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Self Development – Women Founders’ Advice - Part 34
In the Self Development Series, we feature the insights of 10 women founders who share their lessons on self-belief, continuous learning, and taking action before everything feels perfect. Their advice highlights the importance of building skills, staying consistent, adapting to change, developing confidence through experience, and creating strong foundations for long-term growth.
Featured Women Founders
Chaitali Anand Kulkarni Still learning and would like to learn more.
Shravani Nishikant Deshmane There’s no such thing called proper education is must before starting a business ladies.
Aafreen Hussain Start before you feel ready.
Shreelekha Anurag Start before you feel ready.
Ar. Drashty Shah Believe in your skills, stay consistent, and never stop learning.
Dharshini Ramkumar My advice to aspiring and early-stage women founders is to start before you feel fully ready.
Hasina Hussaini My advice to aspiring women founders is to believe in your abilities, stay adaptable, and build strong communication skills.
Dr. Nameet Kaur I would advise aspiring and early-stage women founders to not wait for perfect conditions before starting, because clarity and confidence develop during the journey itself.
Olena Sydorenko Three things I wish someone had told me earlier, all learned the hard way.
DIXITA GALIYAL Start before everything feels perfect.
Chaitali Anand Kulkarni – Still learning and would like to learn more.
Company– Atman Cloud Consultants Pvt Ltd
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ck-atman/
Advice
Still learning and would like to learn more.
Shravani Nishikant Deshmane – There’s no such thing called proper education is must before starting a business ladies.
Company– Markelio Media
Advice
There’s no such thing called proper education is must before starting a business ladies. Ofcourse you need to know the ethics and basic management skills but if you’re somewhere, where you can’t or don’t want to wait for a graduation or course etc to start your brand and you think got the skills to build a brand, build it. Slowly, steadily it’ll take time but it’ll build one day, the most important is, you’ll eventually grow and learn from the process and keep getting better!
Aafreen Hussain – Start before you feel ready.
Company– Ibdaa (Fashion&Homedecor)
Advice
Start before you feel ready. You don’t need perfect resources—clarity and consistency matter more. Build something that reflects your identity, not just trends.
Don’t be afraid to experiment, fail, and restart. Learn basic skills like branding, communication, and digital presence—they make a huge difference. Most importantly, believe in your voice and your vision. The journey may feel slow, but consistency will always compound into success.
Shreelekha Anurag – Start before you feel ready.
Company– Sinha Learning Solutions LLP
Website: www.optimyzlearning.com
Advice
Start before you feel ready. You will figure it out along the way.
Don’t wait for perfect clarity or confidence—both come with action. Take small steps, say yes to opportunities, and keep showing up even when it feels uncomfortable.
Also, don’t try to do it all alone. Build relationships, stay open to learning, and trust your own voice.
Most importantly, be patient with yourself. Growth takes time, but if you stay consistent, it does happen.
Ar. Drashty Shah – Believe in your skills, stay consistent, and never stop learning.
Company– METR ARCHITECT
Advice
Believe in your skills, stay consistent, and never stop learning. Every profession comes with challenges, but confidence, discipline, and resilience help you grow stronger with experience. Do not be afraid to take responsibility, express your ideas, and build your own identity through your work.
Dharshini Ramkumar – My advice to aspiring and early-stage women founders is to start before you feel fully ready.
Company– QualityZone Corp
Website: https://www.qualityzonecorp.com/
Advice
My advice to aspiring and early-stage women founders is to start before you feel fully ready. You do not need to have everything perfect in the beginning. What matters most is having a clear vision, the courage to take the first step, and the willingness to keep learning as you grow.
Believe in the value you bring. Many women underestimate their skills or wait for permission to lead, but your experience, ideas, and perspective are powerful. Build your confidence through action, not perfection.
I would also encourage women founders to create strong systems early. Document your processes, understand your finances, build reliable teams, and focus on delivering consistent quality. Passion starts the business, but structure helps it grow.
Most importantly, surround yourself with people who support your growth. Find mentors, ask questions, network with other entrepreneurs, and do not be afraid to seek help. Challenges will come, but resilience, adaptability, and self-belief will carry you forward.
My biggest advice is: stay sincere, stay strategic, and keep going. Your journey may not be easy, but your vision is worth building.
Hasina Hussaini – My advice to aspiring women founders is to believe in your abilities, stay adaptable, and build strong communication skills.
Company– Chadha. Co
Website: www.chadha-co.com
Advice
My advice to aspiring women founders is to believe in your abilities, stay adaptable, and build strong communication skills. Working across international and professional environments taught me the importance of professionalism, confidence, and maintaining strong relationships.
Challenges will come, but consistency, resilience, and a willingness to learn will help you grow and succeed.
Dr. Nameet Kaur – I would advise aspiring and early-stage women founders to not wait for perfect conditions before starting, because clarity and confidence develop during the journey itself.
Company– Operon Technologies
Website: www.operon.in
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nameet-kaur/
Advice
I would advise aspiring and early-stage women founders to not wait for perfect conditions before starting, because clarity and confidence develop during the journey itself. It is very important to build your own professional identity, systems, and financial independence early, as that creates long-term stability and self-belief.
At the same time, women should learn to balance kindness with strong boundaries so that their work, energy, and time are valued appropriately. Even during difficult personal phases, consistency and small disciplined efforts matter more than perfection. Most importantly, women should remember that they have the ability not only to build successful ventures, but also to create meaningful opportunities, innovation, and positive impact for many others.
Olena Sydorenko – Three things I wish someone had told me earlier, all learned the hard way.
Company– WE ARE BLEND LTD
Website: https://weareblend.co.uk/
Advice
Three things I wish someone had told me earlier, all learned the hard way.
Choose co-founders for resilience, not résumés. Skills can be learned; the capacity to keep showing up through uncertainty cannot. Every founder in my Antler cohort had an impressive background, but I had already lost one company to a co-founder breakdown, and I knew that brilliance on paper does not predict who stays when things get hard.
Find your own stress test — whatever reveals how someone responds to discomfort before you sign anything binding. Three years later, my co-founders and I are still building together, and that is not luck. It is selection.
Build technical literacy, even if you are not the technical co-founder. When Blend started, we had no CTO. I taught myself low-code development and built our first product on Bubble.io. That decision shaped everything that came after — it meant I could ship without permission, hire developers who respected the work because I had done it, and never feel locked out of conversations about my own product. You do not need to become an engineer.
You need to understand enough that no one can build walls between you and your company.
Treat your mental health as company infrastructure. During the early years of Blend, I was rebuilding my life as a refugee from Ukraine and living with severe insomnia. I learned that resilience is not endurance — it is having tools to recover. Breathwork, movement, therapy: these are not soft optional extras.
They are the systems that let you make good decisions on the days when nothing else is going right. The founders I see lasting are the ones who invest in this before they need it.
The throughline: build a company you can survive, not just one that can survive you.
DIXITA GALIYAL – Start before everything feels perfect.
Company– HustleGrind OPC Pvt Ltd
Website: https://www.hustlegrind.co.in/
Advice
Start before everything feels perfect. Many women underestimate their capability because they wait for ideal timing, complete certainty, or external validation. Building a business requires learning continuously, taking calculated risks, and staying consistent even during uncertainty.
Focus on developing skills, building strong networks, and creating long-term value. Confidence grows through execution, not waiting!
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