Five Women Who Make The World a Better Place!

Every woman is a hero! Women are game changers who have single handedly redefined the destiny of people, companies and countries.

Living the E-commerce life: Anisha Singh

Women entrepreneurs are making a real difference in India, growing within their industries, stimulating passion for learning and delighting their customers with innovations. One such example of a leading woman entrepreneur is Anisha Singh, Founder and CEO of mydala.com, which is India’s largest group buying/social commerce portal offering city-specific and pan India deep-discount deals. She has a masters degree and an MBA in Information Systems from American University in Washington DC.

Singh began her career on Capitol Hill working with the Clinton administration on Springboard that helped women entrepreneurs raise funding for innovative businesses. She then worked at Centra Software in Boston, helping set up e-learning ecosystems for Fortune 500 companies. Singh returned to India to set up Kinis (Software) Solutions, a provider of customized digital content solutions.

Anisha Singh has been conferred with the coveted ‘Leading Woman in Retail’ award for pioneering the concept of discounted deals by leveraging the power of social commerce in India, by the prestigious London-based iGlobal Business Information.

I was looking for a successful model for online business to start Mydala , the industry that just thrived on was travel because it was a mix of online : offline as in buy online but sit it in a plane. Mydala which was a similar online offline mix buy an offer for your favourite hair salon seemed like a good play.

She says enthusiastically, “I am meeting more and more phenomenal people specially women who are looking to start or are in the process of starting online ventures. My work style is an unpredictable mix of easy and active set of emotions- kind which keeps my team on their toes!”

Inspiration she lives by: Don’t doubt yourself. If you’ve set your mind to something – do it. Great customer service matters. Word of mouth marketing will always be an extremely strong acquisition weapon in my kind of business.

Embracing Humanity: Nita Ambani

Having made history on several accounts, Nita Ambani, the owner of the Mumbai Indians IPL team and member of the Reliance Board, the golden lady brought optimism to the lives of underprivileged children. Nita is also a qualified teacher and an interior designer. Ambani’s role model status extends beyond her professional career; her philanthropic work is just as inspiring. This corporate czarina has a heart of gold as she kicks of social project Drishiti for underprivileged children besides taking care of her role as a founder and chairperson of the Dhirubhai Ambani International School. She also sits pretty on the board of oil and gas giant Reliance Industries. Well, to think she is the first woman ever to be on such a mighty board, she justifies entrepreneurship to the hilt.

Inspiration: Notwithstanding the glamour, she lets her ‘real’ work speak to prove her identity!

Ruling The Roost: Indra Nooyi

Shouldering her responsibilities of chairperson and chief executive officer of PepsiCo, Indra Nooyi has steadily ranked in the world’s most powerful and enterprising women. A self confessed ‘learning CEO’, she is a real inspiration as she meticulously renews her skills, finds her spot time and again in the global lists. The Chennai-born Nooyi makes us swell with pride! Needless to say, her No 13 in Forbes ranking and ‘The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women’ list besides the third most powerful woman in business by Fortune is just adding more feather to her prestigious and humble cap. To think, back in her hey days defied rules. Nooyi played cricket and was a member of an all-girl rock band in college, thereafter as a corporate lady she remained a keen electric guitarist.

Inspiration: Despite her mother wanting her to get hitched post college and was not keen on her moving to Yale, Nooyi was persistent and followed her dreams.

The Fashion God: Ritu Kumar

A front runner in the fashion fraternity, veteran designer Ritu Kumar over four decades, has significantly contributed to the fashion world by effortlessly mingling traditional Indian craftsmanship with contemporary couture in her own myriad, creative ways. To think it’s been years since she took her first steps in the world of fashion, and today you’d be pushed to find a celebrity who hasn’t worn a silhouette by her! The soft spoken designer started off with four hand-block printers in a small village in Kolkata, the ace designer today retails from over 27 stores across the country.

Having launched her own sub-brand ‘LABEL’ in 2002, she has loyalists in Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra and Rekha. Internationally, she has created ensembles for the late Princess Diana, Mischa Barton and Anoushka Shankar. Her hard work & passion made her the proud recipient of the Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini Award, the Padma Shri award in 2013, and the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French government. Do we say more?

Inspiration: She has encouraged homegrown crafts, revived traditions and created employment for many artisans in the country.

Breaking The Mould:  Sania Mirza

The young tennis player has been a role model for young women all over the country for a decade now. Thanks to her power strokes, dedication, spunk and cheer, she proved her mettle time and again, & shone her way onto courts all over the world. In no time, she became the first Indian woman to win a Grand Slam, in July 2014, became the first Indian woman to break into the top five in women’s doubles. She has also won the Arjuna and Padma Shri award for becoming the first South Asian woman to be appointed as a UN Goodwill Ambassador besides had been designated by the government of Telangana as the brand ambassador of the state. This is not all, she is the first Indian woman to ever reach the WTA World No 1 doubles ranking. She surpassed all issues that most budding sportsperson in the country face, and has emerged a real winner.

Inspiration: She has the winner confidence, attitude, personality and justifiably deserves it all!