25 most read stories of women entrepreneurs in 2014
As we bid adieu to 2014 here is a quick round up of some of the stories of women entrepreneurs and leaders that inspired and motivated us. HerStory brings you the top 25 most read stories this year of women who continue to inspire many.
1) ‘Menstruation is an unspeakable curse!’ says Aditi Gupta, the Founder of Menstrupedia, who has been working relentlessly in her efforts to educate society about menstrual health and hygiene through her website. Aditi’s efforts are commendable, but her journey is even more inspiring. Aditi hails from a semi-urban town called Garhwa in Jharkhand. Growing up in a conservative middle class family, Gupta was familiar with the taboos surrounding menstruation since an early age. “Even today, I feel sorry for the 12-year-old me. Back in 1992, and even today, in many societies, menstruation continues to be an unspeakable curse,” says Aditi.
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2) Arpita Ganesh, known as the ‘Indian Bra Lady’ in the international lingerie circles, is the passionate entrepreneur behind Buttercups. Besides retailing the world’s finest curated lingerie brands, Buttercups has differentiated with the offerings they provide. From personalised sizing, to fitting, to consultations based on your requirements, the venture promises to care for the discerning women clientele it caters to.
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3) ‘My colleagues were shocked. Even my family was very worried for me. At first, they didn’t want me to do it, because they were scared that a girl wanted to go all alone on this journey! But there is no difference between a man and woman. If a man can do it, then there is nothing stopping me from doing it,” says Roshini Sharma. This woman with nerves of steel drove 5453 kilometres from Kanyakumari to Leh by herself and with some pepper spray for good measure.
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4) Sasha Jairam is a photographer whose name is a staple in the fashion industry. This 18-year-old has received a job offer from Vogue. Her work is focused on fashion and fine art photography. “Just click pictures of whatever you find interesting because every moment has to be cherished and every photograph has a story behind it,” she says. Her mother is her main source of inspiration.
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5) Lisa Srao loves the challenge of being the only woman having created a spirits business from scratch in a very male dominated, monopolistic and cut-throat industry. Today she rewrites the rules of the liquor business as the Chairman and Managing Director of I Brands Beverages Ltd, a firm that she founded and started operating in August 2010.
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6) “I don’t remember a time I’ve ever done anything with a fear of failure. Even if I have a bad idea, I say to myself, ‘What’s the worst that could come out of it?’”, says Masoom Minawala, a 21-year-old fashion blogger-turned CEO of a fashion portal, Style Fiesta. Before she discovered fashion, Minawala was a tomboy fussing least about what she wore. Today, her company has turned profitable in its first year of operation.
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7) In an environment already sceptical at best and hostile at worst towards female comedians, many feel the need to consciously perform better, because their work is not only judged on its comedic currency and value, but also on the basis of the genitalia affixed to the comedian. Iman Sheikh is a female comedian from Pakistan who is a big hit in India.
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8) Ambiga Dhiraj, the COO of MuSigma, would only be the first in a long list of women who would help craft Mu Sigma into the company that it is 10 years later – valued well over a billion dollars. Her journey takes us through the journey of five women from Mu Sigma who are helping conglomerates solve big problems and keeping the Mu Sigma flag flying high. The list includes Shreyanka Mally, Meenakshy AS, Aakanksha Pevekar, Roselin George and Rajnita Kamath.
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9) She studied computer science from REC Trichy at a time when people did not know what a computer was. Srimathi Shivashankar is Associate Vice President of Diversity & Sustainability at HCL Technologies. During the last two decades of her professional journey, Srimathi has seen many ups and downs. But the thing that most accurately defines this leader is her spirit of ‘moving on and marching ahead’.
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10) “We ask ourselves every single day: What more can we measure to improve the score that defines young people’s lives?” says Aditi Avasthi. This ‘Chief Embiber’ founded Embibe, an ed-tech startup that combines technology and data sciences, and helps students prepare better for competitive complex exams (MCCE) like JEE Main, JEE Advanced, BITSAT and CET/AIPMT in 2012 in Mumbai.
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11) Nazaneen Jalaudheen is involved with two startups. She is the CTO with Applied Robotics, Chief Innovation Officer at Thoughtapult. The two exciting roles in the startup world come with its own joys and jitters. Nazia says, “The ups and downs are synonymous with a startup. Every day is so different. One day is filled with a mad rush of optimism and the next day feels like everything is going down the drain. Dealing with the instability and maintaining a positive attitude is tougher than I expected it to be, but it is also more fun than I ever thought.”
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12) According to Schauna Chauhan, failures are divided into two classes — those who thought and never did, and those who did and never thought. She is the force behind Parle’s aggressive international market capture strategy. Schauna Chauhan is the force behind Parle Agro’s (the parent brand of Frooti) innovation machine in India.
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13) “Getting out of your comfort zone will take you through the best of learning experiences. So work towards making your dreams come true and have conviction. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes and stay focused as your long term vision may get bruised by your short term goals but you have to stay on course, ” says Pramad Jandhyala, the Co-founder of Latentview, a data analytics and data management firm.
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14) Anita Dongre is among the foremost fashion designers in the country and has dressed many well-known and unknown faces. While fashion is her love, Anita Dongre has also been very focused in the way she did business. Today, her company is called AND Designs India Ltd (ADIL) and it has four labels under it. AND was launched in 1999 and retails western wear, Global Desi, launched in 2007, sells ethnic wear, Intrepret is a line of everyday clothing, Timeless is bridal wear and Grassroot stands for organic fashion. Anita has earmarked 2015 for aggressive expansion abroad.
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15) This adventure junkie prefers a bicycle to a Honda car. Gauri Jayaram is the Founder of Active Holiday Company, which is an international adventure tour company that specializes in guided and self-guided adventure holidays. She has had a near death experience too. In 1999 she almost drowned after she fell off a raft in Nepal. Running ones’ own startup is like a roller coaster ride, according to Gauri. As an entrepreneur she is hard pressed for time and wishes there were more than 24 hours to a day.
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16) Dhruv Swamini brings traffic to a halt in Gurgaon every Sunday. A four km stretch of road is cordoned off for traffic and used only for fitness activities like cycling, running, skating and other participatory games. Dhruv is the one of the founders of the India chapter of DUPLAYS (a UAE-based company) that strives to build a culture for recreational sports in Gurgaon.
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17) Kavitha Iyer Rodrigues is a serial entrepreneur who has co-founded two biotech companies. Inbiopro was launched in 2007 and Novobiologics in 2013. She is the only one of seven women who made it to ‘Fortune India’s’ ‘40 under 40’ 2014 list. On the personal front she has run multiple marathons, is an amateur painter, acted in plays, and displays many other talents.
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18) When self-styled godman Asaram Bapu sexually abused a minor on the pretext of exorcising her from evil spirits, 33-year-old cartoonist Karnika Mishra got provoked into creating Karnika Kahen, an ‘aam ladki‘ (female equivalent of the common man) who fights social injustice. Karnika Kahen debuted on Facebook on 31 August 2013.
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19) Shivika Sinha’s current job at Intermix is all about helping brands increase their sales and improve their branding through digital technology. Her focus is on high fashion brands specifically. Shivika’s role involves a lot of creativity and strategic thinking along with analytics. When not working, there are a number of creative pursuits that Shivika follows. An avid photographer, she has spent many years of her life training in dance. She is an artist and enjoys writing her blog.
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20) A strong contender for the post of Delhi’s Chief Minister, Meenakshi Lekhi has played an important role in the announcement of INR 10,000 Cr fund for startups in Budget 2014 and is actively engaging with the entrepreneurial ecosystem to make the best possible utilization of this money. Meenakshi Lekhi is an advocate at the highest constitutional court of India, a politician, national spokesperson of the party in power and a mother of two. She is focused, self-driven and inquisitive.
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21) “Today, I have the ‘Female Biker of India’ award, Limca Book of Records certification, dirt race championship wins and much more, just because I did not let fear overcome and just sit back. I hope I encourage women by my story,” says Urvashi Patole. Urvashi started motorcycling when she was 14 years old, and 12 years later she has covered around 400,000 kilometres. For Patole, biking isn’t just a passion or hobby, it’s also her profession. On the side, she moonlights as a senior social media strategist in a digital marketing agency, I Knowledge Factory Pvt Ltd.
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22) In India, seeing a therapist or a life coach is still considered a stigma. This is where the digital world can help, according to Malti Bhojwani who became a life coach and an Ontological trainer with the intent to help others see the bright side of life. She is an example of how to turn personal adversities into opportunities, and help others gain inspiration and strength to move ahead in life.
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23) Seema Lal Gurbani is a hard core techie. She is the Associate GM with Sopra Group. She joined them in 2003. She started as a software engineer, and today she is a senior lead architect. For women wanting to be in technology she has an important message- “Nothing is going stop you. Women have the capability to be in technology. Go for it, stay with it if you enjoy it.”
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24) Alicia Souza is an illustrator entrepreneur. Alicia is making her presence felt on social media with her quirky and humorous illustrations. This young and bubbly entrepreneur who was initially shy to share her work online now has a fan following of 48,000 plus followers just on Facebook. Alicia freelances and her products are available on Amazon.
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25) Dr. Roop Nath is an active investor in Mumbai Angels, a seed investment company that funds startups in technology, healthcare and retail, among other sectors. She has recently founded Videnda Pvt. Ltd in Singapore to advise, mentor and invest in healthcare, medical device and pharmaceutical companies in the Indo-USA- Singapore business corridor. She advises and consults with Indian companies looking to move business to Singapore as well.
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