Here are 10 incredible Malayalee women who have forged their own empires and give us big time goals
Text Credit: Rochelle D’Souza Photos: FWD Media and Featured Persons
Women empowerment and the much feared ‘F’ word – feminism, has come a long way since burning the bra and fighting for the right to vote. Women today have set out to break glass ceilings and pitch on the same playing field as their male counterparts and be treated as nothing less than equal. Commemorating #WomanCrushWednesday here are a few Malayalee women who’ve dared to beat the odds and break the glass ceilings.
SheelaKochouseph
Managing director of V-Star
Twenty years ago Sheela was a housewife while her husband KochousephChittilapally managed a successful company V-Guard, an electrical appliances manufacturer based in Kerala. Today, she is one of the most successful woman entrepreneurs in Kerala with aRs 75 crore (Rs 750 million) business.
Her company, V-Star is one of the leading lingerie brands in Kerala, slowly expanding to the other southern states while 20 per cent of her business is from the Middle East market. V-Star has 180 employees and around 2,000 people, mainly poor women from remote areas of Kerala who work indirectly as tailors.
Gloria Benny
The co-founder of Make A Difference (MAD) – one of India’s largest volunteer networks.
Gloria came up with the idea of getting people to give at least 1 hour per week in helping underprivileged children across India. Gloria started her social venture MAD in 2006 with help of 20 second year college students in Kochi to teach communicative English to 100 poor students. Currently, around 2100 Make A Difference (MAD) volunteers teach close to 5200 children in more than 20 cities of India. Her social venture has won millions of hearts and honors like the Ashoka Global Youth Social Entrepreneur Award, India Shines award, KarmaveerPuraskar and a Global award from Nobel Peace laureate, Martti Ahtisaari.
Alice G. Vaidyan
CMD, General Insurance Corporation of India
Alice G. Vaidyanwas the first woman to get the top post at a public sector insurer in the country.Alice has been the Chairman of the Board and Managing Director of General Insurance Corporation of India since January 2016. She joined the public sector general insurance industry as a direct recruit officer in 1983 with The New India Assurance Company Limited. And has over 30 years of experience in driving growth in the insurance and reinsurance industry. Business Today recognized her as one of the most powerful women in Indian business in September 2016.
Beena Kannan
CEO, Seematti
Known better as the empress of fashion retail in the state, Beena is the brainchild and the driving force behind Seematti. Her brand has grown from a small saree store into one of the most popular fashion retailers in the state. Taking on the reign of the business from her father in 1980, Beena who initially worked as a saree designer, says she was obsessed with the company since she was a child. Beena has many claims to fame during the course of her glitzy career, including the creation of the longest ever silk saree which spanned half a kilometer and placed her in the Guinness Book of Records in 2007.
Manju Sara Rajan
CEO, Kochi Muziris Biennale Foundation
Manju, who initially joined KBF as communications director was appointed as CEO ahead of the third edition of Kochi Muziris Biennale in 2016. She is backed by a journalism degree from Sydney’s Macquarie University and over a decade’s experience of working in premier media houses, including Time magazine’s Asia edition in Hong Kong, and is the founding editor of AD Architectural Digest India. Manju effortlessly juggles her responsibilities as CEO, which include creative, financial and administrative management of various KBF activities, including its outreach and educational programmes while simultaneously being a mother of two.
Nazneen Jehangir
Executive Director & CEO, NeST Information Technologies Pvt Ltd
As the Executive Director, NazneenJehangir is responsible for driving growth and value-addition across all the software products and service-lines in all geographies at NeST IT, part of the US $200 m NeST Group. She oversees and facilitates strategy formulation, global delivery, quality and productivity improvement initiatives in her role as a business enabler. Passionate about emerging areas of technology such as SMAC, IOT and AI, she has been personally responsible for NeST IT’s transitioning to its current role as a solutions provider of choice in the Automotive, Aerospace, BFSI, Healthcare, Communications and GIS domains.
Rekha Menon
Global President of Marketing and Communications, Ness Technologies, US
A marketing and communications professional with 20+ years of experience in IT services and the entertainment sector, Rekha is skilled in social media management in developing programs for an engaged community of followers. She has lead a rather creative life as a television anchor, travel writer, script writer and columnist in South Indian media for last 15 years. She has been included in India Today magazine’s list of the top 25 women achievers in the state of Kerala and is a visiting scholar in University of British Columbia, Vancouver in Media Studies.She now heads global marketing and communications for the US based investment bank.
Annah Chakola
Founder and Creative Director – Boho Gypsy
A native of Kochi, AnnahChakola is the founder of the international brand – Boho Gypsy – that blend cultural influences and simple styles with her own aesthetic to create jewellery and lifestyle accessories. Launched 5 years ago after Annah took up jewellery making as a hobby, the brand is now retailed by US retail giant, Wholefoods across 50 stores in the United States. Today Annah works not only as the founder but also the creative director of the label which has expanded from jewellery into apparel and home decor. Annah recently began styling spaces.
Rohini Mohan
Author and Political Journalist
Rohini Mohan is an Indian journalist who writes on politics, environment and human rights in South Asia. For over a decade, she has written award winning articles for several publications and websites including Al Jazeera, The New York Times, Foreign Policy, The Economic Times, Tehelka, The Caravan, The Hindu, Outlook, The Wire, New Indian Express, and news channel CNN-IBN. She has lived in New Delhi, Chennai and New York, and is now based in Bangalore, India. Rohini has a Masters in political journalism from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, New York, and a PG Diploma in Print Journalism from Asian College of Journalism, Chennai.Her critically acclaimed book, The Seasons of Trouble accounting life in post-war Sri Lanka, was published in 2014.
Harsha Thachery
Founder and CEO of Masalabox
A chartered accountant by qualification and baker by passion, HarshaThachery is the founder and CEO of Masalabox, a premium food network that connects home cooks to customers which she launched in 2014. She has 12+ years of experience working with startups. Her Entrepreneurial journey started in early 2000 with her own share trading business and then helping her husband startup his gaming business. The highly profitable Masalabox brings home cooked food to the tables of its customers, sourced from the kitchens of talented chefs in and around the neighborhood.