The bold decision that changed everything—women entrepreneurs share their turning points

Entrepreneurship is a journey filled with challenges and hurdles at every curve. And no journey is the same.

Across India, women entrepreneurs are rewriting the rules even when the odds are stacked against them. They are walking away from comfortable corporate roles to build something of their own, pivoting to the next big idea, starting from scratch after failure, and choosing purpose over profit. They are taking risks no one else believes in.

On Women’s Entrepreneurship Day, women entrepreneurs open up about the one bold decision that changed the trajectory of their entrepreneurial journey. It might have been a spark, a moment of courage, or simply saying “yes” to what they believed in.

Choosing to start after failing twice

“The boldest decision that changed everything in my entrepreneurial journey was choosing to start Open after failing twice before. I was exhausted, unsure, and carrying the weight of what hadn’t worked, yet something in me refused to settle. I decided to try one more time, but this time with clarity, purpose, and the right people beside me. That single choice reshaped my entire life. It taught me that failure is not a dead end but a doorway, and that courage often looks like standing up when you have every reason to stay down. Building Open became more than a company, it became proof that resilience creates miracles. That moment of saying “yes” to myself changed everything.

Mabel Chacko, Co-founder, Open Technologies

A bold move

“I want to highlight the fact that when the whole world was influenced by chemical products and the beauty industry was pumping millions selling chemical-based beauty products, I stood up and pioneered Ayurveda. I bottled up 5000-year-old civilization in a jar and provided the world with natural solutions that address the root cause of hair and skin concerns. I prepared them with natural ingredients, botanical extracts, herbs, floral extracts, precious metals like gold and diamond.

“With this I made a bold move and stepped ahead into changing the perception of people and urging them to make a shift towards choosing ayurveda over chemical products, highlighting the fact that there are numerous chemicals hidden in your everyday use products that are detrimental to your health.”

Shahnaz Husain, Founder, Shahnaz Husain Group

Boldness is a muscle

“Uprooting my life, moving to India with two young children, and teaming up with first-time founders to build ShopClues back when “startup” sounded absurd and explaining the internet to anyone felt like narrating science fiction. It was chaotic, impossible, and honestly, completely insane.

“But that madness paid off. It taught me that boldness isn’t a moment, it’s a muscle.

“So, I did it again with Kindlife: building a next-gen beauty and wellness ecosystem powered by AI, transforming how India discovers, shops, and scales beauty in both B2C and B2B. Another leap into the unknown. Another round of “Has she lost it?” from the sidelines.

“And here’s my truth: courage is ingrained, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. That’s where the magic and the impact always begins.”

Radhika Ghai, Founder & CEO, Kindlife

Walking away from comfort

“The boldest decision I ever made was walking away from the comfort of successful, conventional financial businesses to build a technology-first platform exclusively for women—at a time when everyone said it was “too niche” and “won’t work.”

“Choosing to become a fintech entrepreneur meant unlearning and relearning at lightning speed. It meant diving deep into how technology is reshaping every aspect of money, behaviour, and scale. It meant swapping predictability for possibility.

“But it also meant building something far bigger than a business—a movement. When I created LXME, it wasn’t just about launching another product; it was about giving millions of women the tools, confidence, and access they’d been denied for decades.

“That one bold decision changed everything: it expanded my ambition, sharpened my purpose, and reminded me that real impact begins at the edge of discomfort.”

Priti Rathi Gupta, Co-founder & CEO, LXME

Rethinking care

"The boldest decision I made was taking a one-way flight to India to build a healthcare company in a place I barely knew. It wasn’t a romantic leap, it was a clear realisation that healthcare systems everywhere were collapsing under outdated models. If I wanted to rethink care, I had to be somewhere that rewarded speed, ambition, and first-principles thinking instead of resisting it.

“India gave me exactly that. It forced me to design healthcare for the world we live in now, not the one we inherited. And I’m grateful every day for the 500+ people I work with who turn impossible execution into something operational and real.

“I am equally grateful to the investors who believed in building an integrated system of insurance, primary care, and hospitals under one roof when most people said it would never work.

“That decision changed everything. It taught me that systems don’t change until someone decides to stop accepting them."

Matilde Giglio, Founder, Even Healthcare

Choosing purpose

“The boldest decision I ever made was to leave the familiarity and the (very) lucrative opportunities of the US after my MBA at Harvard and return to India to build, long before it was cool, celebrated, or even understood. It wasn’t just geography I was choosing, it was purpose. I wanted to solve for real, everyday needs that families face here that global models often didn’t have insight on.

“That decision became the foundation of BabyChakra. Built from living rooms, clinics, and mothers’ groups and later scaled into something far larger with our bestselling, deeply trusted babycare products. Post the exit and building out the Good Glamm Group, I learnt deeply what innovation & impact can mean across multiple levels of scale and what values to hold true to and what is noise.

“Today, with EDT, I’ve taken that same conviction into a new space, reimagining the daily devices that determine how we live, nourish, and care at home. The choice to return set my life’s arc: to build for India, from India and for the world with integrity, empathy, and ambition. It changed everything and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Naiyya Saggi, Co-founder & CEO, EDT

Wanted to be a part of bigger growth stories

“The boldest decision I ever made was moving back to India in 2014. At the time, I had a cushy job at Goldman Sachs in New York, a clear career path, and even H1B and green card sponsorship lined up. On paper, staying was the “safe” choice. But something in me knew that if I wanted to be part of bigger growth stories, and actually shape them, I needed to be in India.

“So I took the leap. And it changed everything. India has been the most energising, possibility-filled chapter of my life: the sheer pace of innovation, the openness to new ideas, and the ability to drive real impact early in my career have all been game-changing. Looking back, leaving the conventional path was the best move I ever made.”

Hena Mehta, Co-founder, Basis