There was a time when women searching for inspiration had to look far beyond their immediate world. Role models were rare, often distant, and frequently filtered through narratives shaped by others. Stories, particularly those of South Asian women, were trimmed, softened, or silenced. Achievement existed, but recognition did not always follow.
Yet even in those quieter decades, Indian women were breaking barriers. Indira Gandhi became one of the world’s most powerful political leaders. Kalpana Chawla journeyed into space, expanding not only scientific frontiers but the boundaries of imagination for young girls in small towns. Kiran Bedi redefined authority in uniform. Mary Kom fought her way to global acclaim. And Sudha Murty quietly reshaped philanthropy and literature with purpose and compassion.
But these women were often presented as exceptions, extraordinary anomalies in a world still structured for men. Today, something profound is shifting. Women are not waiting to be framed; they are claiming their narratives. They are not anomalies, they are multiplying.
Representation within reach
In the UK, Tahira Bibi has made history as the country’s first female train driver of Pakistani heritage, challenging the assumptions of a male-dominated industry. “I see it as being a role model,” she says. “If younger girls from Asian or minority backgrounds see me and think, ‘If she’s done it, we can do it,’ then that makes me proud.” Representation is no longer abstract: it is visible, tangible, within reach.
Naz Shah, Member of Parliament for Bradford West, understands the power of visible resilience. Having witnessed violence and insecurity in childhood, she transformed fracture into fortitude. By occupying space unapologetically and speaking about the unspeakable, she reframed survival as strength. For her, resilience is “the gift survival gives you.”
That instinct to protect and empower runs through Gulshen Bano’s work. Through Strike Back Self Defence, a women-led organisation, she equips women and girls with practical skills that build awareness and confidence. “Women don’t learn self-defence because they want to fight, they want to feel safe and get home safely,” she explains. Safety becomes liberation.
Beyond safety lies equality. When Ambassador Lakshmi Puri speaks about gender equality, she calls it architecture: structural and foundational. After decades embedding equality into global governance, she insists, “Gender equality is the most important project for humanity. And it is mission possible.”
In professional kitchens, Angula Devi challenges assumptions about who belongs there. Born in Southall to first-generation Indian immigrant parents, she sees visibility as collective. “If that challenges long-standing views about who belongs there, that’s good.”
Deepa Mann-Kler is rewriting narratives around women’s bodies. Drawing from her own perimenopausal journey, she uses virtual reality to challenge the silence surrounding menopause and dismantle the notion that a woman’s value peaks at reproduction.
Meanwhile, Aekta Patel, founder of City O’Clock, is reshaping the UK’s luxury experience economy while championing female leadership. In a post-pandemic world, she has built a community largely powered by women. “There’s a shared understanding and emotional intelligence that feels incredibly energising,” she says.
The hidden weight of ambition
But progress is rarely pastoral. It is not all blossom and ease; not for these women, not for any. Behind the headlines celebrating female founders lies a quieter reality: isolation, stubborn funding gaps and the mental toll of carrying ambition in spaces not built for you.
Research by Female Founders Rise reveals that for many women building companies, human connection is not a luxury, it is lifeblood. Shalni Arora knows this terrain intimately. As CEO of Savannah Wisdom, working across philanthropy, finance and community leadership, she speaks candidly about the loneliness that can shadow leadership. Imposter syndrome, she admits, often arrives uninvited, whispering doubts amid the balancing act. There have been moments, she says, when she wondered whether choosing the “easier option” might have spared her the weight of ambition.
In newsrooms too, the climb has been steep. Shruti Tripathi Chopra, editor-in-chief of Financial News and Private Equity News, recalls being underestimated early on. Women, particularly women of colour, are too often boxed into false binaries: too soft to lead, too assertive to be palatable. Rejecting that script required her to unlearn the instinct to shrink and instead anchor herself in performance and clarity of vision. As the youngest editor and first woman of colour in the role, she chose substance over stereotype.
Community as capital
Nearly 80 per cent of female entrepreneurs surveyed say meaningful human connection sustains not just their businesses, but their belief in themselves. That conviction fuels Reena Ranger and the community she co-founded, Women Empowered. Designed without gatekeeping or hierarchy, it offers something radical in its simplicity: access. A room where stories are shared, lessons exchanged, and growth encouraged without prescription.
For Reena, the act of giving created its own gain. What began as an offering — space, time, platform — became a source of personal expansion. Every conversation carried insight; every shared story sharpened perspective. In lifting others, she found herself lifted too.
At the British Museum, Sushma Jansari echoes that ethos. As the first person of South Asian heritage to curate a major exhibition there, she champions humility as strength. The moment we assume we have nothing left to learn, she warns, we close the door to collaboration and innovation. Openness is not weakness; it is momentum.
This is what real progress looks like. Not a solitary figure silhouetted at the summit, but a constellation of women ascending together. Role models are no longer remote legends; they are editors, curators, entrepreneurs, mentors; all women within reach
And as they rise, visibly and unapologetically, they expand the horizon for everyone watching, proving that the surest way to gain ground is to give it.
