Women Entrepreneurship Day: How These Millennial Women Entrepreneurs Are Changing The Current Market Ecosystem

Gone are the days when jobs came with gender division; women over the time have proven their worth in the professional world. It started with women getting into the job market and proving their mettle across industries. With time, organizations have realised the power of women in the professional spectrum and how their empathy and organizational skills along with many other skills can make them great leaders. Today, gender equality is one of the key driving forces for the success of any organization, city, and even country. There has to be will, understanding within the leadership team, and continuous efforts to build dialogue within the organization, to create a conducive environment for women.  

Alongside, women have also proved their mettle in entrepreneurship in the last few years. More and more women entrepreneurs joined the bandwagon and proved their worth by owning businesses across the spectrum. Meet these women entrepreneurs, who have established themselves in different sectors through their hard work and determination.

1. Ms. Sandhya Sakuja, Director, Vedic Cosmeceuticals Pvt. Ltd.: She has more than two decades of rich experience in skincare and retail. She has excellent insight into the development of businesses and products with in-depth knowledge of the wellness industry.

At Vedic Cosmeceuticals, she built upon consumer behaviour theories and brand trends in the personal care industry, and helped the company go from a manufacturing-first B2B, to one that provides holistic solutions. As a concept auditor, she researches industry trends to ascertain the viability of an idea, so that Vedic’s clients are able to make the most cost- and time-efficient decision for their products. She is one of the few women entrepreneurs who are into research, development, and manufacturing of products in India.

2. Sakshee Katiyal- CEO, Home& Soul: Sakshee Katiyal is spearheading Home & Soul; a real estate company focussing on luxury-based housing projects like Boulevard Walk, Beetle Lap, Page Three and F Premier. Sakshee set foot in real estate in 2007 and since then she has been consistently working towards achieving marvel for the company. A dynamic leader with holistic experience in operations, marketing, sales and client relations, Sakshee has been instrumental in developing and delivering projects successfully. Due to her sheer diligence and hard work, Sakshee Katiyal is one of the very few successful women entrepreneurs in Indian real estate.

Her key focus area is on building partnerships and developing broader business relationships. Under her leadership, Home & Soul is creating value through excellence in delivery. Her emphasis on world-class design and architecture showcases the aspiration quotient amongst today’s Indians.

3. Sulbha Kaushal Rai, Chief People Officer, RenewBuy: She is a thorough HR specialist with close to two decades of experience in the field of human resource and people management. She is one of the few women, holding leadership position in the finance industry. Currently associated with RenewBuy as the CPO, she has been instrumental in streamlining employee related functions within the organization, by assessing HR capacity, understanding company requirement, making the organization more diversified and inclusive, streamlining policies and framework for the company.

She is also the founder of People Matrix - an HR consulting firm committed to leveraging ‘People’ asset to organizations’ success and creating a winning proposition for business and people. The organization helps with a multi-faceted approach in the HR related industry requirements.

4. Yashika Arora, founder of Paw Petisserie: She comes from a business family and UX designer by qualification. After working as a UX designer for a few years in Pune, she realised that it wasn't what she wanted to do and returned to Delhi with a plan to join the family business.  She started baking for her pet Cristo in late 2016 and soon she was getting calls from friends and even strangers asking for a menu. And It was at that point she realised that there are other dog parents like her who are looking for safe bakery items for their pets without chemicals. So she started exploring more and added more items to the menu. And in mid-2017 Paw Petisserie was founded by her.

5. Vithika Yadav, Founder of TeenBook: Teenbook is India's first comprehensive life skills resource hub for adolescents, teenagers, parents, and educators.  She is also the Co-founder of Love Matters India, which is the first-ever website in India to give complete, honest, and unbiased information on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in India in both Hindi and English language. She currently also serves as the Chair of the Global Advisory Board on Sexual Health and Well-being. In 2016 she received the honor of being one of the Top 120 under 40 New Generation of Family Planning leaders in the world by Bill & Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health. In 2007 she was awarded the Atlas Corps Fellowship and in 2012 she was awarded as one of the Top 99 under 33 young foreign policy leaders in the world by Diplomatic Courier and Young Professionals in Foreign Policy in the USA. Over the years, she has worked for premier organizations such as UN Office on Drugs and Crime, BBC World Service Trust, Free the Slaves, and MTV EXIT.

6. Palak Midha, Founder Palak Notes: Millennial Women Entrepreneurs are leading the way to bring evolution in the market forces. Diversification is the major reason behind such success. Palak Notes started with a motive to help people with a nutrition-rich diet. The journey from providing diet plans to women to fulfilling their nutritional requirements and reversing their diseases with the best supplements was tough but led to the evolution in the lives of countless women.

The main problem is that people want to get full nutrition but are not ready to supplement the food they take. The ones who are ready to spend on their health, face the problem with a trusted source. Taking the charge of bringing a change in society and leading one of the biggest women's communities has helped in my personal growth as well. Identifying the lack and bringing out the best solution led to the Diversification of Palak Notes.

7. Kiran Dham -C.E.O.  - Globus Infocom Limited: The growing number of opportunities has given women a better platform for revolutionizing every sector of the world. Impressively, the emergence of new technologies & innovations has encouraged and enhanced the participation of women on a greater level. The drive for social innovations and society’s upliftment enabled me to use all my skills that not only build a successful life for many but created a greater impact in different sectors of society. Gender never posed itself as a challenge for me and I feel fortunate being a Woman leader and have inculcated a no-gender bias culture within my organization. As a women entrepreneur in the technology space, the driving force to go over & above my target has been my deep passion to contribute to education. As a successful leader in the educational domain, I was able to bring a wave of change by minimalizing the digital gap and reducing the digital distance between urban & rural areas transforming the learning ecosystem of government as well as private schools.

8. Neha Pandey: She is an Independent Indian pop artist/playback singer and entrepreneur based out of Dubai. Neha’s music contains elements of pop, hip-hop, Soul, and R&B. Western music has had a huge impact on her singing. She likes to perform "songs that have a western flavor in them". She has also been featured among the super 100 Indian entrepreneurs and professionals based on her hard work and achievements not just as a self-made independent entrepreneur but also as a Dubai-based Bollywood Indie pop artist/singer.

She was also spotted singing live at a Royal Gala Fashion event of Shaikha Hend Al Qassemi.  Over the years, she honed her skills by becoming a skilled musician, singer, and composer. She has collaborated with artists from different parts of the world. She has collaborated with artists from different parts of the world. Her current home Dubai is a multicultural place and you get to meet a lot of people from different parts of the world. 

Also Read: Sakshi Post Interview With Paw Petisseri Founder Yashika Arora