Entrepreneur  

Ruma Devi had to discontinue her studies after class 8 due to extreme poverty. She continued the tradition of embroidery that she acquired from her grandmother and established her creative business. Ruma Devi has employed over 22,000 women across 75 villages. She received a special invitation from Harvard University where she engaged in discussions with around a thousand academics, students, and entrepreneurs.

Ghazal Alagh, the Co-Founder of Mamaearth, established a company with a desire to make chemical-free products available in the market. She co-founded the company with her husband in the year 2016, with an initial investment of Rs 25 lakh. The company began with just 5 products and has since expanded to over 500 products.

Savita Pradhan was born in Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh. She was the first girl from her village to complete class 10 studies. Savita was married off at the young age of 16. At 21, she moved out of her husband’s house with her sons and started a new life. She cleared the MPPSC exams in her first attempt and became a PCS officer.

Karnataka’s Nandini KR studied civil engineering for her higher education and then went on to pursue UPSC exams to become an IAS officer. She faced multiple setbacks in her first few attempts, but she persevered and emerged victorious in her fourth attempt at UPSC 2016 by becoming an All-India topper.

NR Narayana Murthy is the co-founder of Infosys. In ‘The Record,’ a podcast by 3one4 Capital, Narayana Murthy shared his insights on various subjects during a conversation with the former CFO of Infosys, Mohandas Pai. As stated by him, India’s work productivity ranks as the poorest globally. He encourages youth to express their willingness to work for 70 hours a week.

The founder of Zoho Corporation, Sridhar Vembu, had humble beginnings, and yet, with sheer hardwork, he managed to establish a business empire. According to Forbes, Sridhar Vembu’s net worth is around Rs 39,000 crore.

Malvika Iyer lost both her hands in an accident when she was only 13 years old. She was bedridden for almost two years, and despite that she continued her education and emerged as a state topper in class 10. She completed her doctorate degree in Social Work in the year 2017, and today she serves as a motivational speaker and inspires people from all around the world.

Dr Sharvari Inamdar won 5 gold medals in the Asian Classic and Bench Press Powerlifting Championship 2017. 37-year-old Sharvari Inamdar holds an MD degree in Ayurveda. She has been practicing as a nutritionist for 16 years.

Nisha Rawal is an Indian actress, model, singer and entrepreneur. In the year 2001, she appeared in her first television programme called ‘Aane Vala Pal.’ After years of working as an actor, she finally gained recognition for playing the role of ‘Saumya Dewan’ in the TV serial ‘Main Lakshmi Tere Aangan Ki’ in 2011.

Jayshree V Ullal is the CEO and President of Arista Networks. Her assets are more than the combined assets of CEOs like Sundar Pichai and Satya Nadella. Her total net worth is Rs 28,000 crore as of 12 October 2023. Forbes included her in America’s self-made top four richest women.

Sandeep Engineer is the owner of the company Astral Pipes. He had no background in business and failed in the implementation of his first two business ideas. Today, according to Forbes, he is counted among top 100 richest people from India. His company has a value of Rs 27,893 crore.

Chandresh Bayad had a difficult childhood and despite everything, he single-handedly worked towards making his life better. He received education from Cyprus and returned to India to establish his own tea business. Today, he operates 75 outlets across the country and plans to expand his business to the US, UK and Thailand.

Balwant Parekh studied law with no intention of becoming a lawyer. He had better plans of bringing his life of poverty to an end. With his unmatched ability to work professionally with German companies, he established Pidilite and became the Fevicol man.

Raipur’s Durga Devi has been making lac bangles for the last 20 years. She learned the skills from her in-laws and felt inspired to take up the work seriously. Today, Durga is a self-made independent woman who supports her family financially by making around Rs 70,000 in a month.

Neeraj Chopra was operating his family business in Hong Kong since he was 18. Due to some circumstances, he returned to India in 2012. Neeraj launched a new business in India. He began importing power banks and distributing them nationwide. He worked on a new idea and started repairing and selling old mobile phones. He sold around 100 mobiles in the first month and gradually the sales increased to 20 to 25 thousand mobiles each month. Neeraj Chopra’s company is now valued at more than Rs 50 crore.