We have seen several women entrepreneurs emerged from the Pakistani tech community in the past few years. This might be accredited to the recent boom of entrepreneurship in Pakistan. However, there are still many hurdles to be crossed before we can say that Pakistani women want to be their own boss. Most of these hurdles are self-implicated by women like not believing in their own ability, not fighting hard enough for their dreams and giving in to the social pressure.
Today, we have collected inspiring quotations from women entrepreneurs around the world in the hope that this will inspire Pakistani women to embrace the challenge of entrepreneurship.
1. She is considered to be the next Steve Jobs. She is world’s youngest self-made female billionaire.
“I think a lot of young people have incredible ideas and incredible insights, but sometimes they wait before they go give their life to something. What I did was just to start a little earlier.” – Elizebeth Holmes, Founder Theranos
2. She is the first female CEO at IBM. She makes $1.6 million in salary and $3.6 million in bonuses.
“I learned to always take on things I’d never done before. Growth and comfort do not coexist.” — Virginia Rometty, CEO IBM
3. She was employee number 20 at Google. When asked how it felt to be the only woman on engineering teams, she would say that she hadn’t noticed.
“If you push through that feeling of being scared, that feeling of taking risk, really amazing things can happen.” — Marissa Mayer, CEO Yahoo
4. She oversees ABC TV, ABC Studios, and Disney Channels worldwide which make a total of 107 channels that reach over 431 million viewers in 166 countries.
“Define success in your own terms, achieve it by your own rules, and build a life you’re proud to live.” — Anne Sweeney, Co-Chair, Disney Media Networks
See Also: WECREATE Center brings startup competition for women entrepreneurs in Pakistan
5. She was among the top five finalists who were selected for her video gaming startup from around 700 teams and 1000 students at Clinton Global Initiative. She has been invited to be a speaker at the TedxYouth@ColumbiaHeights this year. She hopes to talk about social issues such as race and gender stereotype.
“As a Pakistani, Muslim woman at the helm of a tech venture, I have faced my fair share of skeptics, critics, and plain old sexists…… I have heard comments that would never be leveled at a man. Many would have been discouraged by such experiences, and understandably so. But I wouldn’t be swayed – in fact, it only inspired me to develop my next game, one that will help other women and minorities who face prejudice in their lives.” – Mariam Adil, Founder GRID
6. She had been CEO of Frontier Communications from 2004 – 2015. She knows she can’t change other people, but she can change how she responds to them.
“Men selectively listen. When that happened, I’d stop the conversation and say, ‘Do you realize I said that 10 minutes ago?’ – Maggie Wilderotter, CEO Frontier Communications
7. She was the woman who founded African-American cosmetics and hair-care products manufacturing company in 1910. Her company was the most widely known and financially successful African-American owned business of the early twentieth century.
“I am not satisfied in making money for myself. I endeavor to provide employment for hundreds of the women of my race.” — Madam C.J. Walker, Founder Madame C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company
8. She is the Chief Operating Officer at Facebook, Inc. since 2008. She helps Facebook scale its operations and manages sales, marketing, business development, human resources, public policy, privacy and communications.
“For me, the blunt truth is men run the world. I say that on stages and the audience gasps. Look around. There isn’t a single country in the world that doesn’t have 95 percent of its companies run by men…that needs to change.” – Sheryl Sandberg, COO Facebook
9. She founded a quality oriented security company SECURICO Security Services in Zimbabwe in 1998. She tackled a previously male-dominated industry making her company a market leader. Today, her company provides its clients with a complete security solution – uniformed armed officers, armored vehicles for transportation of valuables, onsite banking, trained guard dogs, and electronic security systems, private investigations, employee vetting, and security consulting.
“My advice to women all the time is: If you want a certain future, go out and create it. Conquer your fears as that is what enslaves most women.” – Divine Ndhlukula, founder SECURICO Security Services
