Girl Power - Leadership and Beyond

. Whether its politics, business, sports or entertainment, there are numerous examples of ladies who have achieved success and worldwide recognition for their talent and hard work. While the specifics of their career paths vary, each shares the goal of making a difference in the wider world.  These women are passionate, know their strengths and are never afraid of learning. This is how they turn challenges into opportunities and have reached where they are today. In this post, I'm going to talk about a couple of fabulous women I admire.

Being a fashion blogger, I had to start with Sophia Amoruso, the founder of the LA based online fashion retailer Nasty Gal and author of a bestselling advice book #Girlboss . Sophia created Nasty Gal in 2006 as a vintage shop on eBay curated to her personal favorites. Over the years, her fashion sense attracted a set of 20 something female customers who were looking for unique and edgy fashionable clothes. Operating exclusively online till last year, Nasty Gal has a powerful presence on social media, with more than one million followers on Facebook and Instagram. It also gave Amoruso a target audience for her motivational book “#GirlBoss,” which was published last year and currently ranks in the top 500 books on Amazon. I've read it and its hilarious and inspirational, like the badass and outspoken Sophia herself.

Then there's Victoria Beckham aka Posh Spice, one fifth of a notoriously cheesy girl band we all grew up listening and dancing to. However, how many of you really noticed her during her Spice Girls stint? I sure didn't. Even after her wedding to football superstar David Beckam, she has just known as one of the Spice Girls who had married Beckham. But look how she moved on to reinvent herself as a respected and sought after fashion designer. She has risen above endless criticism to become her own force in the fashion industry, dressing everyone from Hollywood celebrities to ‘normal’ women all over the world. And along with all this, she balances her life being wife to a doting father and husband, and mother to 4 kids. So, as a loving wife, originator of Girl Power, career switching entrepreneur, mother of four and survivor of pop star fame, Victoria Beckham is one helluva role model. 

Moving on to the line of beauty, Bobbi Brown first arrived on the scene in 1991 with the launch of her self titled makeup line which consisted of a handful of brown-based lipsticks created to bring simple, flattering and wearable makeup to the market. Cosmetics giant Estée Lauder bought the Bobbi Brown brand in 1995, just 4 years after the company’s inception, and today Bobbi Brown Cosmetics is a global brand that has expanded beyond lipstick to a full range of cosmetics, fragrances and skincare products, with a presence in more than 57 countries. Bobbi Brown retains creative control of the brand.  Her brand has A-list admirers including L’Wren Scott and Oprah Winfrey and her business is valued at more than $1 billion worldwide.

Kathryn Bigelow was the first woman in history to win the Oscar for Best Director. Remember the fact that her low-budget war based film, The Hurt Locker, also beat her ex-husband James Cameron's blockbuster, Avatar in the same year? This sure made me beam with pride because I think Avatar had a cheesy Bollywood movie-like story while the whole world would agree with me that the Hurt Locker was a serious, realistic and brilliant movie. On accepting her well-deserved award, she said: 'I hope I'm the first of many. I'm ever grateful if I can inspire some young, intrepid, tenacious male or female film-maker and have them feel that the impossible is possible and never give up on your dream.' In the words of Game Of Throne's Lena Headey who plays Cersei Lannister - "I look at someone like Kathryn Bigelow, and I have so much admiration. She's playing in the boy's sandpit, and winning." Enough said.

Moving on to politics - a field I have barely any interest or knowledge about, I adore this quote by Margaret Thatcher. Known as the Iron Lady, she was first and only female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and her strong will and determination deserve to be admired. Leaders of course, come in all age groups. Another honorable mention here is the youngest ever Nobel Prize Laureate, 17-year-old schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai who was awarded the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 for her campaigning work for the rights of the education of girls in her native Pakistan.

Being an avid reader, I had to mention J. K. Rowling and Stephenie Meyer. It is a known fact that the Harry Potter books and movie franchise have captured the imaginations of children and adults all over the world. The books have sold over 400 million copies and have been translated into dozens of languages. Being a Twihard, I also had to mention that its no secret that Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Saga was no less popular. After all, Twilight was powerful enough to divide everyone from young teenage girls to women in their late twenties like me, to choose between a vampire and a werewolf. Another notable example of its popularity is the fact that it is the very basis and inspiration for E.L James' hugely popular Fifty Shades Of Gray franchise.

These were a few women whose success stories are worth reading about and learning from. This post is an entry for the #EveryWomanIsALeader blogging competition held by www.shethepeople.tv. You can win an all-paid expense trip to an exciting destination and other goodies. You can read more about the contest and participate here : https://www.shethepeople.tv/leadership-contest/
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