A woman entrepreneur's life is not less than Cinderella's or Rapunzel's

I remember the fairy tales that I grew up listening to, in which the reward of every princess at the end was a prince charming and a “happily ever after” ending. However what I also realized was, that in every fairy tale the princess, be it Cinderella or Rapunzel, went though their difficult path before they got their reward.

A woman entrepreneur is not less than Cinderella or Rapunzel, the difference being that of the goal.

A woman entrepreneur's life is not less than Cinderella's or Rapunzel's - Do you agree? Share comments in the section below

We all, particularly women have to go through a lot of hardships in order to break away from the conventional role of a home maker to a modern entrepreneur or businesswoman. Not getting into making this sound like a feminist column but yes we do live in a patriarchal society where the woman is supposed to be the homemaker and the men bread earner.

But again since we are blessed with the ability to multitask, we are able to fight it out against all odds. A woman is blessed with the ability to manage, right from her house, to her kids, to planning their schedule to buying healthy food, everything is managed by one head - She. Right now while writing this, I have my toddler trying to pull me out of my chair and my elder one asking me about spellings of words that he suddenly wants to know! But yes my eyes are fixed on my lap top.

The way I see a woman entrepreneur is very much similar to someone who has had a strong need to be independent both financially and emotionally! The need to dare the mundane, the desire to grow, the ability to lead and the willingness to learn and evolve are some of the qualities that I admire in every women entrepreneur.

A woman who is confident and who has the ability to march and take decisions is a leader in her own life. As a women entrepreneur, decision making skill and delegation of work or authority to the right person becomes an extremely important role. Recent movies in Hindi cinema are all focusing on the need for woman to be independent and a role model for other women to follow.

Women today are much more confident, ambitious and not willing to compromise- be it personal or professional. When it comes to education, women have grown in leaps and bounds. According to UNESCO, women enrolment in the graduate and tertiary education level in India has grown almost twice compared to men. Women are equivalent to men when it comes to graduating in fields like business, social sciences and law. Be it sports or be it business, today a woman is all ready to achieve what she ought to and that’s why we see a large increase in women entrepreneurs who are successfully managing their conventional duties along with pursuing their passion .

However the flip side that I see in women entrepreneurs is their inability to help and mentor other women. This is also based on my teaching experience, that a teacher rarely ever helps another teacher. May be it’s a fact for all women oriented professions.

Indra Nooyi the CEO of Pepsi CO and the second most powerful women of the world as ranked by Fortune, and someone whom I admire from the very beginning , very rightly said in one of her talks, that a woman will rarely help another woman at work place and this attitude is what needs to change, as only then can we allow each other to grow.

A woman is blessed with the power of creation. She is the nurturer as well as a source of strength. I do hope that every woman especially in India develops the ability to take her own decisions, to pursue her own passion as this is where a beginning is made and a woman entrepreneur is born.

Rakhee Chhabria
Founder- TeacherHelpTeachers- An online community support group exclusively for teachers.
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