Who is a woman?
Is she someone who is immortalized in poetry and poems? Or is she someone who is expected to make countless sacrifices and ache the annals of the past era? Or someone whose voice is silenced every time she tries to break free from the clutches of her society?
While some would agree a woman is all of these, some would say a woman is much more than this.
Today, women have achieved the unachievable. A decade ago, nobody could even imagine a woman stepping out of her house to earn a living for herself. With times changing, the increase in the number of female entrepreneurs has shown that women have the potential of matching the success and accomplishments of their male counterparts. These successful women entrepreneurs' perseverance is what has set an example for every aspiring woman out there.
However, despite stats showing a positive change in the figures, women entrepreneurs continue to face challenges in this field to date. These obstacles range from gender discrimination to social taboos. Even though the term entrepreneurs may seem to be gender-neutral, people have been reserving it only for the male members of our society for ages.
In this article, some of the successful women entrepreneurs share how they have overcome the obstacles in their lives and gone ahead to create history for the generations to come.
Also read: Female Entrepreneurs' Success Secrets
Some of the Women Entrepreneurs’ Perseverance Will Leave You Surprised
Following are the names of some of the women entrepreneurs whose perseverance, dedication and hard work will leave you speechless. Read on to learn more about them.
1. Zainab Raj
Growing up in Rajasthan, Zainab Raj was passionate about metallurgy and wanted to be her own master. Zainab’s father happened to be the first person to introduce her to this concept of metallurgy. However, Zainab wanted to create her own legacy and do something out of the box.
One of the biggest challenges that Zainab encountered was that her industry was highly male-centric. The place she was brought up in often looked down upon women and treated them as inferior to men. Zainab would often get told to change her thoughts about being an entrepreneur. The lack of business women in the industry would often be sore to her eyes. There have also been instances when Zainab was insinuated as nothing more than a showpiece.
However, Zainab’s perseverance and determination to live her dreams could not be interrupted by society’s perceived ideas about women. Zainab shares how once a trader asked her to call her boss, to which she gave a fitting reply and made it very loud and clear to everyone that she is the boss.
Today Zainab has over 70 companies as her clients and is still climbing up the ladder of success, breaking the stereotypes.
This inspiring woman entrepreneur still faces challenges, but there’s nothing that she can’t handle. She feels she is the lone wolf in the entire pack and she really looks forward to changing that in the coming years.
Also read: Women Entrepreneurs Growth for Economic Growth
2. Cheryl Kyrie Achumi
Diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014, Cheryl Kyrie Achumi felt her world come crashing down. With the treatment and everything going on, Cheryl’s body was undergoing physical changes, but she was not ready to give up just yet. So the only feasible thing that she thought could help her body recover faster was through exercising.
Cheryl Kyrie AchumiHowever, Cheryl realized that there were hardly any physical fitness institutions around her place, which compelled her to start working out at home. Cheryl could not help herself from thinking about the hundreds of other women who were going through the same problem as her. Cheryl then made up her mind and enrolled herself along with her husband in physical training in 2015.
A year later, Cheryl started her own fitness center, still battling cancer. She was having a hard time juggling her personal and professional life together, but she was determined not to give up. Cheryl shares that because she was faced with mortality, she began to value her life better and fight through all the odds. Her tailor-made fitness center gained recognition all over her place, which pushed her to start a second branch in 2019.
Around the same time, Cheryl encountered a group of economic empowerment and women entrepreneurs who helped her sail through those difficult times. Had it not been for her perseverance and hard work, Cheryl wouldn’t have been able to live her dream.
Today, she is not just a business trainer or a mentor, Cheryl is also gearing up to expand her business further. What an inspiration Cheryl is for the millions of women in business who are struggling to fight their own battles.
Also read: Stats on Women Entrepreneurs
3. N. Shilpa
Married at the age of 18, N.Shilpa wanted to finish her education. However, life had different plans for her. Shilpa got pregnant with her baby at the age of 21, which scared her to death, and she had to discontinue college.
She always wanted to have her own business, but her plan had to wait. Her experience and love for sarees got her interested in sericulture. Her first month of harvest worked as a catalyst, and that is what marked her growth as an entrepreneur.
Of course, there were times when she felt demotivated because homemakers could not be business owners. But Shilpa? Nothing could stop her from living her dreams. Today, she is making plans for expanding her business. Shilpa is an inspiration to all those women who had to sabotage their dreams due to societal pressure and obligations.
These women entrepreneurs' perseverance should be an inspiration to all those women with dreams. Society must also change its mindset and make an effort to preserve women entrepreneurs like them. One thing that ties all of these women entrepreneurs together is the common thread of perseverance, grit, passion, and fearlessness.
Even though some of these women entrepreneurs might be the first wave of change, they are definitely not the last. We cannot wait for the time when more women will come forward to create a ripple of positive transformation in our society. Challenges are always going to be there, but these challenges can never stop women entrepreneurs from thriving, growing, and scaling.
What are your thoughts?
