Latest news with #TheEconomicTimesWomen'sForum
Time of India
16-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Charting a Path for Women of the Future
From 'putting one foot in front of the other' on the unforgiving trail to the summit of Mount Everest to shooting many a bull's eye at the Paralympic Games , achieving financial independence, reimagining careers—all this and more was showcased at The Economic Times Women's Forum last Thursday. The spotlight fell on a social sector champion and a political leader who broke the mould, as well as some of India's best-known entrepreneurs and investors. India's Femme Force was on full glorious display. The forum, in its fourth year, featured 23 prominent speakers, including former cabinet minister Smriti Irani , who emphasised the need to celebrate women from all walks of life, including grassroot workers. 'There are many women who are busy leading their lives,' she said. 'They are successful, but don't have the time or wherewithal to shout from the rooftops how great they are. When you see such women, talk about them and celebrate them.' Other speakers included paralympian Avani Lekhara , actors Shraddha Kapoor and Rasika Dugal and Moelis India's Manisha Girotra.
Time of India
15-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
ET Women's Forum: From sports & films to politics, champions talk about work & life
Mumbai: From 'putting one foot in front of the other' on the unforgiving trail to the summit of Mount Everest to shooting many a bull's eye at the Paralympic Games , achieving financial independence, reimagining careers—all this and more was showcased at The Economic Times Women's Forum last Thursday. The spotlight fell on a social sector champion and a political leader who broke the mould, as well as some of India's best-known entrepreneurs and investors. India's Femme Force was on full glorious display. The forum, in its fourth year, featured 23 prominent speakers, including former cabinet minister Smriti Irani , who emphasised the need to celebrate women from all walks of life, including grassroot workers. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like These Groundbreaking Insoles Combat Foot Pain hatmeo Learn More Undo 'There are many women who are busy leading their lives,' she said. 'They are successful, but don't have the time or wherewithal to shout from the rooftops how great they are. When you see such women, talk about them and celebrate them.' Other speakers included paralympian Avani Lekhara , actors Shraddha Kapoor and Rasika Dugal and Moelis India's Manisha Girotra. Live Events
Time of India
15-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
ET Women's Forum: Pursue dreams, be thick-skinned about it: Shraddha Kapoor
Shraddha Kapoor, reflecting on her 15-year Bollywood journey, is now venturing into entrepreneurship, driven by the support of the women in her life, especially her mother. With a massive social media following, she emphasizes authenticity and a hands-on approach to customer experience. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads It's been a rollercoaster, guys," Shraddha Kapoor said with a laugh, reflecting on her 15-year Bollywood journey at The Economic Times Women's Forum But the ride's far from over. With her eyes now set on entrepreneurship , she's embracing a bold new chapter. "Wearing that hat is very exciting," she said, oozing sparkling credited the women in her life, especially her mother, for giving her that drive and for supporting her during her formative years. "I have the earliest memories, whether I had to go to an annual day programme, or I had an exam in school, or I had some kind of tiff with a bunch of friends-I always had someone who was my safety, and I knew that was my mom," she said. But it's not just the maternal role that plays a role in empowering women. Kapoor strongly believes that "empowered women empower women".With a staggering 93.7 million followers on Instagram-more than those of Alia Bhatt, Sachin Tendulkar and even Priyanka Chopra-Kapoor sits at the top tier of India's social media celebrities Talking about her "secret sauce", she said, "I think it's how welcomed I have felt by the family-my family on Instagram-over the past 15 years," adding that authenticity is to what made her decide to become an entrepreneur, she said being a consumer was the starting point. "It started with me buying from Palmonas, then thinking, okay, this is really good quality. Bought again; then saw they had dropped new designs; bought again," she told the said while the financials of the business isn't her expertise, she loves being hands-on when it comes to customer experience . "I would rather put my energy into what we can do better, how to improve things based on feedback and what we can offer the customer to enhance the entire experience. That is a lot of fun too."Kapoor urged women to be "thick-skinned' when it comes to pursuing their dreams. "There are so many people who will tell you, 'Yeh, yeh formula hota hai school build karne ka (this is the formula for building a school). Yeh formula hota hai film banane ka (this is the formula for making a film).' I don't believe there's a specific formula. Only the person building something, the founder, knows their vision," she lively conversation then focused on Kapoor's background. She comes from a film family-her father being the iconic actor Shakti Kapoor-and she has a musically rich lineage on the Mangeshkar side, being the grand-niece of the late playback singer Lata Mangeshkar. She was surrounded by strong, working women from an early age. From her father, she said, she learned how to respect money, and from the women, well, their lessons have been priceless."I've had more of a matriarchal upbringing , if I may say, and a very community-driven one. My mom always made me feel seen, and so did all the women in my life. I feel very, very blessed to have had that."Kapoor fired up the audience with an empowering declaration, dismissing those who claim women can't have it all. "I think we can have it all. The sky's the limit. We just need to know what we want-and go after it," she said.
Time of India
15-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
ET Women's Forum: No finance degree, no guru. Take a SIP of confidence, start walk to freedom
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Being financially independent is not just about having money, it's about having control over your life. That was the central theme of a thought-provoking discussion held at The Economic Times Women's Forum in Mumbai. The panel, titled ' Financial Independence : Own Your Worth,' brought together three influential voices, Devina Mehra, founder of First Global, Nilesh Shah, managing director of Kotak Mahindra AMC, and Rachana Ranade, finance educator and well-known opened the session by stressing the importance of introducing financial literacy in school curricula. While awareness has grown over the last three decades, she noted that young boys are often exposed to financial discussions earlier than girls, who typically begin engaging in it only after starting a job or marriage. She underlined how women themselves develop mental blocks due to social conditioning, often underestimating their capability or deferring to male family pointed out that a meaningful change will take time and must be driven both by shifting mindsets and greater participation from women. "Women need to ask questions, make decisions, and claim their space in money conversations," he cited a story from Nashik, where even men are starting to understand the importance of including their wives in financial discussions. She highlighted how financial empowerment is not just a women's issue but a collective panel agreed that risk-taking is not inherently gendered. Mehra explained how women, though great savers, hesitate to invest due to fear or lack of confidence despite evidence showing women often outperform men in Mehra and Shah advocated starting with systematic investment plans (SIPs) to build discipline and gradually gain confidence. "You don't need to know everything to start investing," Mehra said. "Just begin wisely and consistently."Ranade, who commands a wide audience on social media, spoke about the transformative power of digital platforms in driving financial awareness. While her early YouTube channel had a 90:10 male-to-female ratio, she has since narrowed the gap with her Marathi channel reaching 35% female recalled how her videos inspired a small village in Maharashtra, where women began investing even ₹100 through SIPs. "This is the ripple effect," she said. "Even one small step can spark big change."When the conversation moved to risk-taking, Mehra said that women often go to extremes. They either stay away from investments completely or leave all decisions to someone else. The smarter approach, she said, is balanced asset allocation, a mix of equity, debt, and even global exposure."Never be 100% in equity," she warned, adding that diversification is important for long-term financial encouraged women to take small steps to begin their investment journey. She said starting a monthly SIP of even ₹500 can be a great beginning. "You don't need a finance degree to begin," she on her YouTube experience, she noted that women tend to engage more with financial content when it comes from someone relatable, especially another woman. That's why role models are so also said that more women are needed in top finance roles. For women starting businesses, she advised them to confidently pitch their ventures and not let doubts, especially from others, slow them down. "Be ready to steer the narrative back to your strengths," she said."A man will apply for a promotion if he meets 60% of the criteria. A woman waits till she checks every box," Mehra observed. She also shed light on systemic biases in venture capital funding, where men are asked about growth potential and women about risks."Be a great salesperson for your idea. You will face more rejections, but don't take them personally." The session closed with a strong message: financial independence is not optional, it's essential.
Time of India
15-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
ET Women's Forum: Forget fairy tale, let talent be calling card, says Smriti Irani
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Variously an actress, model, producer and politician, Smriti Irani 's iconic role of 'Tulsi' was part of the battle demanding higher compensation for women in the entertainment and OTT with approximately ₹54,000 crore of ad revenue that employs close to 2 million, entertainment from the segment is one place where women probably make more of the workforce than men."Not only as actors but also one of the first female producers who became celebrated and became a powerhouse, became a listed company, all because they started with one slot. The difference was that that lady got paid less for a project as compared to many male producers. But in that frugality, she would create a legacy. And looking at the corporate environment, one knew that women at every level of management were cognisant of the fact that it's not the gender but the talent that you bring to the table that will help you leverage or negotiate a contract better," Irani said at The Economic Times Women's Forum held in Mumbai."The other aspect that this one particular character brought was the cultural phenomena which had an economic impact," she added that while negotiating a contract, the real value could be created when you impact how one is portrayed. "Many a times you can justify the paycheque by compromising on how you're projected. Real power is to control the pen that writes your character," she stressed the need that the challenges don't end once a woman is successful, the hard work and perseverance have to continue. "The biggest fairy tale we sell to women and young girls is that everything will be okay once you succeed, which is hogwash. It gets more difficult. Only the insights get more elegant, the elbowing gets a bit sharper. There is a generation of women who kind of said, let's keep going forward," she asserted."They would not dress up to the best of their potential, put on the greatest of makeups because they just wanted to blend, because they wanted to succeed. We rode on the shoulders of those women, but let's not keep selling that fairy tale. It's going to be okay when you succeed, when you have money," she added."We know statistically that women with a paycheque in urban centres do have to face domestic violence. That there are women who shun promotions because it makes them outshine the partners they have. We have women who want to double up on their work only so that they can compete with men in a company, so that the next time a promotion happens, they can say, 'I worked harder for the same paycheque as a man and they still don't get more'," she two successful careers, both as a politician and an actor and being a mother, Irani said that there is a need to recognise that as professionals, you're working towards a paycheque and a professional legacy."My media and political careers went simultaneously. It was never either/or, so when I had my first child, I was working not only in media, not only in politics. I was also working for the WHO as a Goodwill Ambassador. I was in 2003 the vice president of the Youth Wing of BJP here... When Vasundhara Raje was first projected as the Rajasthan BJP candidate in 2003, my girl was three months old. So I used to shoot all night and campaign for Vasundhara Raje all day. And I did that for 22 days in a row and there were no headlines about it. But that's a choice you have. It's your choice to give birth to a kid. It's your choice to be a media professional, or political activist," she women in politics , Irani stressed the need to celebrate not only those in Parliament but also those who are working at the grassroots."One of the greatest myopias we suffer from is that women in politics are the women in Parliament. We have 1.5 million women who get elected to our panchayats across the country. That is the largest cohort of political women any country has. We have 10 crore women who are part of an economic revolution in our 644,000 villages. They have a yearly economic opportunity generation of $37 billion."
