Creative, confident and connected: inspiring stories of 25 women entrepreneurs!
Women entrepreneurs in India face challenges of cultural bias and lack of public safety, in addition to
pressures of balancing work, home and family. The book Follow Every Rainbow: Inspiring Stories of 25
Women Entrepreneurs whose Gentle Touch Created Strong Business narrates stories about enterprising
women who raised a family as well as a company, with love, laugher and patience. They never gave in or
gave up, and carried on to build valuable companies while also giving back to society.
Author and researcher Rashmi Bansal classifies women entrepreneurs into three types, reflected in the
structure of the book: Lakshmi (entrepreneurs who enlisted family support), Durga (women who overcame
hindrances and victimhood and battled hard for success) and Saraswati (educated women entrepreneurs
who struck out on their own). Rashmi Bansal is the author of a number of books on startups and social
entrepreneurship; see my reviews of her other books Poor Little Rich Slum: What We Saw in Dharavi,
and Why it Matters and Take Me Home: The Inspiring Stories of 20 Entrepreneurs from Small Town India
with Big-Time Dreams. She graduated from Sophia College in Mumbai and IIM Ahmedabad.
The early-stage entrepreneurs and veteran leaders in the book range in age from 20s to 80s, in fields
such as IT, textiles, pharmaceuticals, finance, art and civil society. Three are from overseas (China, South
Africa, Sri Lanka). The writing style is crisp and direct, with each chapter ending in a page of
recommendations for aspiring entrepreneurs. The book provides financial as well as personal details of
each narrative, and ends with a list of useful courses (eg. at IIM Bangalore, IIM Udaipur, ISB, SP Jain)
and support organisations (TiE Stree Shakti, WEConnect, Fleximoms) for women entrepreneurs.
Meena Bindra, Founder of India’s largest readymade ethnic-wear brand Biba, grew up in Delhi but lost
her father at a young age. She married a naval officer as a result of which she moved around across
India, and got into the garments business only after her children grew up. She started off with a local
block printer, initial sales to Mumbai stores, and then her own company-owned outlets. Her sons joined
the company for a while as trusted managers, then struck out on their own.
Manju Bhatia, Founder of loan recovery company Vasuli, was born in a business family in Indore. She
started off as a receptionist in a pharma company, then moved into the account recovery business from
bank defaulters. Though in a male-dominated industry, she used her patience and diplomacy to learn the
tricks of the trade and build a successful pan-India company.
Rajni Bector, Founder of food empire Cremica, was born in Karachi and then moved to Delhi with her
family. After her children went to boarding school, she noticed that there was huge demand for her
desserts, which led her to launch food company Cremica in Ludhiana. Despite setbacks such as the
violence in Punjab in the 1980s, she persevered and eventually got contracts from the likes of
MacDonald’s for bread and ‘vegetarian’ mayonnaise.
Nirmala Kandalgaonkar, Founder of vermi-composting tool provider Vivam AgroTech, grew up in smalltown Maharashtra and decided to launch a rural venture after her children reached school age. She
applied her science degree to develop controlled-environment products for soil engineering using
earthworms. She had to travel extensively for promotion and training activities, and eventually got
government support after a Pragati Maidan exhibition as well as a TiE award. The company now works
with large corporate and self-help groups for bio-gas projects.
Ranjana Naik, Founder of Swan Suites, grew up in a family of engineers, doctors and teachers, but
became more interested in PR and telemarketing. Along with the IT boom, she leveraged her contacts to
get into the serviced accommodation business, and aims to become the ‘Taj’ of serviced apartments. She
connected with fellow entrepreneurs via online forums, and an ISB course taught her the importance of
continuous market research; her husband also joined the company.
Leela Bordia, Founder of pottery art firm Neerja International, grew up in Calcutta in a family which
strongly supported social work. She decided to launch a social enterprise to help pottery artisans from her
native Rajasthan. Exposure to buyers from France as well as a visit to artisan communities in Mexico
revealed the importance of quality and process. She branched out into furniture, mural and accessories,
and now promotes her work internationally. Her three sons also work in the enterprise.
Han Qui Hua founded label accessories firm Guangzhou Guanyi Garments in China. Even as a teenager
she would ride her bike to sell cakes in villages, and not stop till she sold the whole stock. She got into the
label business along with her husband during the textile boom years, and doesn’t really plan to ‘retire.’
Premlata Agarwal from Jamshedpur became a mountaineer and climbed Mt. Everest at the age of 48 –
the oldest Indian woman to have achieved this feat. She joined a gym while taking her daughters for
tennis classes; she won a prize in a hiking competition and was mentored by mountaineer Bachendri Pal.
Despite tough weather conditions, she scaled the peak and now wants to scale mountains in other
ranges.
Paru Jaykrishna, Founder of chemical giant Asahi Songwon, grew up in a Jain family in Ahmedabad. She
lost her parents at a young age, and married the Patel son of a textile firm. She later moved into travel
and construction, and then switched to chemicals. She expanded her dye business (resisting challenges
of bribery and corruption), and struck good deals with Korean, Japanese and Taiwanese companies and
investors.
Patricia Narayan got into a love marriage at the age of 19, but her husband turned out to be an abusive
alcoholic. Though she was a college dropout, she tapped her skills as a cook to become a caterer in
Chennai. She got contracts from government offices in and around the city. “Once you start liking your
work you don’t easily feel tired,” she says. Success came from a deal at National Institute of Port
Management (NIPM). Despite a divorce and the sorrow of losing her daughter in a car accident, she
expanded to run four brands of catering, and won a FICCI award.
Sudeshma Banerjee began her career as a teacher in Calcutta but one day discovered that her husband
was having an affair with her own friend. She moved out of the marriage and joined an AutoCAD training
company, which she eventually took over to form DigiTech HR. She faced challenges in getting a flat as a
single woman, and from male managers who did not treat her as an equal. Still, she moved on to get
projects from Sri Lanka, Dubai and Australia.
Jasu Shilpi, one of the few women sculptors in India, grew up in an entrepreneurial family in Ahmedabad,
and had an artistic flair right from school. One day, she was inspired by a statue of the Rani of Jhansi in
Gwalior. She fell in love with and married a Muslim artist, but her family disowned her. She pursued
government tenders for statues, and after a good order she began to receive deals from all over Gujarat.
Proud moments were completing statues of Shivaji and then Hanuman, as well as completing a tour of
the US.
Dipali Sikand, Founder of Les Concierges, grew up in Calcutta. She was active in politics, but then moved
into HR. Her marriage unfortunately fell apart and she was left with a baby and no financial resources.
Still she carried on with HR assignments in cities like Bangalore, and then discovered a need for
personalised ‘concierge’ services for busy managers in IT companies. Customers such as Wipro and IBM
paid well for these services, and Dipali also branched out to start music and dining venue Kyra in
Indiranagar. The next stop for Les Concierges is Cairo.
Binapani Talukdar, Founder of Assam handicraft trader Pansy Exports, grew up in Assam. She herself
began to make decorative handicrafts, then studied garment design. She started an art and craft school
also which she shut down later because of pressure from her husband to focus more on their kids. But
she carried on with the handicrafts export company, learning the skills of quality standards and
international pricing for clients in countries such as South Africa and Brazil.
Ela Bhatt, Founder of SEWA which now has 1.7 million self-employed women, grew up in Surat and
joined the Textile Labour Association (TLA). She married a textile worker’s son, which her family initially
opposed. She organised networks for self-employed women in the informal sector, and was inspired by
the international dimensions of these labour issues after overseas visits. She turned adversity into
opportunity when political controversy over Dalit reservation led SEWA to leave TLA. SEWA regrouped
and set up cooperatives and microfinance support. Ela Bhatt went on to win the Magsaysay Award,
Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan.
Shona McDonald, Founder of wheelchair company Shonaquip, grew up in South Africa. She unfortunately
had a disabled child, which led her to design and develop special wheelchairs as a social enterprise. She
had to struggle on the job to learn how to raise funds, run a business, and balance profit with social
purpose.
Nina Lekhi, Founder of bag retail brand Baggit, launched her venture when she was a student at Sophia
Polytechnic in Mumbai. Though she goofed off in her first year, she took design seriously in her second
year, and also took up a part-time job in a rug store at the age of 18. ‘Baggit’ was meant to be ‘bags with
attitude,’ also inspired by Michael Jackson’s Beat It! She started off with canvas and then synthetic
leather; with one shop at Kemp’s Corner and then a nationwide chain featuring innovatively designed
bags and accessories.
Sangeeta Patni grew up in Nagpur, graduated from BITS Pilani, worked with HLL and Eicher, and then
launched Extension Software, building on her engineering background and IT skills in ERP software. She
blended design with enterprise tools, and cultivated a developer network. She moved to Bangalore, and
finally found a way to balance children in the mix.
Satya Vadlamani, Founder of Murti Krishan Pharma, grew up on the IIT Bombay campus, and started off
in international chemicals marketing. Her father-in-law initially opposed the move, but later relented and
supported her a great deal. Lack of family time led her to drop her job at Biochem Synergy, and she
started her own venture. Painful lessons were learnt about the long regulatory process, corporate control
issues from potential investors, and the upheavals of the 2008 recession.
Shikha Sharma, Founder of weight loss classes NutriHealth Systems, grew up in Delhi and studied
medicine. She became interested in preventive healthcare and rehabilitation, a huge gap in India.
Resisting family pressure to go abroad or get married, she struck out on her own and set up a weight loss
clinic. It did not work out, so she tried again with a rental unit in a hospital – and this model succeeded.
Eventually she could strike out again, and hired a team of nutritionists and embraced ayurvedic methods.
A proud moment was to be one day invited to treat the Prime Minister.
Deepa Soman, Founder of Lumiere Business Solutions, started her career with Hindustan Lever in
Mumbai. Her father was in the media, which gave her lots of exposure to reading, analysis and research.
She worked in HLL, and then moved to Jamaica with her husband on account of his IT job. She then
launched a market research company, which she continued on her return to India – this time powered
largely by women working from home. Her husband later joined, bringing best practices from the IT world.
Otara Gunewardene, Founder of Sri Lanka’s most famous department store chain Odel, grew up in
Colombo and ultimately became the first woman entrepreneur in her country to take her company public.
She was athletic, went to the US for a biology programme and returned to do some modelling. One day, a
friend asked her to help get rid of excess garment stock from her factory – and this set her on the path to
selling clothing, designing her own T-shirts and eventually launching Odel with her husband.
Namrata Sharma, Founder of 3D animation studio Krayon Pictures, grew up in Pune. She was artistic and
also became an engineering graduate, and learnt to blend both disciplines. She began with interface
design, and then digital media when based in Hong Kong with her husband. She joined Megasoft as a
business developer, but quit when she found her kids were missing her too much. Looking to strike out on
her own, she came across Alok Kejriwal, CEO of Contests2Win, who helped set her on the path to 3D
animation and launching Krayon in 2007, with titles such as Delhi Safari, Kamlu and Auli.
Neeti Tah, Founder of social enterprise 36 Rang focusing on traditional tribal arts of Chattisgarh, grew up
in Delhi. Though she became art director at J.Walter Thompson, she was restless and took a few months
off. Travels across her home state of Chattisgarh led her to discover opportunities in promoting local art
and handicrafts to urban markets in India and overseas. She roped in papier mache trainers and later
even prison labour from a government scheme. The firm now makes saris, embroideries and gunmetal
art.
A. Ameena, Founder of industrial sawdust provider PJP Industries, grew up in Pondicherry. She was
married at the age of 17, with her husband at a Gulf job. As her children were growing up, she joined the
family chemicals business. Despite scepticism from those who thought a ‘burqa clad woman’ could not
succeed in this domain, she entered the world of industrial sawdust, finding local suppliers as well as
customers like Godrej for mosquito coil products.
These are just brief vignettes of the entrepreneur stories; each chapter provides more details and
insights. The featured women leaders also offer useful advice, tips and recommendations to aspiring
women entrepreneurs, as described below.
Do something you love and are passionate about and good at; if you love what you do, it doesn’t feel like
‘work.’ Emotional drive will sustain your enterprise. Treat learning as lifelong. Learn from successful
people also. Keep a diary to chronicle your personal and professional growth.
Don’t just sit at home and be confined to the four walls, take on a job no matter how small. Don’t let house
work consume you, and don’t get stuck in micro-management. Use gadgets and home helpers to simplify
things.
Getting support and advice from family and in-laws helps, especially in looking after kids; the Indian joint
family system has some advantages here. Align family members with your dreams and objectives, bond
with them, and show how they can also benefit.
Some women entrepreneurs recommend starting ventures only after kids are sufficiently grown up; others
believe there is no need to wait. Children may also learn from watching their mother at work and may
even want to help or contribute where possible; don’t get into situations where you feel you are neglecting
them. Society puts pressure on women to feel guilty if they succeed, as if success has come by
overlooking family.
It is certainly possible to strike out on your own, but family support helps greatly. Love from your spouse
can sustain you even after their demise. But even if you don’t get this support or get abused instead, don’t
just be a victim, don’t be defenceless – overcome obstacles, empower yourself and move on. Never feel
useless, hopeless or purposeless.
Many women entrepreneurs are naturally attracted to women-oriented product lines. Women leaders are
good in people skills, multi-tasking, creativity and communication, but business success calls for attention
to finance, legal and operations as well. Don’t be afraid to ask for help or hire other experts, because as
an entrepreneur you have to learn about all these things and know to how manage them. Reach out to
mentors, coaches and fellow women entrepreneurs.
Treat your work and profession very seriously, or you will bring a bad name to women in general. Take
pride in what you do, don’t slip on quality. Build your own sense of instinct and gut feel, which will take
you from something ordinary to something else extraordinary.
Work hard and be patient, even those who initially oppose you may support you later. Keep a positive
mind, and don’t take ‘no’ for an answer. Don’t be deterred by failure. Don’t believe that women are ‘less’
than a man: a woman is a womb plus a man!
Value your integrity, and be honest to your customers and employees. Make ‘clean’ money rather than
‘tainted’ money. Honesty will give you good sleep. Stay healthy and fit. Be friendly, but being ‘too friendly’
is easily mis-interpreted by unscrupulous men. Give back to society, there is more to life than money.
Work on your relationship with yourself. Keep mental and physical space for yourself to regularly think,
plan, mediate and dream. Learn how to have different kinds of dreams – near term and long term. At the
end of the day, keep your sense of humour!
Madanmohan Rao | July 14, 2014
http://her.yourstory.com/25-women-entrepreneurs-0714
From geography to technology: Sreowshi Sinha’s startup journey .
“Progress is impossible without change; and those who cannot change their minds cannot change
anything,” said George Bernard Shaw. Sreowshi Sinha would agree to that. From being a geography
major to Co-founding and becoming the Marketing Director of Frugal Labs, a hardware startup that
focuses on providing trainings, workshops, projects and prototyping, Sreowshi has always accepted the
changes and transitions life has thrown her way.
Down memory lane Born in the suburbs of Kolkata, Sreowshi was a sincere student and a rank holder.
Being the daughter of a businessman, starting up was always a possibility. But it’s correctly said, no one
can change ‘destiny’. With a background in geography, Sreowshi started her career as a recruiter in an
HR consultancy firm. Soon she moved to Chennai as an HR executive in a general insurance company.
Within a few months, she joined a robotics startup in Chennai founded by her friends. Having no
knowledge in robotics, she took it as a challenge and soon started gaining interest in the subject. After
many ups and downs, the firm couldn’t survive and had to shut down. This is when her career took a
sudden turn and she, along with her friend, Anirban Chowdhury – Co-founder and Technical Head, Frugal
Labs, decided to move to Bangalore, the tech hub of India. Sreowshi says it was tough initially, but with
support from friends and family, Frugal Labs was started in November 2012.
Frugal Labs, in her words “While most of the startups run behind making products, we at Frugal Labs
develop tech training modules which can give a good head start to those who aspire to do something new
with evolving technology,” says Sreowshi. The tech-based training modules are made easier for
everybody to understand. Frugal Labs also helps product companies in making prototypes and projects,
and serves clients across the globe. The company’s module also includes IoT (Internet of Things) training
program for college students named IoT Entrepreneur Challenge 2015 which is aimed to promote
entrepreneurship among next generation students in the field of the latest technology, mainly IoT. Initially
self-funded, the firm is currently generating its revenue from workshops and projects. The company is
currently catering majorly to college going students in India. “There are approximately 4,000 engineering
colleges in India with 700 in Andhra Pradesh itself. The total number of tech start ups in India is around
450 annually, where as it is 25,000 in US. We feel Indian students are quite talented; it’s only the head
start approach which is lacking. Thus we want to plug in there, and make the ‘Make in India‘ concept
possible,” Sreowshi explains.
Experience as woman entrepreneur amidst the transitions
“I love being in it because for me staying in one topic becomes difficult. Transitions teach new things in
life. Until we go for that, we will always be doing the same old stuff. My transition was magical not only
from geography to technology but also from being the quiet girl in class to becoming the face of a growing
tech startup in Bangalore.” According to her, women entrepreneurship is growing in India and everybody
holds a unique personality. She believes if more women come forward it will lead to the betterment of
society. Challenges and future plans Sreowshi terms challenge as another name for being an
entrepreneur. “Every business decision is a challenge, but overcoming these challenges is the real thrill,”
she explains. For her, the biggest challenge is to stick to one work at a time. Her future plan is to see
Frugal Labs as a giant educational tech company in India working towards the betterment of the nation.
She aspires to become a serial entrepreneur engaged in different projects and to go for community
development in many under-developed Indian villages.Well that’s not all; Sreowshi is set for another
venture which is currently at a very nascent stage. It focusses on making travel easier for the common
man. “I am very fickle minded, I keep coming up with new ideas. I am also a blogger. I like to travel and
mountains are my favourite,” she signs off.
Pallavi Sinha | March 05, 2015
http://her.yourstory.com/sreowshi-sinha-0305
Timple Luloo’s dream of healing all, from Coimbatore to the entire country.
Reshma Chattaram Chamberlin
Bio: Reshma Chattaram Chamberlin was just 6 months old when she went on her
first adventure across the Atlantic Ocean from her hometown in India. Her love of
travel has made her perpetually open to inspiration and new ideas. A natural and
meticulous strategist, Reshma is the CEO of Muzio. She has worked across the
globe, managing large teams and developing mobile and web applications for a
number of prominent clients. Reshma also did a stint as book designer at
HarperCollins Publishing in New York. Like Elizabeth, her current home town is St.
Louis.
Advice to aspiring female entrepreneurs: If you truly believe you have a good
idea. Don’t let any body tell you its not. Keep with it and work hard to realize your
vision. As an entrepreneur you are often paving your own way; many people will
give you a lot of advice but they may not have all the answers, so it is very
important to hear opinions and facts but trust your gut and your instincts when
making decisions.
Entrepreneur I most admire: Angela Jia Kim, the founder of Savor the Success
and Om Aroma. She created an amazing organic skincare line, but did not stop
there. She has now created an amazing movement and community of women
entrepreneurs helping and motivating each other. She created a successful
business, learned from it and is now helping other women through another
successful business.
Proudest achievement to date: My proudest achievement to date has been the
launch of Muzio. We self-funded Muzio and are really proud of the integrity, design
and functionality of the product we put out into the market. We continue to
innovate, improve and adapt Muzio. We are also really proud of the partnership and
business we have built; based on trust, friendship, putting our consumer first and
tireless determination.
Sonia Kapadia
Bio: Sonia Kapadia is the Founder & CEO of Taste Savant, a one-stop-shop for
savvy diners. The food space is familiar territory for Sonia, who spent five years at
PepsiCo in the U.S. and the U.K. before joining the London CPG startup Gu Chocolate
Desserts as Head of Marketing and New Product Development. Gu sold one year
later, after which Sonia returned to the U.S. to lead Marketing Partnerships at Rent
the Runway. Sonia holds a B.A. from UPenn and an MBA from Harvard Business
School.
Advice to aspiring female entrepreneurs: Don’t plan for too long. Women are
planners. We like to have every i dotted and every t crossed. We like to have a clear
roadmap for every journey. Entrepreneurship, however, doesn’t work like this.
Entrepreneurship requires one to go out there and get things done with limited
resources. In this kind of world you can’t plan for too long or things will slip by you,
so just go for it.
Entrepreneur I most admire: Wendy Kopp, the Founder of Teach For America is
an incredible entrepreneur and I look up to her greatly. She founded TFA right out of
undergrad as a young twenty something and has grown it into an amazing
organization that is directly making a difference in people’s lives. I’m impressed that
she has maintained the drive and passion to continue on this journey for so long
and has delivered strong results along the way.
Proudest achievement to date: Launching Taste Savant with my team! I’m most
proud of getting TS off the ground and continuing to grow the business with a
fantastic team. My teammates are the lifeline of this business and working with
them side by side to launch TS and move it forward has been wonderful.
Zach Davis
November, 2013