetings and events, engaging with established local businesses and learning from people who know Whitstable and the Kent coast deeply.

At the same time, I have also been exploring how private sector organisations investing in connectivity, infrastructure and place-based growth could align with local ambitions that are often constrained by limited public funding and fragmented delivery structures.

What interests me most is helping connect those dots — bringing together local businesses, communities, public sector priorities and private sector capabilities in ways that create shared value rather than isolated initiatives.

In many ways, those two examples reflect the two levels at which I naturally operate: supporting individual businesses in practical and immediate ways, whilst also thinking strategically about how wider ecosystems, partnerships and shared ambitions can help local places thrive more sustainably over the long term.

➡️ What is one thing people often misunderstand about your industry or the work you do?

In management consulting and business transformation, I think it's the language used that can sometimes sound abstract or overly corporate, especially to smaller businesses or people outside that environment, making it difficult for people to understand what I do.

When people hear terms like “customer strategy”, “operating model” or “business transformation”, it can understandably feel like jargon disconnected from day-to-day reality. In practice, though, the work is usually very simple at its core: understanding what people need, identifying what is preventing a business or organisation from performing at its best, and helping create practical ways to improve experiences, operations and growth.

A lot of my work has always been about connecting the dots between people, processes, technology and strategy in ways that make life easier for customers, employees and organisations alike.

I think that mindset also carries directly into Discover Whitstable.

One thing I am very conscious of is ensuring the platform is not perceived as “just another directory website”. There are already many platforms that simply list businesses or places.

What I am trying to build instead is a comprehensive, curated and continuously evolving visitor platform — one designed around how people genuinely discover and experience places today.

That means following the rhythm of the seasons, understanding changing visitor interests, curating content around real experiences and helping people uncover more of Whitstable in meaningful ways rather than simply presenting static information.

Ultimately, whether through consulting or Discover Whitstable, the work I enjoy most is helping create stronger connections — between people, businesses, experiences and opportunities — in ways that feel practical, human and valuable.

➡️ What advice would you give to someone in Kent who is thinking about starting their own business?

My instinctive advice would probably be: just do it.

There will rarely be a perfect moment, perfect plan or perfect level of confidence before starting a business. At some point, if the idea genuinely excites you and keeps pulling you back, you have to trust yourself enough to begin.

That said, I think one of the most important things you can do is surround yourself with people who genuinely want to support you, encourage you and challenge you constructively without judging your ambitions.

Building a business can feel emotionally demanding at times, especially in the early stages, and having the right people around you makes an enormous difference. I have personally experienced that through local business networks such as the Active Business Group and through many of the connections I have built within the Kent business community since moving here.

I would also say: trust your instincts and passions, but allow your thinking to evolve as the business develops. Some of the best ideas become stronger through real conversations, experimentation and learning along the way rather than trying to define everything perfectly from day one.

Perfection can easily become the enemy of progress. I strongly believe in applying an “80/20” mindset — focus on creating something valuable, credible and useful, then improve continuously as you learn.

The world is moving incredibly quickly, particularly with technology and AI now giving small businesses access to tools and capabilities that previously only large organisations could afford. My advice would absolutely be to embrace those technologies. They can accelerate learning, reduce costs, improve productivity and help founders bring ideas to life much faster than before.

Most importantly though, I would say: believe.

Believe in yourself, believe in your idea if it genuinely feels meaningful to you, believe in your ability to learn and adapt, and believe in the people around you who want to help you succeed.

Starting a business will almost certainly challenge you, but it can also be one of the most rewarding and transformative journeys you ever take.

➡️ What is your favourite place in Kent to grab a coffee, take a break, or find inspiration?

I am still relatively new to Kent and continue to enjoy discovering new places across the county, but in Whitstable my favourite spot for coffee, inspiration and a moment to reset has to be Revival Food and Mood.

There is something incredibly welcoming and uplifting about the atmosphere there. It is one of those places where you can comfortably spend time thinking, working, meeting people or simply observing the life of the town around you whilst enjoying a very good coffee.

What makes it even more meaningful to me is the purpose behind it. Revival is not just a café — it is a community-focused space that actively supports mental wellbeing and creates positive social impact locally. Knowing that every purchase contributes towards something genuinely valuable for the community gives the place an added sense of warmth and purpose.

As someone building businesses rooted in connection, community and local impact, I find that environment particularly inspiring. Many ideas, conversations and moments of reflection linked to Discover Whitstable have probably started there over a coffee.

➡️ Is there anything we haven't asked that you'd love people to know about you or your business?

More than anything, I would love people to know that Discover Whitstable is being built with genuine care for the town, its people and its future.

Although the platform uses technology, insight and digital tools, at its heart it is really about human connection — helping people discover places they might otherwise miss, supporting independent businesses, encouraging collaboration and contributing in some small way to a thriving and sustainable future for coastal communities.

I still feel incredibly grateful that Whitstable became my home, and one of the most rewarding parts of this journey has been the warmth, openness and encouragement I have received from the local community since arriving here.

If Discover Whitstable can help more people fall in love with the town in the same way I did, whilst supporting the businesses and people who make it special, then I will feel I have achieved something meaningful— and I would love others who share that vision to be part of the journey too.

You can contact Clotilde here:

Email: [email protected]
Phone: 07889 423754
Website: DiscoverWhitstable.co.uk
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clotilde-chohan-clo-195b832/
Instagram: @discoverwhitstable

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