Women have come a long way, overcoming their struggles and reaching high to achieve their goals. There is this unstoppable energy which women are following now more than ever. Here is a list of such never-giving-up women entrepreneurs who have come a long way to fulfill their dreams.
A woman has to go through a lot of struggles in her life, let that be patriarchy, gender pay gap, and sexist policies. They have to face many challenges but if one has the right determination then nothing can stop her. Talking about business there are added struggles that one has to face.
Mridula Jain, Shingora:
Mridula was born in a very conservative middle-class family. She was asked to get married instead of going for higher studies. Having no choice she got married to a Ludhiana-based businessman. But after she got married she wanted to pursue her studies and do something of her own. She got the support of her husband and did MA in English Literature. Mridula worked as a teacher in a school.
It was difficult for her to manage her house, work, and her two kids so she thought of tutoring students at home. For about 10 years she continued to do this until she realized that she had an interest in fashion and she could do something in that domain. She thought of making shawls with design patterns called phulkari which is an art technique in Punjab. Her designs were new and unique hence people loved them and started buying more. The first order she received was worth Rs. 10 lakh.
It was she who established Shawl Club and Wool Association in Ludhiana. She became very famous and caught everyone’s eyes. The government also sponsored her to go to Europe and study the wool industry there.
Shingora is clocking a turnover of Rs.100 crore and has a pan-India reach with about 100 retails across the country and about 20% goes to exports.
Anita Gupta, Bhojpur Mahila Kala Kendra:
Anita Gupta realized at the age of 10 that women are not treated the way they should in Indian society. She has seen some brutal things happening to women in her own family itself. She understood the importance of education and standing for one’s rights early in her life. In 1993, Anita took the help of her brother Santosh Kumar and founded Bhojpur Mahila Kala Kendra. The agenda of this was to provide women education and employment training. She says that women at that time were not ready to come out of their homes and take part in this. She wanted to tell them that their lives cannot revolve around house duties only, there is more to it.
In 2000, Amitabh Verma, a senior IAS officer who helped her with government support. This NGO created about 300 self-help groups for livelihood promotion, health check-up camps, adult education, vocational training, and more. Till date, they have trained around 20,000 rural women in different skills and made the women educated enough to stand up for their rights.
Chinu Kala, Rubans Accessories:
Chinu Kala left her home due to family issues at the age of 15. She had no clue what to do and would earn about Rs.20 a day by selling knives and coasters door-to-door. She had to struggle to get even one meal a day. She then started searching for jobs. In 2004 she got married in Bengaluru and then participated in Gladrags Mrs. India Pageant in the year 2008. She then started exploring the modeling industry. This triggered her to start something of her own. She would learn about business and how products are made and consumer demands are met. She then started Ruban Accessories with a capital of Rs.3 lakh in Phoenix Mall, Bengaluru. Within 5 years her company recorded a turnover of Rs.7.5 crore.