Women Entrepreneurs  

Radhika is a patient of brittle bones disease. This condition causes her bones to fracture even without doing any significant activity. Her brother introduced her to the concept of making African dolls. She was 14 and this sparked her interest in crafting dolls from newspapers. Radhika began receiving orders from overseas via social media platforms and by the age of 20, she became an independent entrepreneur.

Radhika Gupta is the CEO of Edelweiss Mutual Fund (Edelweiss MF). The World Economic Forum has given her the title of Young Global Leader. She is a powerful businesswoman from India who is recognized globally for her extraordinary business intellect.

The daughter-in-law, Nidhi Dua experienced hair fall issues during the lockdown. Her mother-in-law, Rajini Dua was facing the same issue. One day, Nidhi found her grandmother’s recipe for hair loss and used it to create a homemade hair oil for herself. Together with her mother-in-law, Nidhi commenced making hair oil products and currently receives approximately 200 to 300 orders each month. 

Tapsi Upadhyay is pursuing a B Tech degree in computer science from IITM Janakpuri. She is the eldest among her three siblings. In her class 12, she offered tuition classes to earn pocket money. After experiencing food poisoning a couple of times, she made the decision to open her own food stall. Today, she operates approximately 20 stalls across the country.

Two sisters from Lucknow, Nazish and Insha introduced Kolhapuri sandals to the online markets. On their brother’s suggestion, they ventured into entrepreneurship. Today, Nazish and Insha receive orders from overseas, including places like Dubai, New York, and Italy.

Ruma Devi had to discontinue her studies after class 8 due to extreme poverty. She continued the tradition of embroidery that she acquired from her grandmother and established her creative business. Ruma Devi has employed over 22,000 women across 75 villages. She received a special invitation from Harvard University where she engaged in discussions with around a thousand academics, students, and entrepreneurs.

Ghazal Alagh, the Co-Founder of Mamaearth, established a company with a desire to make chemical-free products available in the market. She co-founded the company with her husband in the year 2016, with an initial investment of Rs 25 lakh. The company began with just 5 products and has since expanded to over 500 products.

Dr Sharvari Inamdar won 5 gold medals in the Asian Classic and Bench Press Powerlifting Championship 2017. 37-year-old Sharvari Inamdar holds an MD degree in Ayurveda. She has been practicing as a nutritionist for 16 years.

Divya has successfully become an entrepreneur through the establishment of ‘Divya Lalitha Dolls.’ Divya holds MSc and BEd degrees. After completing her education, she worked as a teacher for a few years. Her husband lost his job due to the pandemic. At the age of 28, she commenced her venture of decorating dolls. She dressed a doll in a saree and received positive response. 

Dr Kaynat Kazi is a resident of Firozabad, Uttar Pradesh. She is an avid solo traveller. Over the last four years, Dr Kaynat Kazi has journeyed more than 2.5 lakh kilometres. She has authored a total of 10 books. She is also a photographer and motivational speaker. 
 

In March 1959, 7 women from South Mumbai embarked on a business venture with hopes of making their family’s financial condition stable. The business was named ‘Lijjat.’ In Gujarati language, the word ‘Lijjat’ translates to ‘delicious.’ Gradually, the business transformed into a co-operative system. Presently, the turnover of Lijjat Papad is Rs 1600 crore and is exported to over 25 countries. 
 

Indra Nooyi served as the CEO of PepsiCo and is widely recognized as one of the world’s most influential women in business. In the year 1978, Kiran Mazumdar laid the foundation of the company with a small sum of Rs 1200. This was the first Indian company to manufacture enzymes. Arundhati Bhattacharya was a bank PO. She became the first woman Chairperson of State Bank of India. 

MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar has written a letter to finance minister where he has given suggestions to improve the livelihoods of women entrepreneurs as also reboot economy amid the coronavirus pandemic.  

In this episode of Not For Women Only with Sunita Iyer , we enlist some of the many reasons why India needs more Women Entrepreneurs and how it can strengthen our country economically, socially and culturally.