Tell us about your background and how you came to be a pioneer of female entrepreneurship. What is it that you do exactly?
I am Aparna Bajpai founder and CEO of BeingShe, which is an organisation that exists to empower women. After having been crowned Mrs India Globe and realising how much power women hold when they are confident in themselves and have achieved self-awareness, I decided to make it my mission to empower and transform other women as well. Before being a CEO, I am a mother and a wife. I worked in retail for a couple of years back when we were still living in London before moving to Dubai, UAE where I have been living for 11 years now.
How does BeingShe help female entrepreneurs?
We help female entrepreneurs gain confidence, get exposure and opportunities for their businesses, initiatives, and careers. We have various initiatives set up to achieve exactly that namely BeingShe Universe, BeingShe Excellence, BeingShe Club and She Talks.
Through BeingShe Universe, we help women gain confidence and understand the value that they possess. It is an annual fashion and talent show which celebrates women’s beauty and talent. We have had past participants go on and become actors, business owners, authors, TV anchors etc after realising their capabilities.
We validate female entrepreneurs through recognition awards, each year we host BeingShe Excellence Awards where we identify exceptional women making strides in various fields and award them for their efforts. This in turn boosts their public exposure to new clients and distinguishes them from competitors. We are also building a large network of women for women through the BeingShe Club. As a member, you can build connections, find customers, get support, mentorship and advice for business and professional growth.
We believe that by using the power of dialogue and storytelling, we are able to support and empower women to work with/through their struggles. As such, we launched She Talks a platform for women to share their experiences and address relevant social issues. We found that by giving them an audience, we enable aspiring women to walk into the spotlight.
What is your mission?
Our mission is to empower and transform women and help them lead their inner drive and passion with a concrete impactful structure.
Our goal is to encourage women to embrace their own uniqueness and beliefs and our vision is to become the largest international women network for self-transformation & growth.
What are the challenges and benefits of pursuing female entrepreneurship?
I believe social expectations still pose a challenge in female entrepreneurship, in as much as that has improved over the years, the perception that women are supposed to stay at home and put all their attention on their family is still echoing. With that at the back of their minds, women tend to then use it as an excuse when their venture fails to take off instead of working through it. The major benefit of pursuing entrepreneurship as a female is the sense of fulfillment. Signing off that big deal, getting your first big client, filling your wall with recognition awards, you look back and say I did this and I believe that is what makes us feel alive.
What would you say is the number one obstacle/challenge that female entrepreneurs face today?
From my experience in conducting one on one sessions with aspiring entrepreneurs and from leading general discussions, lack of business networks remains the main obstacle for female entrepreneurs. They find it difficult to connect, meet and engage with decision makers because most of them honestly have no clue where to begin. My advice would be to go out and meet people, tap into their knowledge and build yourself.
What is the number ONE piece of advice you would give to young women who are starting out in entrepreneurship with no prior experience?
There is nothing new under the sun, chances are whatever business you are trying to start no matter how unique you may think it is, the challenges you will face are similar to any business so get yourself a mentor it will make the journey easier.
How can readers find out more about you/BeingShe?
Feel free to visit our website www.beingshe.com to learn more about the organisation, our various initiatives and accomplishments.
Follow us on Instagram, Linkedin, Facebook, Tiktok @beingsheoffical and subscribe to our YouTube channel to stay updated on our current events.
