The seven women entrepreneurs who turned their passions into careers

"Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life," said Confucius. Finding your voice is not an easy task, especially in the case of women; sometimes, this process becomes even more challenging as society often refrains them from speaking their minds.

But today, the scenario has changed. Today's woman stands on her own feet with flying colours. Knocking off the society's ask to shut their voice, women are more assertive and are willing to go for what their inner voice says, no matter how difficult it is.

Celebrating the voice and strength of such women on International Women's Day, we have a list of seven women who made a career out of their passion.

Pooja Choudhary, Founder, Lavanya The Label

Hailing from a small town, Pooja dreamed of opening her venture. She was very clear about what she wanted – a fashion label. Pursuing her BBA from Modi Laxmangarh and MBA in Finance from Tokyo, Pooja began her entrepreneurial journey in 2018. Being good in academics, her father wanted her to go for civil services, but Pooja had something else in her mind.

She expressed her desire to open a venture to her father, who understood her passion and completely supported her. She then started her women-centric fashion brand and has not looked back since then. Based in Bhilwara, Rajasthan – a town where most clothing brands are for men – Pooja's company has a 70 per cent women workforce. Pooja aspires to expand this brand furthermore on her own and become a renowned name in the world of women's fashion.

Kratika Jain, COO of Pataa navigations Pvt. Ltd

Kratika Jain holds a master's degree in Management Technology from the prestigious New York University. Currently, Kratika is working as the COO of Pataa navigations Pvt. Ltd.

She is a fierce and dynamic entrepreneur who is breaking stereotypes with her strategic and organisational skills. Her ambition is to bring something new to the app's development. Supportive of her employees, Kratika is always reachable to all the people working with her. She wears multiple hats at Pataa, building, Marketing, Sales, Product Development, etc. With her primary focus on operationalising strategy, she also offers valuable inputs in conceptualising the ads made for Pataa Marketing. She deftly focuses on all the business divisions. She has a keen eye for product placement and pays more attention to details. The Pataa app has garnered 7 million+ downloads with her profound efforts and team leadership.

Aarti Samant, CMO & Co-founder, Masala Tokri

To help her mom follow her passion, the digital marketer Aarti Samant became an entrepreneur in 2019. They had a small beginning, but now Masala Tokri has become a big artisanal spices led by women. With her profound marketing skills and digital aptitude, Aarti has spread the wings of her brand in the cities like Mumbai, Pune, and Surat. She has worked with brands like Hotstar and Purplle to build social media presence. She has been honoured as India's Top Digital Planners, in 2015 conferred by Digital Marketing Asia – Singapore and Business World.

Also, Global Youth Marketing Forum recognised her as the Most Talented Social Media Professional In India – 2014 at their Social Media Summit & Awards. Besides running Tokri, she is into consulting major D2C brands to build their niche on digital platforms. As the co-founder of the women-run company, Aarti feels that Masala Tokri is bringing its kind of change in debarring societal norms and empowering women.

Dishi Somani, Founding Director, DishiS Designer Jewellery

Dishi started her entrepreneur journey in 2013 with DishiS Designer Jewellery after pursuing jewellery designing from the Indian Institute of Gems & Jewellery and Finance from IMT Dubai. Coming from a strong business family background, she was always clear that she wanted to start something of her own, and interest in ornaments drew her towards this field. Envisioning to design accessible and affordable jewellery for all women, Dishi became of the youngest self-made entrepreneurs of India.

DishiS Designer Jewellery is an online shop for all jewellery lovers who want to wear traditional or modern jewellery at an affordable price.

Dr Nishi Singh is the Director HOD (Department of Infertility & IVF), Prime IVF

After retiring as a Major from the Indian Army, Dr Nishi Singh began her journey as an entrepreneur. An acclaimed infertility specialist and recipient of the prestigious Presidential Award, Dr Nishi Singh heads the Department of Infertility & IVF at Prime IVF.

Having experience working in leading fertility centres in Delhi and Punjab for more than 15 years, Dr Nishi has an outstanding record of 5000 successful IVF credited to her name. Being a doctor and entrepreneur, Dr Nishi aims at serving the medical industry with her experience and expertise.

Neha Sahu, Founder and Designer, Haelli

After pursuing her engineering and master's, Neha Sahu instantly got her job as an Assistant Professor in a Gurgaon-based University. Coming from a small city, she did not have much choice other than to pursue a less demanding career and could help her maintain the work-home balance in the longer run.

In this scenario, working as an entrepreneur was not something she could have even thought about. Having an interest in art and design, Neha tried her hands-on painting some juttis (footwear) that everyone liked, which turned out to be a life-changing moment. That was when Haelli was born.

To pursue her knack for handprints and art, Neha started Haelli – an Indian brand that promotes culture with handicrafts. The brand also features unique sarees, brooches, blouses, and different clothing ranges on the website. With confidence in her skills and to prove her passion, Neha worked as an entrepreneur and a professor simultaneously. Managing every little task by herself – designing, painting, logistics, customer care, technical support, and PR, Neha Sahu proved that being a woman does not stop you from taking any challenge in life.

Priya Kaul, Spiritual healer, and Mental Health Expert

After pursuing MBA and excelling in her corporate career for a long, Priya Kaul stepped into the world of spirituality in 2015. A hope creator, numerologist, philosophy graduate, and PhD in Tarot Science, Priya is an award-winning spiritual healer and coach. She aspires to make people aware of their powers and strong enough to win over any challenge in life.

She has won many awards in her journey like Spiritual Healer & Coach of The Year (Delhi-NCR) in National Excellence Awards 2019, Best Healer of the Year Award by Magicka 2018, Iconic Woman Diva Award by 89th All India Achievers Conference Excellence Awards 2018, Arch of Excellence Award by 88th All India Achievers Conference Excellence Awards 2018, to name a few. Priya is a self-motivated women entrepreneur who is doing well not only in her field but is also inspiring and empowering other women who deal with self-doubts. (GA/IANS)

Keywords: ( Women entrepreneurs, empowerment, profession, passion )