Hashtag Magazine March Issue 2026

CONTENTS

EDITOR’S DESK

PAGE: 04

A personal note from the editor reflecting on the spirit of the issue and the stories that define this month.

EVENTS IN TOWN

PAGE: 06

From cultural showcases to high-energy launches, here’s a curated look at what’s happening around the city this season.

TRENDING NOW!

PAGE: 07- 10

Mrunal Thakur, in an exclusive with Hashtag Magazine, gets candid about her forthcoming film Do Deewane Seher Mein She opens up about early insecurities, self-acceptance, and finding comfort in her own voice while navigating love, romance, and growth in the industry.

COVER STORY

PAGE: 16-76

Next-Gen Women: Bold, Brilliant, Unstoppable

From photographers and DJs to artists, entrepreneurs, and authors, these are women who refuse to be boxed in. They are creators, builders, storytellers, and changemakers who continue to push boundaries and redefine what unstoppable truly means. Meet the rising forces shaping the future with fearless ambition and fresh perspective.

RETAIL THERAPY

PAGE: 12-14

A look at the latest products in the market

From the E DITOR

Here’s to the Women who Dared, and the Ones about to Begin!

Over the past year, I’ve had countless conversations that have stayed with me long after they ended. Conversations with women who once had a dream, but placed it on hold. First for their parents, then for their marriage, then for their children, and then for stability, expectations, practicality, or fear. And somewhere along the way, their dream became quieter.

What struck me wasn’t sacrifice. Women are no strangers to strength. What struck me was regret. I wanted to… is a heavy sentence.

If you’ve made peace with your choices, that is powerful! There is dignity in every path chosen consciously. But if there’s still a whisper inside you asking for more, I hope you listen. It is never too late to begin. Start small. Start imperfectly. Start quietly, if you must. Just don’t lose yourself in the waiting, and your mind in carrying the weight of “what if.” Life is not a race against age; it is a relationship with courage.

This March issue is deeply personal to me. We celebrate 27 Women of Power: Voices That Lead, Stories That Inspire. We spotlight Next-Gen Women: Bold, Brilliant, Unstoppable. From artists to entrepreneurs, wildlife photographers to cultural disruptors, these are women who did not shrink. They left what felt safe. They chose what felt true. They built. They failed. They persisted. They achieved. But more than achievement, what unites them is decision. The decision to honour their own voice. This issue is my salute to women everywhere: the ones building empires, the ones rebuilding themselves, the ones starting over, and the ones still gathering courage. Power does not always look loud. Sometimes it looks like a quiet decision to try again.

If there is something your heart still wants, this is your reminder:

Do what makes you happy.

Not recklessly. Not resentfully.

But bravely.

Happy International Women’s Day.

Sinduri Vuppala

Editor

Sinduri Vuppala

Copy Editor

Sheba Joseph

Contributors

Lipika Varma

Ratna Bhupal

Rashmi Gopal Rao

Priyanka Goud

Aniket Pandey

A Pragnya Reddy

Bindu Gopal Rao

Mehak Walia

Dhanush Kumar

Manisha Pyaraka

Surabhi Goel

Designer K Abhinay Raj Raju

Website and SEO Anil Mandapati

Social Media

Vishal Goud

Aarthi Reddy

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UPCOMING EVENTS IN MARCH 2026

SANAM India Tour –Bengaluru

The SANAM India Tour, Bengaluru show promises a night of catchy pop-rock energy and timeless melodies that few bands can deliver live. SANAM has built its reputation on soulful renditions of beloved classics like Gulabi Aankhen, Lag Ja Gale, and Pehla Nasha, blended seamlessly with fresh originals that keep the vibe both familiar and exciting. Their rise from loyal YouTube innovators to a touring sensation reflects not just talent but a bond with audiences who sing along to every line.

Date: 14 Mar 2026

Price: ₹ 900 onwards

Venue: Phoenix Market City, Bengaluru

A Mumbai Indians Experience is not your typical cricket fan zone. It’s a full-blown cultural festival where sport, music, style and community collide. Born out of the iconic Mumbai Indians’ drive to connect with supporters beyond match day, this two-day experience turns fandom into a lifestyle celebration. Expect immersive zones, exclusive merchandise drops, panel chats, and live performances from global and Indian music stars, a vibe that mirrors the team’s relentless spirit and the city’s pulse.

Date: 21st–22nd Mar 2026

Price: ₹ 799 onwards

Venue: Jio World Garden, Mumbai, India

This isn’t a quiet theatre show; it’s a riot of characterdriven stand-up where sharp observational humour meets sheer performance energy. Sunil Grover, the man behind iconic comic personas like Gutthi and Dr Mashoor Gulati, brings his uncanny ability to switch hats and voices on stage, mining everyday life and pop culture for laughs that land hard. It’s high-octane, unpredictable fun meant for anyone who believes comedy should punch up, not just pass the time. Expect an evening where laughter isn’t polite, it’s relentless and unforgettable.

Date: 20 Mar 2026

Price: ₹ 1,399 onwards

Venue: Hyderabad (Venue details announced closer to the event)

21st Feb10th May

India’s most recognisable funny man. Rahul Dua, known for his sharp wit, versatile stage persona and roles hosting Shark Tank India and the Comicstaan finale, takes the stage with “Allow Me!”, his second major solo show after the runaway success of Oh Hello! Expect rapid-fire jokes, observational humour and a blend of stand-up styles that keep you guessing what comes next. It’s one of those nights where laughter isn’t just a moment, it’s an experience shared with the crowd.

Date: 21 Feb 2026 – 10 May 2026

Price: ₹ 799 onwards

Venue: CIDCO Exhibition Centre Auditorium, Vashi

With Do Deewane Seher Mein now released, Mrunal Thakur steps into a romance that celebrates vulnerability, emotional honesty and modern companionship. Produced under Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s banner, the film explores relationships through a lens of hope and self-discovery. In an exclusive conversation with Lipika Varma, the actor opens up about insecurities, beauty stereotypes, marriage, and the quiet confidence she has grown into over the years.

You’ve spoken about insecurities before. What were your early struggles?

Even after moving to Mumbai, I struggled with confidence. I couldn’t answer questions in class because I was insecure about my English and my Marathi accent. My name is unisex, and boys would make fun of it. When I entered the industry, I felt I needed to sound “elite.” I thought accent and diction defined you.

Today, I realise insecurities only matter when you give them importance. I’m comfortable in my own skin now. I feel good the way I am.

Have you ever faced challenges because of being considered "too beautiful"?

Yes, sometimes people think that if you're beautiful and successful, life must be easy. It's not! There are moments when I wish I could just be normal. For Love Sonia, my audition was literally placed in a folder marked "Do Not Open.” Fortunately, the director opened it and felt I was right for the role. I had to convince the team that with prosthetics and makeup, we could make it work. People assume beauty makes everything easy. It doesn't. Everyone struggles. Beauty alone cannot carry you forward. There are a lot of things that have to fall in place.

I also remember attending a funeral and not being able to grieve freely because cameras were around. Sometimes you just want to be a daughter or sister, not an actor.

Today, I realise insecurities only matter when you give them importance. I’m comfortable in my own skin now. I feel good the way I am.

How was it working with Siddhanth on this film?

We're like friends who fight, tease, and care for each other. What matters is dedication, and Sidhant is extremely focused and hardworking. He doesn’t get carried away by popularity and genuinely wants his performances to feel real. We explored Mumbai together. I took him around my college area near Churchgate, Asiatic Library, and Kala Ghoda. Mumbai is deeply personal to me. Without Mumbai, I feel incomplete.

How was it working with Sanjay Leela Bhansali as a producer? We heard he never came to the set, but he was still deeply involved?

Being a Bhansali heroine is a dream! I think every actor dreams of working under his banner at least once. When I met him after Sita Ramam, he told me, "After a long time, a Maharashtrian girl has come who is making her mark across industries without noise." That was the biggest compliment of my life. Being appreciated by a master of Indian cinema is my biggest award, my biggest success. Whenever I go home and face any doubt, I remind myself that I am a Bhansali heroine. And that feeling is priceless.

Does the film promote marriage?

Marriage is important, but only with the right person. Earlier, there was an "ideal age" for marriage: 18 to 23 for girls, 21 to 24 for boys. But today, what matters more is who you choose to spend your life with, one who also takes your drawbacks along with your good qualities.

The film's core message is simple: Don’t just get married. Marry someone you can rely on. Someone who gives you strength. Someone who accepts your flaws instead of pointing them out. It's better to wait

I also remember attending a funeral and not being able to grieve freely because cameras were around. Sometimes you just want to be a daughter or sister, not an actor.

patiently than to rush into being with the wrong person.

For me, leadership quality is very important. I want someone who can take his family forward, respect my art, treat my parents like his own, and never make me feel judged for my choices. I want peace and happiness!

What is the biggest difference between the Hindi and South film industries?

The biggest difference is the language! Everything else is the same: the passion, the professionalism, the love for cinema. But honestly, the biggest beauty of both industries is the audience. The love I receive both in Hindi and South is overwhelming.

&

NEW NOTEWORTHY:

A PEEK AT THE LATEST PRODUCTS IN TOWN

Hashtag Magazine brings you a curated peek at the newest products making waves right now. From beauty must-haves to lifestyle launches, here’s what’s fresh, trending, and worth discovering.

Oshea Herbals Papaya Clean AntiBlemish Face Wash

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NIVEA Luminous Even Glow Oil Control Day Cream with SPF 50

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Blurré Pudding Matte Blush

Makeup lovers craving a natural, “real-skin” flush will find a refreshing twist with this innovative blush. Unlike traditional powders or heavy creams, Blurré Pudding Matte Blush introduces a bouncy, cremeto-powder texture that feels soft and luxurious on the skin yet wears with a beautifully smooth matte finish.

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What sets this blush apart is its attention to both performance and skin care. Infused with ingredients like niacinamide for brightness, peptides for smoothness, and nourishing oils such as avocado butter, it feels comfortable throughout the day without fading into patchiness. The lightweight finish also plays nicely with base makeup, whether worn over foundation or just on bare skin.

Offered in a range of flattering shades crafted for diverse skin tones, this blush delivers a soft, naturallooking colour that feels intuitive and effortless.

Women27 of Power:

Voices That Lead, Stories That Inspire

This March, Hashtag Magazine celebrates the spirit of International Women’s Day with a special feature that puts the spotlight where it truly belongs, on women who are chasing their dreams and building their own success stories.

Across fashion, food, sports, tech, and beyond, women today are breaking barriers, redefining industries, and proving that ambition has no single path. This edition brings together 27 inspiring stories of women who dared to start, lead, create, and persist, each journey unique, yet united by courage, resilience, and purpose. We present Next-Gen Women: Bold, Brilliant, Unstoppable.

Aditi Chauhan

Delhi NCR | Professional Footballer, Founder of She Kicks & Aditi Chauhan Foundation

Learning to Stand Alone

Aditi Chauhan was raised in Delhi NCR in a defence family that valued discipline and education. She was an active, competitive child who loved sports. “I didn’t grow up thinking I would become a professional footballer, because honestly, that wasn’t something girls around me were shown as possible.”

She first started playing basketball before discovering football at the age of 15. “Once I stood in goal for the first time, something just clicked. I loved the responsibility of it. I loved that when everyone else panicked, I had to stay calm.”

Moving abroad to pursue sports management while chasing football required convincing people, managing finances, and carrying expectations, all at a young age. Her parents’ quiet support made all the difference. “They never told me I couldn’t try.” Growing up as one of the only girls on the pitch shaped her resilience early. “It teaches you two things very quickly: how to fight for space, and how to stand alone,” she says.

I didn’t grow up thinking I would become a professional footballer, because honestly, that wasn’t something girls around me were shown as possible.

More than a Career

Football gave her more than a profession. “It gave me confidence and an identity when I was still figuring myself out. It gave me strength in moments when I felt invisible.”

When she signed with West Ham United Women, becoming the first Indian woman to play professional football in England, it made headlines. But the years behind that moment were layered with doubt, financial instability, injuries, and the persistent question: “Is this sustainable?”

Through She Kicks, she now works to build the ecosystem she once lacked, that inlcudes structured training, mentorship, visibility, and belief. She adds, “This isn’t just about football. It’s about telling a young girl that her ambition is not unrealistic.”

Women in sport are often expected to be grateful. I believe we deserve to be respected.

Systems over Spotlight

Often associated with being “the first,” Chauhan believes her defining trait is perspective. She has trained in India with minimal facilities and in England, where professionalism is the baseline. That contrast informs her work, adding that, “As a goalkeeper, you’re constantly observing, reading patterns, and anticipating risk. Off the pitch, I operate the same way. I’m not interested in short-term visibility. I’m interested in building systems.”

She also speaks openly about uncomfortable realities like pay gaps, contract insecurity, and a lack of safeguarding. “Women in sport are often expected to be grateful. I believe we deserve to be respected.”

Choosing the Risk

Her journey was not glamorous. There was no academy pipeline or early sponsorship. The defining moment was choosing to move to England.

“I remember the fear more than the excitement,” she says. Leaving home, adapting to a new culture, and balancing studies with football

forced her to mature quickly. There were days of deep self-questioning, she adds, “But every time I stepped onto the pitch, I felt clarity.”

The West Ham season felt surreal, but more than pride, she felt relief. Relief that persistence had translated into something tangible. Already representing the Indian National Team, she wanted to test herself internationally. “I loved the competition with myself; I had to improve and push myself to play at that level.”

Beyond Representation

Playing in England was an external breakthrough. The deeper shift came later, when she returned to India. Young girls began messaging her, “Didi, how do I do what you did?” She did not always have a pathway to offer, and that unsettled her. “That’s when I decided I don’t just want to be remembered as a player. I want to be someone who helped change the landscape.”

Today, through She Kicks and the Aditi Chauhan Foundation, she is focused on structured grassroots programs, multi-city leagues, and long-term development pathways. “I want sustainability, not just moments.”

THE MINDSET

“Resilience is not something you wake up with; it’s built quietly, over years of being told no. Motivation fades. Discipline carries you.”

Integrity, transparency, and fairness are nonnegotiable. “We cannot build strong systems on weak foundations.” She also believes deeply in dignity. “Opportunity should not feel like charity.”

Resilience is not something you wake up with; it’s built quietly, over years of being told no. Motivation fades. Discipline carries you.

THE MESSAGE | Making Space

“To every young girl starting, you are allowed to want more.” She speaks with clarity, “You are allowed to be ambitious without apologising. You are allowed to ask for fair pay. You are allowed to take up space.”

“Fear is normal, but it does not make decisions.”

For her, success today means impact. It is more girls on football grounds, more parents cheering their daughters, and the word first is slowly disappearing because it is no longer rare. “If my journey has done anything, I hope it has widened the road, even slightly, for someone walking behind me. And that, to me, is power.”

Aishwarya Sridhar

New Panvel (West),

Navi Mumbai | Wildlife Filmmaker, Photographer & Co-Founder/ CEO–Bambee Studios

From Fireflies to the Forest

Aishwarya Sridhar grew up in New Panvel, on the edge of the biodiverse foothills of Matheran, an ecosystem that holds nearly 7–8% of the world’s recorded species. A graduate in Mass Media, with Cambridge A Levels in Business and Accounting, she was raised in a family that balanced structure and creativity. Her father, Sridhar Ranganathan, a Chartered Accountant and former Vice President at Vodafone, taught her financial discipline while her mother, Rani Sridhar, an advertising professional and homemaker, nurtured storytelling instincts.

Her earliest memories are of forests, fireflies, and quiet ecological change. “As I grew older, I watched that world slowly change, forests gave way to highways, and the fireflies disappeared.” That loss ignited a purpose in her.

A turning point came when she watched Life with Sir David Attenborough. If a documentary could make her care about Komodo dragons from her living room, she reasoned, perhaps she could do the same for India’s wildlife.

As I grew older, I watched that world slowly change, forests gave way to highways, and the fireflies disappeared.

Conservation through Storytelling

Today, Aishwarya is a National Geographic Explorer, Canon EOS Influencer, and Associate Fellow at the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP). As the co-founder and CEO of Bambee Studios, she leads a full-service production house specialising in natural history and environmental documentaries for global broadcast.

“I don’t see my work as content creation, I see it as conservation through storytelling,” she says. “My camera is simply the bridge between two worlds, the wilderness and people who may never step into it.”

Her productions have aired on National Geographic WILD, Arte, CuriosityStream, NHK, KBS, and Love Nature. Her photography has appeared in National Geographic magazine, BBC Wildlife, The Guardian, Mongabay, Digital Camera, The Times of India, and Sanctuary Asia. In 2020, she became the first Indian woman to win at the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards in London, and she has received honours including the Princess Diana Award and recognition as one of

My camera is simply the bridge between two worlds, the wilderness and people who may never step into it.

50 Explorers Changing the World by The Explorers Club, NYC. Her latest film, The Fading Star, earned a 2025 Wildscreen Panda Awards nomination for Emerging Talent.

For Aishwarya, impact is deeply personal. “When someone tells me a photograph changed how they see wildlife, I know the work has served its purpose.”

Depth Over Spectacle

“What I do goes beyond documenting wildlife,” she explains. “I translate the lives of animals and ecosystems into emotional, visual narratives that help people connect with nature in a deeply personal way.”

Her philosophy rejects spectacle. Wildlife, she insists, is not a subject but a character, requiring patience, sensitivity, and respect. Through Bambee Studios, she combines cinematic craft with conservation storytelling, bringing fragile ecosystems right into people’s living rooms.’

Her leadership style is rooted in empathy and purpose. “Filmmaking is not about speed or volume; it is about depth, authenticity, and impact.”

A Tigress Named Maya

Her journey began not with a business plan, but with wonder, and a tigress named Maya. From 2012 to 2018, she documented Maya in Tadoba. Watching the tigress defend herself against a gaur and later employ a survival strategy to protect her cubs became the foundation of Queen of Taru, her breakout film.

“That film validated my belief that storytelling could be a powerful tool for conservation.” Four years later, Bambee Studios was born, an evolution of that belief into an enterprise.

Leading Without Apology

Breaking into a male-dominated field brought bias and doubt. “There were moments when my creative input was dismissed,” she recalls. Being young and female in physically demanding, technical environments required resilience. “I let my work speak.”

Her academic grounding in business enabled her to navigate contracts, budgeting, and co-productions with confidence. Over time, results replaced skepticism with respect. “The challenges taught me to build a career not by fitting into the system, but by changing it from within.”

Looking ahead, she is developing a slate of feature documentaries and series that push the boundaries of natural history storytelling, projects rooted in the wild, elevated by human emotion and innovation.

Respect Above All

“At the heart of everything I do is one belief: storytelling can change how people feel, and feelings can change how people act.”

She refuses to rush stories or disturb wildlife for a shot. “The forest works on its own time.” Authenticity and community inclusion remain non-negotiable. “Local voices must be heard, not as background, but as storytellers.”

Her grounding rituals are simple: quiet time in nature, revisiting old footage, and remembering the balcony in Matheran where fireflies once blinked.

“The one value I will never compromise on is respect, for the wild, for the truth of the story, and for the people whose lives are intertwined with these landscapes.”

Build Legacies

“To the next generation of women entrepreneurs: Don’t let gender limit your dreams.”

She urges women to pair passion with financial literacy. “Understand budgets. Know the value of your work. Creativity needs sustainability to survive.”

“Do not wait for permission. Start where you are. Stay authentic. Because when women lead with purpose and clarity,” she says, “they don’t just build businesses, they build legacies.”

RAJA KUMARI Svetha Yallapragada Rao

Mumbai | Rapper, Singer, Songwriter & Classical Dancer

Art, Family, and Faith

Svetha Yallapragada Rao, professionally known as Rajakumari, is based in Mumbai. She holds a BA in Religious Studies and comes from a family of doctors, where education and discipline were deeply valued. However, it was Indian classical dance that shaped her most profoundly.

She began training at a very young age, immersing herself in tradition, mythology, and devotion. Reflecting on those formative years, she says, “Classical dance didn’t just teach me technique, it taught me reverence, storytelling, and the sacred power of the stage.” The discipline of classical arts instilled in her both artistic rigour and spiritual grounding, foundations that continue to define her creative expression.

Classical dance didn’t just teach me technique, it taught me reverence, storytelling, and the sacred power of the stage

Art with Cultural Responsibility

Rajakumari chose her stage name intentionally. “I chose the identity of ‘Rajakumari’ as a vision, almost like embodying the energy of a goddess,” she explains. Having grown up inspired by Devi through classical dance, the divine feminine became central to her artistic identity. While growing up in America, she noticed the absence of Indian artists in mainstream spaces. “I wanted to become the artist I needed when I was younger, someone unapologetically Indian, modern, powerful, and visible.”

Breaking into the American record label system in 2016 came with significant challenges. There were battles, resistance, and moments that demanded persistence. Yet, witnessing the cultural shift today validates that journey. “When I meet fans who proudly wear their bindis or celebrate their culture boldly, I understand the weight of the journey. We are all connected, and cultural pride is powerful.”

When I told people I was Indian, they would ask, ‘What tribe?

THE RAJAKUMARI CODE

Rajakumari believes authenticity is her defining strength. “Trends shift, genres evolve, and paths change, but I have always remained true to my vision and message.” She emphasises manifestation and cultural pride as pillars of her philosophy. “You don’t have to abandon any part of yourself to succeed.”

Her work is often associated with fusion, blending NRI identity, fashion, and genre-fluid music. Yet for her, it is not about fusion for novelty; it is about wholeness. She embodies duality without fragmentation: Indian and global, traditional and contemporary, sacred and modern. “I refuse to separate those identities.”

Discipline Before Stardom

Her artistic journey began on the classical stage. Rajakumari

performed her first Arangetram in Kuchipudi at seven years and her second in Bharatanatyam at eight years. By the time she turned 10 years old, she was touring India.

Touring the country at such a young age and immersing herself in traditional arts became a defining experience. It instilled lifelong respect for classical forms, and that discipline carried into everything she pursued, from music to fashion to performance.

Growing up in America presented cultural misunderstandings. “When I told people I was Indian, they would ask, ‘What tribe?’” she recalls. Rather than discouraging her, those moments strengthened her resolve. “That confusion became fuel. I felt responsible for preserving and showcasing what I knew to be beautiful.” Having witnessed India’s artistic richness firsthand, she wanted the world to see it too.

Reinvention on Her Own Terms

The pandemic marked a significant turning point. Choosing to go independent required conviction and faith in her own vision. “I had to be willing to learn, fail, rebuild, and try again without the safety net of a label,” she says.

As she approaches the 10th anniversary of her first album, she describes this chapter as the Decade of Kumari. She is currently working on her sixth studio project while planning a global tour across India and international markets.

“This year is about pushing limits, creatively, spiritually, and professionally,” she explains. With experience behind her and clarity ahead, she is ready to give her art “an honest, fearless chance.”

Art as Offering

For Rajakumari, art is not pursued for fame. “My art has always been an offering, an offering to God,” she says. Grounded by family and spirituality, she views music as her dharma

As a songwriter, she believes artists give language to emotions others struggle to articulate. “Life can feel isolating, but when someone hears a song that perfectly mirrors their feelings, they no longer feel alone. That is sacred to me.” Her non-negotiable value is integrity. “I will never compromise on my art, my message, or my purpose.”

Building What Cannot Be Taken

To the next generation of women, her message is direct: “Believe in yourself and stop second-guessing your voice.”

As she completes a decade in the industry, she resists the pressure to reinvent for validation. “If I could tell my younger self anything, it would be: don’t change. Growth will happen naturally, but never lose your original passion or perspective.”

Her advice to emerging artists is equally pragmatic: invest in craft, build authorship, and write your own music. “When you are the creator, the writer, the architect of your art, you build an empire that cannot easily be taken from you.”

Today, she defines success as alignment. “Staying true to who I am while continuing to evolve, that is more powerful than fame.”

Anshuka Parwani

MUMBAI | Holistic Wellness

Practitioner, Celebrity Yoga Expert & Founder, Anshuka Yoga

Rooted in Movement

Anshuka Parwani’s life has always revolved around movement, but its meaning has evolved with time. A holistic wellness practitioner and celebrity yoga expert, she grew up learning yoga under her mother’s guidance, building an early foundation in mind-body awareness. Alongside that, she was a competitive athlete and went on to become a national-level gold medalist swimmer.

Later, she trained as a commercial pilot, an experience that shaped her discipline, focus, and resilience. But it was a serious accident over a decade ago that altered her trajectory. “My recovery journey through yoga did not just rebuild my physical strength,” she reflects, “it transformed my understanding of healing, inner power, and holistic health.”

That period of rebuilding reshaped not just her body, but her philosophy. Today, she channels that lived experience into her work, helping others discover strength, balance, and conscious living.

I want people to reconnect with their bodies and their inner selves, and build strength in a holistic and sustainable way

Wellness as Foundation

Anshuka describes herself as a wellness entrepreneur and educator. “I want people to reconnect with their bodies and their inner selves, and build strength in a holistic and sustainable way,” she says.

Her approach is rooted in firsthand transformation, through movement, breathwork, mindful living, and conscious nutrition. For her, wellness is not indulgence; it is infrastructure. “When people feel stronger, calmer, and more balanced, it changes the way they live and relate to the world,” she explains.

Strength does not always have to be loud, Sometimes it is quiet, patient, and deeply resilient.

Personalised, Not Performative

What sets her apart is her bioindividual approach. “No two bodies are the same, and wellness should reflect that uniqueness,” she says. Blending traditional yoga with functional movement and scientific application, she prioritises sustainability over spectacle.

She rejects extremes and trenddriven practices. Instead, her philosophy centers on consistency, integrity, and authenticity. “Wellness is not about shortcuts,” she emphasises. “It’s about building a foundation that supports you for life.”

Building Beyond the Studio

From private sessions to retreats, corporate programs, workshops, and digital communities, Anshuka has expanded her vision far beyond one-on-one training. The breakthrough came when she realised her work could scale into education and collective impact. Today, she is focused on developing innovative programs and thoughtfully designed wellness experiences that make holistic health accessible and practical for diverse communities.

Success is not measured in milestones

Her advice to the next generation is grounded and powerful. “Strength does not always have to be loud,” she says. “Sometimes it is quiet, patient, and deeply resilient.”

She reminds women that progress is rarely linear, and that redefining direction is not failure but growth.

For Anshuka, success today is measured not only in milestones but in balance, well-being, and meaningful impact. It is built, she believes, on purpose and staying true to one’s inner steadiness.

Richa Jaggi

NEW DELHI | Co-Founder & CMO, Awshad medical cannabis wellness brand

Born from Purpose

Richa Jaggi’s entrepreneurial journey began not in a boardroom but in a moment of profound personal loss. Based in New Delhi, she brings over 14 years of marketing experience, complemented by executive education from Harvard and IIM Ahmedabad, and global exposure across leading brands. Raised in a close-knit business family that valued integrity and resilience, she grew up with a strong foundation in ethics and enterprise.

But it was losing her dog, Champ, to cancer that reshaped her direction. “Champ’s cancer became my turning point,” she shares. Witnessing the gaps in compassionate, evidencebased care left her questioning why gentler, effective alternatives were not more accessible. That question became the seed for Awshad.

Building with Science and Empathy

As Co-Founder and CMO of Awshad, a medical cannabis wellness brand, Richa operates at the intersection of science, empathy, and storytelling. “Awshad was born from personal loss,” she says. “This brand is not just my work; it is a mission.”

Her focus lies in humanising complex and often misunderstood categories like medical cannabis, while maintaining regulatory and ethical rigour. She balances intuition with data, and growth with responsibility, a leadership style shaped by both corporate discipline and personal conviction.

The conviction to build something impactful made the risk worthwhile

Values That Anchor

Richa is guided by integrity, empathy, and long-term impact. “Businesses must heal, not just sell,” she believes. Her daily rituals include reflection and staying connected to real patient stories, grounding her work in lived realities.

The one non-negotiable? Ethics. “Especially when people’s health and trust are involved.”

Do not wait to feel ready. Clarity comes through action.

A Message to Women Entrepreneurs

Her advice to the next generation is direct: “Do not wait to feel ready. Clarity comes through action.” She emphasises that discomfort is part of growth, not failure. Today, she defines success as building something truthful, creating meaningful impact, and living with alignment and freedom.

Anoushka Jain

DELHI | History Storyteller, Author & Founder, Enroute Indian History

Memory as Resistance

Anoushka Jain does not treat history as a static archive. For her, it is memory, identity, and inheritance. A trained historian, author, and founder based in Delhi, she grew up in a home where conversations revolved around politics, culture, and lived experience. Stories were currency.

Yet she noticed a pattern early on: women’s narratives were often softened, sidelined, or erased. “I realised history wasn’t just a subject for me,” she reflects. “It was about whose stories survive.”

An introvert by nature, Anoushka listens more than she speaks, a quality that has shaped both her writing and her leadership.

I realised history wasn’t just a subject for me, It was about whose stories survive.

Restoring Women to the Frame

Anoushka is the author of Badass Begums, published by HarperCollins, and the founder of Enroute Indian History, a heritage initiative she launched in 2019. The idea stemmed from frustration. “History was being reduced to dates and dynasties,” she says. “I wanted it to feel alive.”

Through her book and curated heritage walks, she works to restore visibility to women historically romanticised, villainised, or forgotten altogether. “If women are erased from history, they are erased from imagination.”

History, Felt Before Analysed

What sets her apart is her narrative lens. “I tell history like it is lived, not like it is memorised,” she explains. Her work explores emotional landscapes, power, gender, rebellion, love, and resistance, rather than mere chronology.

Her leadership style mirrors this intimacy. She invites questions, encourages disagreement, and prioritises community over hierarchy. The goal is dialogue, not distance.

Building Quietly, Persistently

Enroute began without spectacle, early morning walks, solo logistics, research, finances, and selfdoubt. “I chose this path because I couldn’t choose it,” she says.

The breakthrough came when audiences returned not just for information, but for perspective. The publication of Badass Begums marked another milestone, proof that these layered stories belonged beyond city streets.

Her growth strategy is deliberate. “Less scale, more depth,” she notes. She now focuses on expanding platforms, digital, physical, and academic, where nuance is not sacrificed for virality.

Success, is doing work that matters, even when no one is clapping.

Principles Over Popularity

Anoushka operates by three beliefs: history is never neutral; stories shape identity; and doing the right thing matters more than being popular. She refuses to dilute uncomfortable truths for palatability. “I would rather be honest than agreeable.”

Reading daily, walking alone, and observing quietly keep her grounded. For her, resilience is patience, the willingness to stay with meaningful work long enough for it to matter.

Redefining Success

Her message to women is clear: “You don’t have to be loud to be strong.” Craft, she insists, must precede visibility.

Self-doubt, she believes, often signals care, not inadequacy. Today, she defines success as freedom: the ability to choose her work, to say no without apology, and to create spaces where other women feel empowered to speak.

“Success,” she says, “is doing work that matters, even when no one is clapping.”

Natasha Gandhi

MUMBAI | Chef, Culinary Storyteller & Content Creator

From CA Aspirant to Culinary Voice

Natasha Gandhi’s journey into food was anything but predictable. Once on the path to becoming a Chartered Accountant, she attempted the exams five times before confronting a difficult truth: her heart wasn’t in it. “Walking away from CA was terrifying,” she admits, but that leap of faith led her back to her kitchen, where she began experimenting with healthy, gluten-free, vegan desserts.

What started as curiosity soon deepened into a calling. A defining moment came when she stepped onto MasterChef India, finishing as a top finalist. The platform sharpened her confidence and creative voice, introducing her to a national audience. From there, she began sharing recipes online, building a community around wholesome, hearty food rooted in story. Today, many know her as the ‘Biryani Queen,’ a title born from her ability to honour tradition while reimagining comfort food in nourishing, accessible ways.

Food as Memory and Medicine

Natasha describes her work as culinary storytelling. She documents traditions, reinterprets classics, and brings regional and community-driven recipes into modern kitchens. “Food, for me, is both memory and medicine,” she says.

Her philosophy challenges the idea that healthy eating must feel restrictive. Instead, she champions balance, dishes that are satisfying, flavourful, and mindful without sacrificing soul.

Food, for me, is both memory and

medicine

Heritage with a Modern Lens

What distinguishes her voice is her focus on lesser-known regional dishes, from diverse biryanis to India’s pasta-like traditions, presented in ways that feel approachable for home cooks. She avoids chasing fleeting trends, choosing instead to create from curiosity and passion.

Her signature strength lies in transforming indulgent favourites into healthier versions without compromising on depth. That blend of heritage, innovation, and mindful cooking defines her identity.

Breakthrough Moments

Growing up in a Punjabi household where food was celebration and identity, Natasha was surrounded by rich flavours and vibrant conversations. Influenced by chefs like Nigella Lawson, she often imagined herself cooking on camera, storytelling through food. Today, that childhood vision feels vividly real.

MasterChef India marked her first major turning point, instilling discipline under pressure and amplifying her reach. The second

Every journey unfolds differently. Growth, is about discipline, adaptability, and staying aligned with purpose.

came with the “Biryanis from India” series, conceptualised with her husband. What began as a passion project quickly resonated online, solidifying her reputation as the “biryani queen.”

Mindset and Message

Natasha believes comparison is counterproductive. “Every journey unfolds differently,” she reflects. Growth, for her, is about discipline, adaptability, and staying aligned with purpose.

Her advice to women is clear: selfdoubt is natural, not fatal. Take risks when instinct calls. Build financial independence early. And embrace support systems. Collaboration, she believes, is a strength.

For Natasha, success is not just about recognition. It is about creating a life and a table that feels authentically her own.

Nidhi Goyal

JAIPUR, RAJASTHAN | Chef, Digital Food Creator & Founder, Fun2oosh Food

Strength Rooted in Resilience

Nidhi Goyal’s story is one of quiet endurance and deliberate rebuilding. Based in Jaipur, she holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Applications (BCA), a foundation that sharpened her analytical thinking and discipline, qualities that would later prove vital in entrepreneurship.

Raised in a middle-class business family, she grew up absorbing lessons in independence and responsibility from her father. But life tested her early. Married in 2017, the years that followed brought emotional challenges that deeply impacted her confidence and health. After the birth of her son in 2019, circumstances led her to return to her parental home.

Today, as a single mother raising her child with the support of her parents, Nidhi stands self-aware and purpose-driven. “Life may not turn out the way you planned,” she reflects, “but you still have the power to rebuild it.”

Life may not turn out the way you planned, but you still have the power to rebuild it.

Cooking as Independence

Nidhi is the creator behind Fun2oosh Food, where she shares simple, practical, and relatable recipes for everyday households. But beyond content, her work represents something far deeper: financial independence and dignity.

“Every decision I make is driven by one purpose: to give my son a secure and value-driven future,” she says. Content creation became her pathway to rebuilding her life on her own terms.

I chose not to depend financially on my parents for my child, Every rupee mattered.

Honest Food, Real Connection

Her culinary philosophy is rooted in authenticity. She creates “honest, no-fuss, everyday food,” recipes tested with patience and precision. Over time, her confidence has grown alongside her platform, earning her audience’s trust.

Her community associates her work with warmth and reliability. The food feels personal, not performative, a reflection of the care behind every dish.

The Courage to Begin

Nidhi began her journey in 2021 during a period of vulnerability. Monetisation was slow; it took four months to earn her first $100 on YouTube, an amount that covered her son’s expenses at the time.

“I chose not to depend financially on my parents for my child,” she shares. Every rupee mattered. In the early days, fear of judgment led her to disguise her voice in videos. But over time, she realised that holding onto fear meant limiting her future. That decision to show up authentically marked her true turning point.

Building with Trust

Nidhi is the creator behind Fun2oosh Food, where she shares simple, practical, and relatable recipes for everyday households. But beyond content, her work represents something far deeper: financial independence and dignity.

“Every decision I make is driven by one purpose: to give my son a secure and value-driven future,” she says. Content creation became her pathway to rebuilding her life on her own terms.

Moving Forward, Always

“Being a single mother is not easy,” she admits. Yet she chose strength over surrender. Guided by honesty, resilience, and self-respect, she refuses to compromise on trust, with her audience or herself.

Her message to women is clear: you don’t need to have everything figured out to begin. Growth can be slow. Starting over is allowed. Choosing yourself is not selfish.

For Nidhi, success is not fame or numbers. It is self-reliance, emotional strength, and the ability to give her son a stable, dignified life. Moving forward, despite everything, remains her greatest achievement.

Shruti Mahajan

DELHI NCR | Culinary Content Creator & Digital Food Educator

Where Structure Meets Spice

Shruti Mahajan’s relationship with food began long before social media. Raised in a home where meals symbolised comfort and connection, she grew up understanding that food was never just functional; it was emotional infrastructure. Today, based in Delhi NCR, she balances a full-time corporate career alongside a steadily growing culinary platform.

Her dual life reflects her personality: equal parts structured and creative. “I’ve always balanced discipline with imagination,” she shares. Managing time, health, and responsibility firsthand shaped her belief that food solutions must work in real life, not just on screen.

Simplifying the Everyday

Shruti identifies as a culinary content creator and digital educator, but her core mission is simpler: make healthy eating realistic. She noticed that nutrition-forward cooking often felt overwhelming or aspirational. “Food is something we deal with every single day,” she says. “If we can make it easier and healthier, it genuinely improves quality of life.”

Her content is built around that practicality, short, efficient recipes designed for busy schedules. Shruti’s signature format includes 30–40 second recipes that viewers can watch, save, and cook without friction. She focuses on ingredients already present in Indian kitchens and has carved a niche by making millets engaging, from Ragi Brownies and Ragi Dhokla to Millet Sambar Khichdi

Food is something we deal with every single day, If we can make it easier and healthier, it genuinely improves quality of life.

Built on Consistency

Her journey began quietly, experimenting in her own kitchen and sharing what worked. There was no dramatic pivot, only persistence. Balancing content creation alongside a demanding job required discipline. That phase reinforced her core belief: consistency outweighs perfection.

The turning point came when followers began writing, “I actually tried this.” That validation signalled impact. Today, she is focused less on virality and more on systems, structured PDFs, nutrition-led education, and scalable tools that empower everyday cooks.

Power in Balance

Shruti operates on three principles: balance over extremes, progress over pressure, clarity over noise. Authenticity remains nonnegotiable; she shares only what she personally cooks and believes in.

Her message to women is grounded: you don’t have to choose a single identity. You can build something meaningful alongside stability. Success, for her, is aligned and sustainable work.

“Power,” she believes, “is creating impact without burning out, and owning your journey without comparison.”

You don’t have to choose a single identity. You can build something meaningful alongside stability. Success, is aligned and sustainable work.

Rupika Harshwardhan P

MUMBAI | Founder & Creative Director, CINTA and Pantai Pura

Designing with Memory

For Rupika Harshwardhan P, design has never been merely aesthetics; it is emotional architecture. A graduate of Srishti School of Art and Design, with further studies in art history at Chitrakala Parishad, her education trained her to see spaces as layered narratives shaped by material, form, and feeling.

An early internship at Elle Decor India proved pivotal. It offered her an insider’s view of the design industry and crystallised a quiet but firm decision: she would not simply participate in design, she would build something of her own.

Drawn instinctively to craft traditions and handmade objects, Rupika’s understanding of “home” is rooted in belonging. For her, furniture is not functional; it is memory made tangible.

I didn’t create these brands just to sell furniture, I wanted to change how we see materials and craftsmanship.

Brands Built on Meaning

Rupika is the Founder and Creative Director of CINTA and Pantai Pura. CINTA, meaning “love,” is a children’s home décor brand centred on imagination and family bonds. Pantai Pura, “Sacred Beach,” explores natural harmony and mindful living.

“I didn’t create these brands just to sell furniture,” she explains. “I wanted to change how we see materials and craftsmanship.”

Her work bridges tradition and modernity, connecting artisan communities with contemporary homes. Particularly through CINTA, she reflects on how a child’s first furniture piece can become part of their emotional blueprint.

Reimagining Rattan

At the core of her practice is rattan, a material she champions for its agility, durability, and quiet elegance. Challenging misconceptions that it is dated or interchangeable with bamboo, Rupika reinterprets rattan through a contemporary lens while honouring traditional craft.

Her approach rests on three pillars: craftsmanship, co-creation, and community. Designs are developed collaboratively with artisans, resulting in bespoke pieces that respond to real homes rather than fleeting trends. “Design is a conversation, not a monologue,” she says.

From Online Beginnings to Experiential Spaces

Both brands began online, where one of the greatest challenges was translating tactile craftsmanship through screens. Confusion around materials often diluted the narrative she was building.

Rather than retreat, Rupika responded by creating experience centres, spaces where customers could physically engage with the pieces. That shift reframed conversations from price to value, from trend to longevity.

Growth with Clarity

Her breakthrough came when clients began viewing her work as heirloom objects rather than furniture. Exhibitions and

workshops further strengthened that connection.

Today, growth is intentional. CINTA is expanding into new experiential spaces, while Pantai Pura is investing in research and bespoke material innovation. For Rupika, transformation is not about scale, but clarity.

Principles and Perspective

Authenticity, sustainability, and community anchor her decisions. Craftsmanship is non-negotiable; if a piece lacks integrity, it does not leave the studio.

Inspired by the bold curves and expressive materiality of Italian 1970s design, she balances playfulness with structure. Discipline and strong team collaboration keep her grounded.

“If I can create with love and stand by my values, that to me is success.

A Message to Women

Her advice to aspiring women entrepreneurs is measured and clear: trust your instinct more than external noise. “You don’t need to build loudly to build meaningfully.”

Success, for Rupika, is alignment, building brands that reflect her values, empower craft communities, and create objects that become part of someone’s memory.

“If I can create with love and stand by my values,” she says, “that, to me, is success.”

SNEHAL SHAH (DJ RINK)

MUMBAI | Experience Curator & Celebrity

DJ

Rhythm, Resilience, Reinvention

Snehal Shah, professionally known as DJ Rink, has spent over two decades shaping soundscapes across India’s most celebrated stages. Based in Mumbai, she comes from a grounded, value-driven family where resilience and self-

respect were foundational principles. While formal education offered structure, it was life and the industry that refined her.

Choosing DJing as a career more than 20 years ago was unconventional, particularly for a woman. The industry was male-dominated, and skepticism was inevitable. But the challenge became a catalyst. “Every setback strengthened my voice,” she reflects. Over time, she evolved into a performer who is emotionally strong, spiritually aware, and professionally disciplined.

Crafting Energy, Not Just Music

DJ Rink describes herself not merely as a DJ, but as an experience curator. “I create energy. I design emotions. I build atmospheres,” she says.

For her, music is a universal language, one that dissolves boundaries of culture and status. Whether at luxury weddings or largescale corporate celebrations, she doesn’t just play tracks; she architects journeys. She understands that behind every event is emotion, and behind every celebration is memory.

I create energy. I design emotions. I build atmospheres

Above all, self-respect is paramount. No opportunity is worth losing your dignity.

Elegance Meets Impact

What distinguishes DJ Rink is her emotional intelligence. She blends high-energy performance with refinement, reading subtle shifts in crowd psychology in real time. She studies family dynamics, energy fluctuations, and mood transitions, responding instinctively.

Clients associate her with premium weddings, commanding stage presence, and unwavering professionalism. As one of India’s pioneering female DJs, she has built a reputation grounded not in novelty but in excellence.

Building Without a Blueprint

Her journey began at a time when female DJs were rare. With no roadmap to follow, she built her own, performing at private events, learning equipment hands-on, and steadily earning credibility. Late nights, safety concerns, and constant validation were part of the terrain. Those early years built her backbone.

The breakthrough came when she began consistently booking large-format luxury weddings and corporate events, chosen for performance, not gender.

Today, she is entering a phase of conscious expansion: developing

curated music properties, digital series, international presence, and long-term brand legacy. “This is not just growth,” she says. “It’s strategic growth.”

Discipline as a Philosophy

DJ Rink believes discipline outperforms motivation. Consistency, she maintains, outweighs talent when talent lacks work ethic. Her non-negotiables include integrity, financial independence, emotional strength, and professional boundaries.

Above all, self-respect is paramount. “No opportunity is worth losing your dignity.”

Redefining Success

Her message to women is clear: you do not have to choose between power and femininity, you can embody both. Start before you feel ready. Build financial independence. Embrace discomfort as part of growth.

Today, she defines success not by applause but by alignment, peace of mind, freedom of choice, financial stability, creative expression, and the ability to walk away when something no longer resonates.

For DJ Rink, success is not noise. It is control over her own rhythm.

DR. REBECCA PINTO

Bangalore | Physiotherapist, Nutritionist & Content Creator

Strength Shaped by Reality

Based in Bangalore, Dr. Rebecca Pinto is a physiotherapist by qualification, but as she says, “My life has been shaped far more by experience than by textbooks.”

Losing her mother at a young age, Rebecca grew up in a single-parent household with her father. Financial constraints were not abstract concepts; they were lived realities. “I saw what a lack of money really does, not just to your lifestyle, but to your peace, your choices, even your relationships,” she shares.

That early exposure instilled two beliefs: financial independence creates freedom, but happiness remains a choice. Known among friends as vibrant and dependable, she describes herself as “caring, witty, and observant.” Her critics may call her detached, but she believes that detachment “has helped me survive more than anything else.”

I saw what a lack of money really does, not just to your lifestyle, but to your peace, your choices, even your relationships.

Health Beyond Information

Today, Dr. Pinto wears multiple hats: physiotherapist, nutritionist, and content creator. But her mission extends beyond treatment plans. She challenges deeply ingrained habits. “When you understand health, you don’t just treat people, you change how they live,” she explains.

Content creation began casually, a simple experiment. But the moment people began telling her, “This helped me,” the weight shifted. “That’s when it stopped being content and became responsibility.” For Rebecca, health isn’t about longevity alone. “It’s about living without constantly feeling tired, inflamed, or uncomfortable, which unfortunately has become normal.”

Clarity Over Comfort

In an industry flooded with trends, her voice stands out for its directness. “Most people don’t change because they lack information. They don’t change because no one has made them question their habits.”

You don’t have to do everything alone to prove your worth. Build a team. It’s not weakness, it’s scale.

She positions herself deliberately between comfort and awareness. Her approach is simple, sometimes blunt, but always rooted in science. “If something is harming you, I’ll say it, even if it’s something you enjoy.” Her audience associates her with two defining qualities: clarity and simplicity.

Exhaustion as a Teacher

Ironically, her biggest breakthrough wasn’t success; it was burnout. After the lockdown, exposure to rapid growth opportunities led her to prioritise work over well-being.

“I learned the hard way that your body will always collect its dues,”

she reflects. That exhaustion reshaped her philosophy. Health, she realised, isn’t something you repair later. It’s something you safeguard while building everything else.

Today, she is focused on building a global brand of trust. “The internet doesn’t have a lack of information,” she says. “It has a lack of responsibility.”

Responsibility Over Influence

Dr. Pinto views health not as a shortterm project but as a lifestyle. “You can eat clean and work out daily, and still feel off because your mind is constantly stressed.”

She is particularly vocal about the neglected conversation around men’s health. “We expect men to provide and push through everything, but we don’t teach them how to take care of themselves.”

Above all, she draws a firm boundary: “If there’s one thing I will never compromise on, it’s trust. Influence without responsibility is just manipulation.”

Redefining Success

Her message to women is direct. “They wake up rushed, delay their meals, ignore their health, and call it ‘adjusting.’ It’s not adjusting. It’s neglect.”

She urges women to start small, but start with themselves. And she challenges the narrative of solitary strength. “You don’t have to do everything alone to prove your worth. Build a team. It’s not weakness, it’s scale.”

Today, success looks different to her. “It’s waking up feeling good in your body, being at peace in your mind, and not constantly trying to escape your own life.”

Because ultimately, as she puts it, “What’s the point of building a life you’re too exhausted to live?”

ESHANKA WAHI

Dubai–Delhi | Culinary Nutritionist, Holistic

Wellness Coach & Founder, Eat Clean with Eshanka

Building with Intention

With her professional base in Dubai and strong roots in Delhi, Eshanka Wahi brings together global business acumen and deeply personal purpose. An alumna of the European Business School, London, where she earned her Master’s in International Business, and a BCom (Honours) graduate from Delhi University, her academic foundation is firmly strategic. But her real education, she says, came from lived experience.

At 21, she returned to India to build her first company from the ground up. “Those early years taught me resilience, decisionmaking, and the courage to build something from scratch,” she reflects. By 23, she had expanded independently into Dubai, navigating a new culture and market. Each transition strengthened her belief in “intentional growth, self-leadership, and manifestation backed by consistent action.”

Wellness as Philosophy

Eshanka describes her professional identity as rooted in holistic wellness, conscious living, and culinary nutrition. “My work is not confined to a single title; it is an extension of my beliefs and the way I choose to live,” she shares.

Her journey into wellness unfolded organically. What began as personal exploration evolved into a calling. “Wellness was never just an interest; it was a philosophy and a responsibility.”

Through recipes, products, and immersive experiences, she aims to simplify well-being. “Wellbeing is not a luxury; it is foundational to how we show up in every role we play.”

Those early years taught me resilience, decision-making, and the courage to build something from scratch

Soul-Driven Creation

There is no need to rush, Depth, intention, and consistency matter more than speed. A woman can have it all, but not necessarily all at the same time.

felt grounding and deeply soulnourishing,” she shares.

What distinguishes her brand is alignment. “Everything I create is deeply soul-driven,” she says. Nothing is trend-led or mechanical. Her recipes use ingredients she personally trusts; her products reflect practices she follows; her retreats are designed to foster genuine reconnection.

“This alignment between my beliefs, my lifestyle, and my work naturally differentiates me,” she explains. “Everything is built from authenticity, intention, and soul.”

A Pandemic Pivot

During COVID-19, her primary company in corporate events and retreats slowed significantly. Instead of retreating, she pivoted online, sharing practical, nourishing recipes. Within months, thousands joined her “Eat Clean with Eshanka” sessions.

“The response was humbling and inspiring,” she says. That momentum expanded into holistic coaching, curated programs, and wellness retreats, transforming a period of uncertainty into a comprehensive wellness movement.

Expanding the Vision

A turning point came as she began developing products using ingredients grown at home. “It

Simultaneously, she began compiling her knowledge into books and e-books, widening accessibility. Now, her focus is returning to immersive retreats, “crafting meaningful spaces where individuals can reconnect with their well-being intentionally.”

Integrity Above All

Guided by authenticity and intention, Eshanka avoids trend-driven creation. “I have never believed in creating for appearance or excess,” she says.

The one non-negotiable? “Integrity. If something does not feel honest or true to who I am, I simply will not pursue it.”

Redefining ‘Having It All’

Her message to women is nuanced. “You do not have to choose between ambition, softness, and your personal life,” she affirms. Success, for her, is alignment, purposeful work, presence with her children, and continuous evolution without losing herself.

“There is no need to rush,” she reflects. “Depth, intention, and consistency matter more than speed. A woman can have it all, but not necessarily all at the same time.”

For Eshanka Wahi, wellness is not a trend. It is a way of being, lived, built, and shared with intention.

HARLIN SACHDEVA

Founder, House of Makeup | Mumbai

Building Beauty with Backbone

Harlin Sachdeva, founder of House of Makeup, represents a new wave of Indian beauty entrepreneurs blending global standards with local understanding. Armed with an MBA from Gujarat University and over a decade of experience at industry leaders such as Sugar Cosmetics, Unilever, and Nykaa, she developed sharp expertise in product formulation, consumer insight, and strategic growth.

Entrepreneurship, however, began much earlier. After losing her father at 17, Harlin co-founded a home linen business with her mother, scaling it 30 times over. That early chapter forged her resilience and independence. Today, she channels that same clarity of vision into building a homegrown brand that is high-performing, clean, and proudly Indian.

I often say this, in India, when we make something exceptional, it’s largely exported. And what stays back is often not the best

Raising the Bar for Indian Beauty

“I often say this, in India, when we make something exceptional, it’s largely exported. And what stays back is often not the best,” Harlin reflects. That disparity became her catalyst. Her mission is to create highperformance makeup comparable to global standards, but formulated specifically for Indian consumers, particularly those with sensitive, acne-prone, and reactive skin.

“Because I am one of them,” she says candidly. “I know what it feels like to scan ingredient lists anxiously.” Every formulation at House of Makeup is research-backed, third-party tested, and built with gentle yet effective ingredients. For Harlin, this isn’t just commercial ambition; it’s personal problemsolving at scale.

Obsessive about Product

What distinguishes her approach is an uncompromising focus on formulation. “From day one, the emphasis has been on thoughtfully designed products specifically for sensitive and reactive skin,” she explains.

The brand eliminates over 1,300 ingredients flagged under the European Cosmetic Directive and conducts extensive noncomedogenic testing to ensure products do not clog pores, a critical factor for acne-prone users. “At the heart of it, we stand for trust,” she says. “Makeup created with care, integrity, and long-term skin health in mind.”

A Gap Too Big to Ignore

While leading a major beauty brand in India, Harlin began noticing a troubling gap. “There were countless products on shelves, but very little attention paid to what was actually going into them.”

Struggling personally with sensitive skin, she saw the absence of safe yet high-performance options. “If the solution didn’t exist for me, I had to build it,” she says, and that decision marked the birth of House of Makeup.

Tested by Crisis

The COVID-19 pandemic brought operations to a near standstill. Manufacturing halted, capital tightened, and inventory dried up. “For nearly a year, we had almost nothing to sell,” she recalls.

Follow your dreams, but don’t look for a playbook. No two journeys are the same.

Yet adversity sharpened resolve. The arrival of a strategic investor who believed in the brand allowed them to rebuild. Today, the focus is clear: stronger growth, innovationled launches, and scaling with renewed confidence.

Transparency as a NonNegotiable

Every decision begins with a simple question: “What problem are we really solving?”

If a product does not meaningfully add value in safety, performance, or formulation, it does not move forward. Above all, transparency remains sacred. “No trend, no margin, no shortcut is worth diluting trust,” she states firmly.

Success, Redefined

Her advice to aspiring women entrepreneurs is direct: “Follow your dreams, but don’t look for a playbook. No two journeys are the same.”

Setbacks, she believes, are not signs of failure but markers of growth. Today, success for Harlin is measured not by valuation alone, but by impact.

“Being able to provide thousands of women and men across India with beauty that truly respects their skin, inclusive, safe, and accessible, that’s what success looks like.”

In an industry often driven by trends, Harlin Sachdeva is quietly building something more enduring: trust.

SUZANN HOMAN

Goa | Corporate Lawyer & Founder–

Director, Kantala Spirits

A Bombay Goan Identity

Suzann Homan is a Corporate Lawyer and a proud Bandraborn Bombay Goan, whose identity blends Mumbai’s urban sensibility with deeply rooted family values. Raised in a home where food, flavour, and togetherness were sacred rituals, her worldview was shaped by culture and community.

At the heart of that influence was her mother, Grace Fernandes, whose quiet strength and intuitive craft left a lasting imprint. From her, Suzann inherited an appreciation for taste, detail, and intentional living, values that would later define her entrepreneurial journey.

Turning Ritual into Brand

As Founder–Director of Kantala Spirits and the visionary behind Gracia Viva Agave, Suzann did not set out to merely launch a beverage. Gracia was born as a tribute, inspired by her mother’s small-batch infused agave recipe, long shared at intimate family gatherings.

For Suzann, the mission was clear: transform a deeply personal ritual into an experience others could access, without losing its soul. Purpose, she believes, lies in honouring origin while allowing thoughtful evolution.

Precision Meets Emotion

What distinguishes Suzann’s leadership is the seamless blend of emotional authenticity and professional discipline. Where many brands pursue fleeting trends, Gracia is anchored in storytelling, flavour memory, and intention.

Her legal background ensures structural rigour and compliance, while heritage guides creativity. She champions balance and mindful indulgence over excess, a philosophy increasingly aligned with modern consumer values.

A Family Table in Bandra

Gracia’s roots trace back to intimate family rituals. Agave spirit, sourced through family ties in Mexico, was infused at home by Grace Fernandes with fruits, spices, and chocolate, guided entirely by instinct.

These bottles were never commercial. They were tokens of celebration, shared among loved ones. The shift from private ritual to public offering was gradual and deliberate, anchored in respect for its origins.

Expanding the Table

The defining moment came when Suzann realised that Gracia’s warmth and flavour-forward identity could resonate beyond her immediate circle.

Adapting the recipe for a wider Indian palate required refinement without compromise. The result: India’s first flavoured agave/tequila expression under Gracia Viva Agave,

followed by Gracia Cero, a ZeroABV counterpart that broadened celebration to include mindful choice.

Integrity in Evolution

Suzann views authenticity not as rigidity, but as intentional evolution. Innovation, when rooted in respect, strengthens truth rather than dilutes it.

She is guided by restraint, discipline, and integrity, prioritising alignment over speed and meaning over noise. The one non-negotiable? Honesty, to the origin story and to the consumer.

Heart and Business Can Coexist

Her advice to women entrepreneurs is simple yet powerful: you do not have to separate heart from business.

Personal stories, when handled with care and integrity, can become enduring foundations. For Suzann, success is building something that feels true, to values, to people, and to purpose, while inviting others to find themselves within the story.

In a space often dominated by spectacle, Suzann Homan’s approach is refreshingly grounded: heritageled, thoughtfully scaled, and quietly powerful.

SUKRITI MENDIRATTA

Delhi–NCR | Founder, Panda's Box

A Mother with a Mission

Sukriti Mendiratta is the founder of Panda’s Box, a Delhi-NCR-based direct-to-consumer children’s brand dedicated to culturally rooted, screen-free play. Armed with an MBA in Communications from the Symbiosis Institute of Media & Communication and a BA (Hons) in Journalism from Delhi College of Arts & Commerce, she brings both strategic thinking and storytelling expertise to her work.

Her perspective is shaped as much by motherhood as by education. Growing up in a home where Indian stories, mantras, and traditions were woven into everyday life, she experienced firsthand the grounding power of culture. As a parent herself, she became increasingly aware of how quickly screens were replacing slow, meaningful childhood moments.

Early childhood is the most powerful phase to build identity, confidence, and emotional security

Reclaiming Calm Childhoods

Sukriti founded Panda’s Box to help families gently introduce Indian values and traditions during a child’s formative years. “Early childhood is the most powerful phase to build identity, confidence, and emotional security,” she believes.

Her struggle to find non-digital, culturally relevant tools for her own child became the catalyst. She envisioned products that foster listening, repetition, touch, and shared experiences, calm alternatives to overstimulating digital content.

Experience Over Stimulation

With over 15 years of experience across brands like Cosmo First, Hyundai, Revlon, and Zydus Wellness, Sukriti combines corporate precision with maternal intuition.

Panda’s Box is a pioneer of mantrachanting toys in India and offers one of the most diverse collections of culturally rooted, screen-free products for children aged 0 to 6. Her philosophy is simple: play should nurture, not overwhelm.

From Boardroom to Playroom

Founded in April 2022, Panda’s Box emerged after Sukriti identified a clear gap in the market. Parents wanted to pass down values but lacked accessible tools. Schools didn’t address this space, and digital platforms often distracted more than they connected.

Leaving behind a successful corporate career, she chose entrepreneurship, building tactile learning tools grounded in compassion and culture.

National Validation

A defining moment came with the brand’s appearance on Shark Tank India, where Panda’s Box secured ₹1.2 crore in funding. The national visibility reinforced the demand for mindful, culturally anchored play.

Products like My First Book of Mantras selling out quickly validated both concept and conviction. Today, Panda’s Box ships pan-India and internationally, with a growing presence in the US. Sukriti’s next chapter includes expanding into musical books, cultural games, storytellers, and décor, building a household name synonymous with rooted childhoods.

Discipline and Karma

Sukriti believes deeply in karma, that good energy returns. At work and at home, she prioritises integrity. She communicates clearly, avoids overpromising, and values disciplined routines. A self-described morning person, she thrives on structure and rhythm.

Confidence in Authenticity

Her message to women is grounded and thoughtful: embrace your natural strengths. Women, she believes, often bring empathy, resilience, and adaptability to leadership.

Rather than force-fitting into roles for validation, she encourages authenticity. True confidence, she says, comes from being comfortable in one’s own skin.

Through Panda’s Box, Sukriti Mendiratta is quietly reshaping childhood, one mindful, mantra-filled moment at a time.

SRIJANA BAGARIA

Delhi–NCR | Co-Founder, Pee Safe

Creativity Meets Entrepreneurship

An Arts graduate from Calcutta, Srijana Bagaria was born into a family of entrepreneurs, where building and nurturing ideas was second nature. “Entrepreneurship has always felt instinctive to me,” she shares. Deeply inspired by her mother’s love for culinary arts, Srijana cultivated her own passion for food, eventually becoming a home chef and conducting sessions globally, a creative pursuit she continues to cherish. When her family moved to Delhi, she became closely

involved in operational roles across ventures, supporting everything from daily management to international buyer meetings under SRV. “I’ve always believed in building from the ground up,” she says.

A defining emotional shift came after the Nirbhaya incident. “It deeply moved us. It pushed us to think seriously about women’s safety and dignity.” That reflection laid the foundation for SafetyKart, and eventually, Pee Safe, blending empathy with enterprise.

From Personal Pain to Public Solution

“I see myself as an entrepreneur, but a chef at heart,” Srijana reflects. Creativity drives her, whether in the kitchen or in business. The idea for Pee Safe was born from lived experience. After suffering from a UTI, she and her partner realised how widespread yet under-addressed preventive hygiene was, particularly in public spaces. “We didn’t just see a business opportunity. We saw a real, everyday problem women had quietly accepted.”

What stood out was the global nature of the gap; accessible, stigma-free hygiene solutions were missing across markets. For Srijana, building Pee Safe became about “comfort, confidence, and dignity in small but meaningful ways.” Entrepreneurship, she believes, must solve real problems, with empathy and purpose at its core.

I see myself as an entrepreneur, but a chef at heart, Creativity drives me, whether in the kitchen or in business.

Women-First Innovation

Srijana describes her role simply: “I build women-first solutions with a team that shares the same vision.” At Pee Safe, the focus spans life stages, from puberty to menopause, while normalising conversations around menstrual and toilet hygiene.

She remains closely connected to consumers, leading product testing and focus groups. “Innovation must be practical, accessible, and costeffective,” she emphasises. Often described as the steady force behind the brand’s foundation, Srijana believes strong brands are built on strong teams and intentional leadership.

Creating a Category

“The journey began with my own UTI,” she recalls. The experience exposed a glaring gap in preventive hygiene, particularly in India’s public infrastructure.

Launching a new category was met with skepticism. “Who names a brand starting with ‘Pee’?” she laughs. Many questioned scalability, given the low awareness and penetration of period care products at the time. “But the gap itself was the opportunity,” she insists. Belief, both internal and external, became the first battle to win.

Validation and Visibility

A pivotal moment arrived in 2017 when Pee Safe secured its first angel investment. “It wasn’t just funding. It was validation.” The brand’s association as a hygiene partner for Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, aligned with the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, significantly elevated visibility and credibility.

Today, Srijana is building the next chapter: perimenopause and menopause care. “It’s personal,” she shares. “I’m in that stage myself, and I’m consciously bringing my own experiences into product innovation.”

Integrity Above All

Loyalty, trust, and integrity anchor her decisions. “Businesses grow sustainably only when relationships are strong, and intentions are clear.”

The one non-negotiable? Integrity. “If a product doesn’t truly deliver on its promise, we simply won’t put it out there. Trust, once earned, must always be protected.”

Keep Moving Forward

“If I could tell my younger self one thing, it would be this: building something meaningful takes time,” she says. Progress is rarely linear, but persistence is essential.

Her message to women is direct: speak openly about menstrual and intimate hygiene. “In nine years, penetration has grown from 17% to nearly 35–40%. That’s progress, but it shouldn’t take decades to normalise basic health conversations.”

Success, for Srijana, is personal. “It means owning my time, choosing what I build, where I invest my energy, and how I show up.”

In redefining hygiene conversations in India, Srijana Bagaria continues to prove that purpose-led brands don’t just create markets, they create change.

Poonam Shah

Founder, Poonam Shah Art | Mumbai, India

ORIGIN | Who You Are

Poonam Shah is a Mumbai-based self-taught artist and the founder of Poonam Shah Art.

Her creative journey began just before the pandemic — not from formal training, but from pure instinct and passion. With no structured art education, she built her practice through experimentation, risk, and relentless belief in her vision.

Choosing art was not the safe route. It was a 1000% risk — financially, creatively, emotionally. But she chose it anyway.

PURPOSE | Why You Do What You Do

Poonam is a contemporary resin artist working in a medium that is still evolving in India.

Resin, with its fluidity and unpredictability, allows her to capture depth, memory, and emotion in ways traditional mediums cannot. For her, art is not just visual — it is experiential.

What she creates doesn’t just fill space. It tells a story.

DIFFERENCE | What Sets You Apart

Poonam is widely recognized for one signature concept: Preserving children’s old, unused toys in resin and transforming them into functional furniture pieces.

Chairs, tables, and statement objects embedded with fragments of childhood — once forgotten toys are suspended in crystal-clear resin, given permanence, purpose, and new life. What was once clutter becomes collectible. What was once memory becomes legacy.

Her work sits at the intersection of sustainability, nostalgia, and luxury design — and she is already operating within the luxury sector, shipping her pieces globally. When people recognize her and say,

“You’re the one who makes that chair with toys,” it brings an unmistakable smile to her face. Because that recognition means her work is not just seen — it’s remembered.

THE BEGINNING | Where It All Started

Her journey began quietly — creating out of passion just before COVID reshaped the world.

While uncertainty surrounded everyone, Poonam invested in resin — a relatively new and misunderstood art form in India. She had to educate clients, experiment with techniques, and push through doubt.

But she trusted that originality would win.

THE BREAKTHROUGH | The Turning Point

The launch of her kids line marked a defining turning point.

What started as experimentation evolved into a deeply emotional design philosophy: preserving childhood nostalgia in luxury functional art.

This wasn’t just expansion — it was identity.

Through these pieces, she gives families the opportunity to hold onto memories in a tangible way. Toys are no longer discarded — they are immortalized.

THE MINDSET | How You Think

Poonam believes risk is the price of innovation.

Being self-taught taught her resilience — when you don’t have credentials, your courage becomes your qualification.

One value she will never compromise on is authenticity. Every piece must feel intentional, aligned, and emotionally meaningful.

THE MESSAGE | What You Want Women to Know

You do not need formal validation to build something extraordinary.

Start before you feel ready. Trust your instincts. Take the risk.

Success, for Poonam, is not just financial growth — it is creative freedom, global reach, emotional impact, and building a brand that makes people smile.

RITHIKA JAIN

Hyderabad | Wildlife & Architectural

Photographer

Where Seeing Became a Language

Rithika Jain is a wildlife and architectural photographer based in Hyderabad. She studied filmmaking at the London Film Academy, specialising in cinematography, a discipline that profoundly shaped her understanding of light, composition, and visual storytelling. Architecture taught her structure and discipline. The wild taught her presence.

“The jungle became a space where I felt most attentive, stripped of noise, expectation, and vanity,” she reflects. Photography gradually evolved into her language, a way to

translate emotion, observation, and stillness into something enduring. Over time, the landscapes she has worked in have shaped more than her portfolio. “They’ve shaped my way of seeing life, with more humility, patience, and respect for coexistence.”

Creating Emotional Bridges

Rithika describes herself as a visual storyteller focused on emotion, conservation, and presence. Her wildlife work centres on connection, capturing moments that reveal intelligence, care, and vulnerability within the natural world.

“This path matters to me because images have the power to create empathy,” she says. A single photograph, she believes, can make someone pause long enough to care about something beyond their immediate reality.

“That emotional bridge is my purpose.” Her work is not simply about documentation; it is about evoking feeling, because feeling is what ultimately drives awareness and conservation.

The jungle became a space where I felt most attentive, stripped of noise, expectation, and vanity

The Quiet Side of the Wild

Rithika is drawn to subtleties, fleeting expressions, nuanced behaviour, and the quieter emotional currents within the wild. “It’s less about capturing an event and more about preserving a feeling,” she explains.

Her process is rooted in patience and observation, often requiring extensive travel through extreme conditions to reach remote environments. These expeditions inform not just what she photographs, but how she responds to a scene. The goal is immersion, allowing the viewer to step into a moment that might otherwise pass unnoticed.

From Structure to Stillness

Her journey began in architectural photography, where she learned precision, geometry, and disciplined observation. But her first sustained time in the jungle shifted her trajectory. “The unpredictability, the silence, the pulse of the wild had a pull I couldn’t ignore,” she recalls.

What began as curiosity soon became commitment. She returned repeatedly, drawn by both the challenge and the humility that wildlife demands. Those early experiences formed the foundation of her practice, replacing control with patience and structure with surrender.

When Stories Traveled

A defining shift came when her work was featured by Nat Geo India and covered in a UK daily newspaper. The recognition extended beyond visibility. “It was validation that the stories I was telling could travel and resonate,” she says.

That moment strengthened her resolve to pursue wildlife photography with deeper intent. Today, her focus is evolving toward long-form conservation narratives, bodies of work designed to carry sustained impact rather than stand as isolated images.

Entering with Humility

Rithika believes the jungle operates on a wisdom older than humanity

itself. Her role, as she sees it, is to enter that ecosystem with humility and restraint. “Understanding its patterns requires stillness, a willingness to listen before acting.” When she works, she aims to dissolve the distance between observer and environment, to exist in quiet oneness with what surrounds her. Authenticity is non-negotiable. “Truth is the only foundation that endures,” she says. Patience, integrity, and restraint are not merely professional standards; they are personal principles.

Begin Before You Feel Ready

To women entering creative or unconventional fields, her message is clear: “You do not need permission to begin.”

Confidence, she believes, is built through movement, not certainty. “Start where you are and allow growth to meet you along the way.” She defines success as alignment, work that reflects one’s values, stretches capacity, and leaves something meaningful behind. “Recognition is temporary. Purpose is what sustains you.”

DR RITIKA SINHA

Gaya, Bihar | Bangalore | Doctor & Co-Founder, Rocket Health

Medicine, Responsibility, and a Defining Decision

Dr Ritika Sinha was born and raised in Gaya, Bihar, and is now based in Bangalore. She comes from a family of doctors, her mother a gynaecologist and her father a surgeon, who runs a hospital in Bihar. Growing up in a medical household meant early exposure to patient care, long hours, and the operational realities of healthcare delivery. “Healthcare was never abstract for me,” she reflects. “I saw firsthand what responsibility toward patients actually looks like.”

A major turning point came during the COVID-19 pandemic, when she helped launch a pilot initiative to support patients across India. That experience exposed significant gaps in access and continuity of care, particularly in mental health.

“It really opened my eyes to how broken the system can be,” she says. “It changed how I saw my role as a doctor.” In a bold move, she decided to step away from the traditional clinical path just before her postgraduate entrance exams to build Rocket Health full-time. “It was scary,” she admits, “but I had absolute clarity.”

It really opened my eyes to how broken the system can be, It changed how I saw my role as a doctor

Normalising Mental Healthcare

Dr Sinha is a doctor-turned-entrepreneur and co-founder of Rocket Health, a digital mental healthcare company focused on therapy, psychiatry, and integrated care.

The motivation behind the company was clear: mental healthcare has long been misunderstood and stigmatised. “People think therapy is only for extreme situations,” she explains. “We want to normalise it, to make it as routine as going to the gym or seeing a physician.”

For her, the mission is deeply personal and systemic at the same time. Mental health, she notes, influences every dimension of life, relationships, work, confidence, and decision-making. “As more people are opening up to these conversations, the care available to them must be credible and high-quality,” she emphasises.

Quality at Scale

Dr. Sinha’s role centres on building healthcare systems that can deliver consistent, high-quality care at scale. “What sets us apart is that we are quality-first, while still making care easy to access,” she explains.

Rocket Health does not operate as a simple marketplace connecting users to therapists. Instead, it employs a concierge-style care team that supports individuals from onboarding through ongoing care. “It’s important that people always have a person they can reach out to,” she says.

The company is selective about the professionals it onboards and maintains continuous quality monitoring processes. In mental healthcare, she believes, trust is cumulative. “Trust is built over time, and it comes from strong standards, structure, and accountability.”

Building Systems, Not Just Practicing Medicine

Her entrepreneurial journey began during the COVID pilot, when she witnessed systemic gaps in mental health support across India. “Despite being trained as a doctor, I realised my impact could be larger by building systems rather than working within a single clinical role,” she explains.

The realisation came just before her postgraduate entrance exams, making the decision emotionally and professionally complex. Yet the clarity was undeniable. That moment led to the founding of Rocket Health, intending to create a more accessible, humane, and scalable mental healthcare model.

Scaling Responsibly

Rocket Health has grown from a small pilot experiment into a team of over 120 professionals across clinical, operations, technology, and care roles. Today, the company offers integrated mental healthcare services while maintaining a strong emphasis on training, quality, and long-term outcomes.

“One of our biggest challenges has been scaling responsibly,” she notes. “In this sector, speed often compromises care.” The company has consciously prioritised sustainable growth over rapid expansion, a strategic decision rooted in ethics rather than optics.

Looking ahead, the focus is on deepening care models, expanding thoughtfully into new verticals, and building technology that supports clinicians and improves outcomes.

Quality Over Speed

“The one value I will never compromise on is quality of care, even if it slows down growth,” Dr. Sinha states firmly. “Especially in healthcare, if you are not proud of the work you are doing, you should not be doing it.”

She believes in failing fast rather than failing late. Experimentation, quick learning, and iteration are core to her leadership philosophy. At the same time, she emphasises enabling people. “People perform at their best when they have the right systems, support, and belief,” she says. This principle guides how she builds teams and structures decision-making.

Belief + Execution

Her message to the next generation of women entrepreneurs is direct: “Do not let anyone stop you.”

She believes the difference between ideas and outcomes lies in belief combined with execution. Healthcare, in particular, needs more women leaders.

“Women bring empathy, resilience, and long-term thinking into leadership, and that is essential for building meaningful organisations,” she says.

Today, she defines success not by external validation, but by internal alignment. “Success is building something I am proud of, creating real impact at scale, and staying aligned with my values.”

Women bring empathy, resilience, and long-term thinking into leadership, and that is essential for building meaningful organisations

SONYA HOOJA

Mumbai | Co-Founder & President, Imarticus

Learning

Strategy Meets Education

Sonya Hooja brings a rare blend of global academic rigour and hands-on strategic consulting experience to India’s professional education ecosystem. A graduate of Rutgers University with an MBA from INSEAD, she spent nearly a decade as a strategy consultant with Accenture, Affiliated Computer Services, and Lehman Brothers across India, Southeast Asia, and the United States.

During these years, she observed a persistent and costly disconnect. “Organizations were struggling to find workplaceready professionals despite an abundance of qualified graduates,” she notes. The gap between academic credentials and job readiness was not incidental; it was systemic. That insight became the foundation of her entrepreneurial journey.

Education Designed for Employability

In 2012, Sonya co-founded Imarticus Learning with a fundamental question: “What if education started with employment needs rather than academic tradition?”

Her conviction stemmed from firsthand experience of how traditional systems lagged behind rapidly evolving industries, particularly finance, analytics, and technology. For her, education is not about certificates alone. “It’s about giving people the tools to change their economic trajectory,” she says.

Today, having impacted over 10,00,000 learners, she remains focused on career mobility at scale, whether that means enabling a Tier-2 city graduate to enter a Big Four firm or helping a mid-career professional transition into leadership.

What if education started with employment needs rather than academic tradition?

Outcome Ownership

What distinguishes Sonya’s leadership philosophy is what she calls “outcome ownership.” “We don’t start with ‘what should people learn?’” she explains. “We start with ‘what do employers actually need, and how do we build that capability?’”

This backward design model has translated into measurable outcomes, approximately one learner placed every hour, and certification pass rates that exceed industry benchmarks: CPA: 92% | ACCA: 72% | CFA: 57% | CMA: 51%

Under her operational stewardship, Imarticus Learning has built what she describes as “the full learning arc.” Through initiatives like Imarticus Kickstarter, learners are engaged during college, supported through first-career transitions, advanced via global certifications,

and later upskilled through executive education partnerships with leading IIMs and IITs. Increasingly, AI fluency is embedded across programs to prepare learners for an AI-driven workforce.

Building Trust from Scratch

Launching Imarticus Learning in 2012 meant entering a space without the legacy credibility of a university or the transactional clarity of a placement agency. Trust had to be built deliberately.

“The biggest challenge wasn’t funding or competition,” Sonya reflects. “It was changing mindset, helping people see that learning doesn’t end with a degree.”

The early years were focused on proving the model through rigorous training, authentic mentorship, and measurable job outcomes. She personally invested time forging partnerships with Fortune 500 companies, global banks, and Big Four firms, not merely as hiring partners, but as co-designers of curriculum.

The biggest challenge wasn’t funding or competition, It was changing mindset, helping people see that learning doesn’t end with a degree.

Scaling Impact

Two strategic inflection points reshaped the company’s trajectory.

The first was expansion from B2C into B2B and B2A verticals, transforming Imarticus Learning from an individual training provider into a capability-building partner for enterprises and universities. This enabled delivery of industry-relevant degrees in finance, analytics, and technology at an institutional scale.

The second was the launch of ISFB, India’s first dedicated School of Finance & Business. Rather than adapting existing programs, Sonya chose to build a specialised institution focused on early-career finance education, signalling longterm commitment.

Global validation followed in 2024, when Imarticus Learning was named among the World’s Most Transformational Growth Companies by the GSV 150 and recognised as Outstanding Education Company of the Year at the ET Business Leaders Awards.

Relevance Through Reinvention

Sonya operates with one nonnegotiable principle: learner outcomes above all else. “Every decision we make, curriculum, partnerships, technology, is filtered through one question: will this create measurable career progress?” she explains.

She is acutely aware that industries evolve faster than traditional education systems. Staying relevant, in her view, requires continuous employer engagement, performance data analysis, and rapid iteration. “What worked in 2012 wouldn’t work today, and what works today won’t work in 2030,” she says. “That’s the reality of education leadership.”

Solve the Problem You Can’t Ignore

What worked in 2012 wouldn’t work today, and what works today won’t work in 2030, That’s the reality of education leadership.

To aspiring women entrepreneurs, her advice is pragmatic. “Don’t wait for perfect conditions, they don’t exist.” She did not begin with a detailed blueprint. “I had a problem I couldn’t ignore and a belief that I could help solve it.”

Entrepreneurship, she believes, is iterative: start, learn, adapt. Surround yourself with people who challenge you, prioritise impact over

optics, and prepare for a marathon rather than a sprint.

Today, Sonya defines success not merely by revenue but by transformation at scale, the number of individuals empowered to build sustainable, meaningful careers. Her closing advice is simple and direct: “Ask yourself what problem you can’t stop thinking about. Then go solve it.”

TIARA DHODY

Mumbai | Founder & Creative Director, Treasures by Tiara

A Global Eye, Rooted in Aesthetics

Tiara Dhody is a Mumbai-based founder and the creative force behind Treasures by Tiara. She studied at Cathedral and John Connon School, the United World College in Singapore, and later at Sarah Lawrence College, experiences that shaped her global perspective and independent thinking.

Growing up in a household where fashion and design were part of everyday conversation, she was naturally immersed in aesthetics. Influenced by her mother, Queenie Dhody, and Raja Dhody, she absorbed a visual language early on. Yet, she credits her broader worldview to quieter influences.

“Beyond formal education, I feel most shaped by the books I read, the films I watch, the places I travel to, and the people I surround myself with,” she says. “All of it quietly filters into my work.”

Beyond formal education, I feel most shaped by the books I read, the films I watch, the places I travel to, and the people I surround myself with, All of it quietly filters into my work

Jewellery as Intimate Expression

Tiara has chosen the path of self-expression, and for her, jewellery is one of the most intimate mediums through which to access it. “It’s something you can wear, feel, and move with; it becomes part of your story,” she explains. She also describes a more intangible element: “There’s something cosmic about it, the way certain pieces seem to find you at the right time.”

In India, jewellery carries memory. It is passed down, inherited, gifted, layered with sentiment and history. That cultural weight deeply informs her design philosophy.

“What sets my work apart is the balance between meaning and wearability,” she notes. The pieces are expressive without being loud, crafted to feel personal and enduring rather than purely ornamental. Many associate her designs with strong feminine energy, detailed craftsmanship, and jewellery that feels lived-in rather than showcased.

Designed to Be Lived In

Treasures by Tiara approaches jewellery differently. It is not created to be stored away for weddings or rare occasions; it is designed to be worn daily.

“The idea is to treat jewellery as elevated everyday essentials,” she says. Playful, layered, and individual, each piece is meant to feel like a personal treasure: expressive,

slightly unexpected, and easy to style.

While craftsmanship remains central, the aesthetic leans modern. Vibrant gemstones, whimsical detailing, and contemporary silhouettes allow the pieces to transition seamlessly from day to evening. “It’s jewellery that moves easily within real wardrobes instead of sitting apart from them,” she explains.

Hope, Love, and Luck

An early defining milestone was her first exhibition, Hope, Love, and Luck. It clarified the emotional role her work could play.

“That project introduced my fascination with symbols, protection, love, optimism, fortune, and how deeply people connect to them,” she reflects.

Working with symbolism so early in her journey revealed that jewellery could carry intention, not just beauty. Since then, meaning has remained central to her creative process.

“Every piece begins with a thought, an emotion, or an idea I want to pass on.”

Dialogue with the Wearer

For Tiara, turning points are not singular events but recurring

moments, often experienced during exhibitions.

“Seeing people interact with the jewellery in person shifts everything,” she says. The symbols they gravitate toward, the personal stories they attach to pieces, and the emotions that surface become part of her evolution as a designer.

Exhibiting allows the work to breathe beyond the studio. “Jewellery isn’t complete until someone connects with it,” she notes.

She frequently refines or expands her style based on these interactions. At present, her focus remains on continuing this dialogue through more exhibitions and developing pieces that grow alongside the women who wear them.

Intention Above All

Her work is guided by three enduring themes: hope, love, and luck. “They aren’t just themes; they’re intentions I consciously embed into every design.”

She is drawn to spirituality, protection, femininity, power, and heritage, talismans, coins, crowns, and motifs that feel timeless yet deeply personal.

The one value she refuses to compromise on is positive intention. “Every piece must hold something good within it. If it doesn’t carry meaning, it doesn’t leave the studio.”

Create Without Permission

To the next generation of women entrepreneurs, her message is straightforward: “Keep creating and don’t overthink it. Trust your instincts.”

She encourages women to build environments where they can grow rather than waiting for external validation.

“I’ve learned that resilience matters more than approval,” she says candidly. “The only taste of success some people have is when they take a bite out of you, and if you can withstand criticism without bitterness and keep going, you’re already succeeding.”

Today, she defines success quietly and internally. “It’s the freedom to create with intention, to evolve without losing meaning, and to build something that feels true to you.”

DR. GEETANJALI CHOPRA

New Delhi | Founder & President, Wishes and Blessings

ORIGIN | A Question That Changed Everything

Dr. Geetanjali Chopra is the Founder and President of the Delhi-based NGO Wishes and Blessings. Educated at Convent of Jesus and Mary School, Lady Shri Ram College, and later at Jawaharlal Nehru University, where she completed her Master’s and Doctorate in International Relations, her academic journey was further shaped by specialised training in International Law in the Netherlands and Italy.

Raised in a family where service was embedded as a way of life, she recalls visiting a school for visually impaired children with her grandfather. One moment continues to define her path. “A little girl tugged my pant and asked, ‘Didi, mera birthday kab hota hai?’” she shares. The innocence of that question revealed a deeper truth, that deprivation is also about invisibility. “That question stayed with me,” she says, “and it continues to shape who I am today.”

PURPOSE | Beyond Comfort, Toward Calling

Before founding Wishes and Blessings, Dr. Chopra describes her life as “perfect, secure and stable.” She was writing policy papers, authoring books, and speaking at global forums. Yet a Holi celebration with visually impaired children shifted her perspective.

“I realised my purpose extended beyond personal comfort or professional achievement,” she says. Established in 2014, the organisation works without discrimination of age, gender, religion or background. “For me, service is not charity, but partnership, listening first, and then responding.”

I realised my purpose extended beyond personal comfort or professional achievement

DIFFERENCE | Leadership Through Presence

Personal involvement defines her leadership. While dedicated teams manage projects, she remains closely engaged. “Service is much more than providing support; it is about building meaningful relationships,” she explains.

Her approach centres on dignity and continuity. “It’s about standing beside them, not only in moments of need, but through every step of their lives.”

THE BEGINNING | A Festival of Belonging

After her grandfather’s passing, she returned to the school that shaped her early years. When she asked

the children what they wanted, their answer was simple: to play Holi.

“Witnessing the unadulterated happiness on their faces moved me deeply,” she recalls. That celebration became the catalyst for leaving her successful career and establishing Wishes and Blessings in 2014.

THE BREAKTHROUGH | Restoring Dignity

A deeply disturbing news report about violence against an elderly woman became another turning point. In 2018, she launched Maan Ka Tilak in Delhi, an initiative dedicated to supporting and honouring senior citizens, later expanding to Vrindavan.

“The impact reaffirmed that compassion must be strengthened through consistent action and

presence,” she says. Her vision is to take the movement nationwide.

THE MINDSET | Integrity in Action

Her work is guided by accountability, transparency and integrity.

“Responsibility lies not only in serving people, but in doing so with honesty and measurable care,” she states. Leadership, she believes, must be grounded in personal presence rather than distant oversight.

THE MESSAGE | Listen Before You Lead

To young women entering the social sector, her advice is clear. “Make sure that you do it as a partner, not as a giver,” she says. “When we help with preconceived notions, we risk imposing our solutions on someone else’s problems.”

Her guiding principle remains simple yet powerful: “Always listen first, and always ask before giving.”

ALFIYA KARIM KHAN

Mumbai | YouTuber & Modest Fashion

Content Creator

Conviction Over Convention

Alfiya Karim Khan grew up in Mumbai in a family where education was non-negotiable, and ambition was encouraged, so long as it followed a conventional path. Academically strong, medicine seemed almost predetermined for her. But internally, she felt drawn elsewhere.

“Deep down, I always knew my life did not belong in a hospital corridor,” she says. “It belonged in the creative industry.”

Choosing to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Media instead of medicine was met with hesitation and doubt. Coming from a background where most women were financially dependent, she had rarely seen female entrepreneurship firsthand. That absence became fuel.

“Every time someone questioned whether content creation was serious, it pushed me to take it more seriously,” she reflects.

What began quietly in her bedroom evolved into financial independence and professional stability. Today, her work represents more than a career; it symbolises “choosing conviction over comfort.”

I did not want to shape-shift just to belong, I decided to build around my authenticity instead of bending away from it.

A Cultural Voice in Modest Fashion

Alfiya identifies as a digital entrepreneur and a cultural voice within the modest fashion space. A decade ago, the online fashion landscape felt misaligned with her personal style.

“I did not want to shape-shift just to belong,” she explains. “I decided to build around my authenticity instead of bending away from it.”

Over the past 10 years, she has collaborated with global and legacy brands, been recognised among Forbes’ Top 100 Digital Stars, and represented modest fashion at Paris Couture Week. For her, these milestones represent more than visibility; they signal representation.

“This is not just fashion content,” she says. “It is about showing that ambition ad values can coexist.”

Real success is not about being seen everywhere, It is about being secure enough in who you are that you never have to become someone else to win.

Reinterpreting, Not Rejecting

At its core, her work reinterprets mainstream fashion through a modest lens. Rather than rejecting trends, she modifies them, layering strategically and reshaping silhouettes.

“Fashion does not have to be abandoned to align with personal standards,” she says. “It can be adapted.”

Her audience frequently challenges her to style bold pieces modestly, a creative exercise that has become central to her identity. “I do not follow fashion to belong,” she states. “I reshape it to reflect who I already am.”

Built in Silence

Her career began in secrecy. As a college student with limited pocket money, she saved most of her allowance to buy pieces from Colaba Causeway for styling experiments. There were no collaborations, just resourcefulness.

When relatives discovered her

online presence, questions followed. “I was not doing it as a career then,” she recalls. “It was simply my outlet.”

The defining moment was not virality, but persistence. “The ability to keep building without applause shaped me.”

From Secrecy to Stability

Lockdown became her inflection point. While the world paused, she committed fully, creating consistently for nearly two years from her bedroom without a team.

Recognition followed, including her first award from Exhibit Magazine. “My father’s reaction meant more than the trophy,” she shares.

At 23, she purchased her first home in Mumbai, a milestone she describes as symbolic of “stability through an unconventional path.” Today, she is focused on building permanence beyond trends.

Integrity Above All

Authenticity anchors her decisions. “I will not distort my identity for virality,” she says.

Ownership of her image, narrative, and financial independence is foundational. She prioritises discipline over hype and longevity over spectacle. “Relevance fades,” she states. “Character does not.”

Take Up Space

To young women, her message is direct: “You are allowed to take up space.”

She defines success as autonomy, the freedom to choose her work, support her family, and decline what does not align. “Real success is not about being seen everywhere,” she concludes. “It is about being secure enough in who you are that you never have to become someone else to win.”

DJ KIARA (KHUSHBOO WADHWANI)

Surat | Music Producer, Open-Format DJ & Founder, Key2Paradise

Discipline Before the Spotlight

Born in Varanasi and raised in Surat, Khushboo Wadhwani, professionally known as DJ Kiara, grew up in an environment shaped by discipline and artistic rigour. Under her mother’s guidance, she completed vocal training in Indian classical music and harmonium by the age of seven, alongside extensive Kathak training, painting, and craftwork.

“That early exposure to diverse art forms gave me a critical understanding of rhythm and harmony,” she says, crediting it as the foundation of her music today.

She holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree along with a professional qualification in DJing, blending business acumen with artistic pursuit. A financial setback at 14 became a defining chapter. Teaching workshops, managing custom painting orders, and curating a 100-piece knife painting exhibition by 16 instilled resilience and entrepreneurial instinct. “Those years taught me responsibility, not just for my work, but for my family,” she reflects.

Moving Crowds, Shifting Energy

DJ Kiara describes herself as a music producer, open-format DJ, instrumentalist, and curator of collective emotional experiences. She is the founder of Key2Paradise, a contemporary music and culture IP rooted in immersive sound.

“I didn’t choose this path as much as it chose me,” she explains. A spontaneous music production class during college felt like home. But the true shift came during her first 30-minute DJ set. “I realised I could move a room. I could shift energy. That feeling solidified everything.”

Her career milestones underscore that commitment. She is one of the official DJs for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024, has performed at Dubai International Stadium and Sharjah Cricket Stadium, and became the first female DJ to perform at Narendra Modi Stadium as the official DJ for Team Gujarat. She is also among the official DJs for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 in India and Sri Lanka, and the first Indian woman DJ to perform at Dubai’s Museum of the Future in October 2025.

When someone leaves after two hours and says, ‘I had a great time hearing you,’ that’s success.

Classical Roots, Electronic Pulse

“In my own words, I craft immersive audio experiences,” she says. Her sound bridges Indian classical foundations with contemporary electronic genres: House, Downtempo, and experimental fusion. Years of classical training gave her instinctive command over phrasing, harmony, and timing. That rigour now fuels her fusion sets under Key2Paradise.

“I don’t just want audiences to hear music,” she explains. “I want them to feel it.”

Consistency, discipline, and emotional authenticity define her approach. She is widely associated with breaking barriers as a female DJ in India, setting milestones not only for herself but for the industry.

Built from Necessity

Before music, there was entrepreneurship. At fourteen, she began running art workshops and selling handcrafted products

nationwide to support her family. That five-year stretch honed her client management, branding, and accountability skills.

The pivot to DJing was accidental but decisive. “The studio immediately captivated me,” she recalls. Yet the real affirmation came from performing. “That emotional power, being able to influence a room instantly, was my signal.”

Balancing her established art business with DJing while facing familial skepticism was challenging. But selfreliance had already become second nature.

From Experiment to Mission

That first 30-minute set transformed music from exploration into a mission. Since then, major global platforms have followed, including the ICC tournaments and international landmarks.

Today, she is focused on expanding Key2Paradise through original music releases and global club circuits. Simultaneously, she has launched Phooljadi, a luxury handcrafted floral brand co-founded with her mother, maintaining her connection to the arts where her journey began.

Integrity Over Trends

Adaptability, discipline, and authentic connection anchor her work. “My career wasn’t built on a straight path,” she says. “It was built on following a feeling.”

The one non-negotiable? Artistic integrity. “I will always prioritise developing my unique sound over following trends.”

Your Difference Is Your Edge

Her advice to young women is unequivocal: “Enjoy every single moment. Follow your intuition.”

She wishes someone had once told her, “You are the best,” a validation of instinct and individuality. Today, she defines success not by venue size, but by impact. “When someone leaves after two hours and says, ‘I had a great time hearing you,’ that’s success.”

For DJ Kiara, success is emotional resonance and the freedom to build a multi-faceted creative life on her own terms.

SRISHTI GOSAVI

Mumbai | Chartered Accountant & Finance

Content Creator

Built on Courage and Responsibility

Srishti Gosavi’s story begins in a small town in Bihar and unfolds in Mumbai, where her father relocated as a firstgeneration businessman to secure better opportunities for his children. “I grew up watching my father take risks most people wouldn’t,” she says. While he built the business, her mother ensured stability at home, an equilibrium of courage and grounding that shaped Srishti’s worldview.

Money, in her household, was never about indulgence. “It was always discussed in terms of responsibility, not luxury.” That framing became the foundation of her relationship with finance.

Academically driven, she studied commerce at Narsee Monjee College and qualified as a Chartered Accountant. Yet, she credits her parents’ entrepreneurial grit more than her degrees for shaping her mindset. “Watching them build everything from scratch influenced how I think about security, risk, and independence.”

Educator Before Influencer

“I’m a finance educator first. The influencer tag came later,” she states clearly.

Srishti began her career in investment banking before moving into infrastructure finance, often finding herself the only woman in the room. She worked on large-scale debt deals and high-stakes transactions, but one realisation lingered: “Even highly educated people didn’t understand their own personal finances.”

That gap unsettled her. In April 2023, she left her corporate role to translate complex financial systems into practical knowledge for everyday individuals. “Money affects everything, your peace, your choices, your confidence,” she explains. For her, financial literacy is not optional; it is foundational.

I’m a finance educator first. The influencer tag came later

Making Finance Less Intimidating

“In simple words, I make finance less scary,” she says.

From home loans and credit scores to insurance, investing, and real estate, she simplifies concepts without overselling them. Her popular series, Dimaag Ka Dahi, focuses on untangling confusing financial jargon in relatable language.

“I don’t glamorise money. I don’t sell shortcuts,” she emphasises. Instead, her advice centres on practical decisions, negotiating home loan rates, buying insurance early, and understanding debt before taking it on.

Her audience associates her with clarity and honesty. She positions finance not as a thrill, but as a discipline.

From Boardrooms to Impact

The defining moment came when viewers began messaging her about tangible savings. “When someone told me they saved lakhs on their home loan after watching my video, I realised this wasn’t just content. This was impact.”

Leaving corporate stability was daunting, but she felt a responsibility to democratise financial knowledge. Early experiences as the only woman in finance teams strengthened her communication style. “It taught me to speak clearly, prepare thoroughly, and back everything with facts.”

Building Financial Sisterhood

Launching Fin4Fem, her womenonly financial awareness community, marked another pivotal shift. “Seeing women ask questions openly, without fear or judgment, changed everything for me.”

She is now focused on structured education, deeper learning ecosystems, and expanding practical financial literacy across India. “I don’t want to create viral videos,” she says. “I want to create financially confident people.”

Ethics Over Endorsements

Ethics remain non-negotiable. “I have said no to more brands than

“I don’t want to create viral videos, I want to create financially confident people.

I have said yes to,” she reveals. If a product misguides people, she refuses to promote it. “Trust takes years to build and seconds to break.”

She believes money should enable life, not dominate it.

Financial Confidence Equals Freedom

Her advice to young women is direct: “Understand money early. Not because you want to be rich, but because you want options.”

Invest before upgrading your lifestyle. Buy insurance early. Don’t fear debt, fear not understanding it. “Financial confidence is not about knowing everything,” she concludes. “It’s about being willing to ask questions.”

Success, for Srishti, is measured simply: “When someone tells me they made a smarter money decision because of my content, that’s enough.”

SARAH SAROSH

Mumbai | YouTuber, Beauty & Lifestyle Creator | Founder & CEO, Impulse Coffees

A Holistic Lens on Self-Image

Sarah Sarosh’s foundation lies in her training in Occupational Therapy at KEM, Mumbai, a discipline that shaped her understanding of behaviour, confidence, and well-being far beyond textbooks. “It trained me to look at self-image and lifestyle as more than surface-level experiences,” she explains. That holistic lens continues to influence how she creates and builds today.

Raised in a middle-class household, she learned early that stability comes from discipline, not shortcuts. There was no predefined creative roadmap or safety net, which meant resilience and independence were cultivated organically.

Her personal struggles with acne and self-image also played a defining role. “It made me more observant of how deeply appearance is tied to confidence and belonging,” she says. That sensitivity now informs her approach to beauty, representation, and storytelling.

Content and business may look separate from the outside, but for me they stem from the same instinct, the desire to create something meaningful.

Where Storytelling Meets Building

Sarah describes her work as a blend of storytelling and entrepreneurship. “Content and business may look separate from the outside, but for me they stem from the same instinct, the desire to create something meaningful.”

Her content journey began while she was still a student, documenting beauty, health, and self-image through lived experience. Entrepreneurship followed with the launch of Impulse Coffees, born from identifying a gap in how instant coffee was positioned in India. “It was widely consumed but rarely treated with care or storytelling,” she notes.

Building Impulse introduced her to sourcing, product development, packaging, and customer experience, expanding her role from creator to founder. “Storytelling helps me understand people. Building helps me translate that understanding into something tangible.”

The early phase reinforced the importance of consistency

Real, Not Remote

“At its core, my work is about documenting life as it unfolds,” she says.

Rather than presenting polished perfection, Sarah has consistently allowed her audience to witness transitions, uncertainties, and growth in real time. “It feels less like performance and more like continuity.”

She is most commonly associated with authenticity and consistency, showing up steadily over the years and allowing evolution to be visible rather than curated into a final highlight reel.

Built Through Patience

What began as a personal outlet during her student years gradually evolved into a defined direction. Balancing academics with filming and editing demanded discipline, especially in the absence of immediate validation.

“The early phase reinforced the importance of consistency,” she reflects.

Recognising a gap in honest, relatable Indian beauty content, content that reflected real skin and everyday routines, clarified her path. What started accidentally became intentional.

From Content to Impact

A major shift occurred when growth brought responsibility. “The work

began to move beyond content and into impact,” she says.

Launching Impulse Coffees marked another defining chapter, challenging her to think operationally and strategically. Today, her focus is on building with depthscaling Impulse into a global, Indian-born beverage brand while continuing to evolve as a storyteller.

“The direction feels less about speed and more about intention,” she explains.

Honesty Above All

Honesty anchors every decision she makes, from brand associations to business building. “Without it, the work loses meaning.”

Consistency builds credibility, while

responsibility ensures that influence is exercised thoughtfully. For Sarah, long-term trust outweighs shortterm gains.

Alignment Over Applause

“Beginning without certainty is not a disadvantage,” she says. Growth, in her view, is built through repetition and quiet progress.

She wishes she had known earlier that confidence is built through action, not before it. Today, success is defined by alignment: the ability to build sustainably, make decisions with clarity, and create work that feels steady and authentic.

For Sarah Sarosh, success is not just visibility; it is balance, intention, and the freedom to evolve on her own terms.