About Shweta Aggarwal
Shweta Aggarwal is an author, speaker, and leading anti-colourism activist confronting one of the world’s most normalised yet unspoken forms of discrimination. Through her work, she challenges deeply ingrained bias and advocates for those affected by colourism. Her insights have been featured in Psychology Today, Brown Girl Magazine, and She The People TV, and she has delivered talks for organisations including Ernst & Young, the NHS, Linklaters and New York University.
Before focusing on social advocacy, Shweta built a celebrated creative career. She founded the Bollywood dance company Threebee, leading it to national recognition, including a semi-finalist appearance on Britain’s Got Talent. She is also the author of the Dev and Ollie children’s series, now used in schools and libraries worldwide. In recognition of her contribution to the arts, she received the Asian Women of Achievement Award and was invited by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to Buckingham Palace during the UK–India Year of Culture.
Speaking
At the heart of Shweta’s work is a deeply personal story—one that reflects the lived reality of millions. As the author of ‘The Black Rose: My Story of Colourism Silently Lived by Millions’, Shweta brings raw honesty, lived experience, and transformative insight to every stage she steps onto. Her journey began at just six years old, when she first learned that she “did not live in a fair world,” and grew into a lifelong exploration of identity, bias, and healing.
Through powerful storytelling, she invites audiences to confront uncomfortable truths and rediscover their own worth. As she shares in her book, “Ever wondered what effect persistent bullying has on a six-year-old? Ask a forty-five-year-old. Ask me.” this work is not just about awareness—it’s about transformation. She creates spaces where individuals and organisations can move beyond silence, unpack deeply embedded beliefs, and step into compassion, confidence, and conscious change.
Books
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The Black Rose
By Shweta Aggarwal
$10.89
Shameless
By Shweta Aggarwal
One perfectly curated life. Four secrets. One blackmailer. Naina Danyal’s only option is to become shameless and risk everything.
Personal Coaching
to reclaim your strength
For people who want to write, speak or rebuild confidence after difficult life experiences, Shweta offers thoughtful 1:1 mentoring shaped by her own journey. Sessions can support confidence, self-expression, writing discipline and finding your voice.
Support for Writers
Develop the discipline, mindset, and inner belief needed to pursue your creative goals.
Transform Pain into Power
Turn past wounds into a source of self-awareness and personal power.
Write with Authenticity
Find your voice, your value, and the courage to own your story.
Confidence & Self-Worth
Reconnect with yourself and find the courage to fully show up in life.
Testimonials
In the Media
I come from two Indias: one that worships Goddess Kali, one that taunts you for being dark-skinned (calling you kali (black) as a taunt). I come from two Indias: one that complains about being colonised, one that is obsessed with being fair-skinned and proximity to whiteness. I come from two Indias: one that beat colonialism, one that can’t seem to shake of colourism – inspired by Vir Das.
“The rose resonated with me in more way than I can describe. It was different in its rosebush. I was different in my family. And people around me didn’t hesitate to remind me. My complexion didn’t match the rest of my family’s, that was undeniable. But was it such a punishable crime to be different from them. Like the rose, was this the real reason for my exclusion from my family? I couldn’t help but wonder whether The Wicked Man was right, whether I was the black rose.” —from The Black Rose by Shweta Aggarwal
I was a mere 14-year old on the fateful night of 22 April 1993. The night that witnessed black teenager Stephen Lawrence brutally murdered in a racially motivated attack as he waited for a bus. The night that cemented my fear, that the colour of my skin does matter. The same night that confirmed my indifference as a British Asian in the United Kingdom