This little girl is me

Tuesday 19th October 2021 17:15 EDT
 

Executive & Business Coach Shilpa Panchmatia recently took to LinkedIn and shared a beautifully articulated story of a little girl who grew up in Africa, wasn’t fluent in English, but worked her way up, suffered an abusive marriage, but emerged a winner. Here are few excerpts from that story:

‘She grew up in Africa, in a small town near the coast. It was an idyllic early childhood, personal nanny, lambs playing at the end of her garden and all the attention a little girl would need. Overnight her family fled to London England with £50 in their pockets. She vividly remembers the smell of fear in the air that night.

‘Her parents worked all the hours that God sent, scrimped and saved. She had to learn to fly on her own & solve problems herself. She struggled in school always on her own, insecurity and a lack of confidence in her best friends.

‘Communication is key to success, but when you're not fluent in English it can be tricky. The immigrant work culture made her always put 110% into whatever she did. She worked hard at school & then in the evenings & weekends she would help out at the family business.

‘She would spend her pocket money buying the FT to keep up. She felt her career choices were a disappointment to her family, she was successful in her marketing career but she wasn’t a Dr or a Dentist or an Accountant. The community thought she was a nobody.

‘This hurt her. She worked hard in emerging sectors like technology & consumer marketing. She was a trailblazer in the face of sexism and racism. But she couldn’t see it as there was little recognition for her yet.

‘She suffered an abusive marriage, another hurdle to overcome in her quest for happiness and success. She failed so many times in business, people lied and betrayed her. She was a woman in a man's world.

‘She started her first tech company and this was the beginning of an entrepreneurial journey that spanned 21 years, four sectors and 3 continents.

‘She was busy making businesses when the world thought she should be making babies. Today, she is an investor a mentor to many young girls and active support of empowering women. She is a sought after business coach and transforms businesses.

‘She is where she is today because she is a determined lady, her mother told her the story of the spider and to try and try again in life. She didn't stop trying, learning and believing.

‘This brave little girl who grew up to be a mentor and coach is of course Shilpa herself. It’s promising to see South Asian women standing up for themselves and breaking the glass ceiling.’

This little girl was Shilpa Panchmatia.

Speaking to Asian Voice, Shilpa said, “Girls all around the world have many challenges being who they want to be and how they want to be. Every woman should be able to freely choose what she wants to do in life and the only extent of her dreams should be the amount of effort she puts in. Research has shown by age 6 girls begin to classify in careers in line with their gender roles & this is a massive impact on their future.

“Girls need to have access to female role models women are doing amazing things and these role models allow girls to see how possible it is to have the life they want women of my generation to have a duty to show girls that they’re free to decide what to do with their lives

“That’s why it’s really important that we share our journeys our challenges and the battle scars we gain to show young girls wildlife meanders and he’s not a bed of roses you do come out the other end to live a life as I do with passion and purpose.”


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