To mark the occasion of Women’s Day, the CII Coimbatore chapter organised a ‘Coffee with Women Entrepreneurs’ session, where eight inspiring ladies from different walks of life shared their story about how they became successful businesswomen.

“Break the glass ceiling for all the right reasons” and “Hard work is more powerful than Harvard” were the titles of the two panel discussions.

J. Praveena, Director of Bakeroe, said, “Of all the challenges, self-doubt is the biggest I had to deal with.” She added, “Another issue is our lack of awareness on the schemes and subsidies available for women entrepreneurs planning to start individual business or partnership firms.”

Nithya Nandhini, International Fitness Coach, said, “Creating awareness on health and fitness is the biggest challenge I had to face in my profession, since many assume that working out is time-bound, that they can work out for six months to one year, and remain exercise free for the rest of their lives.”

“You are much stronger than you think,” is the message from Suganya Subramanian, an online retailer who with the support of her textiles store initiated the mix-n-match concept and took the concept to the world of ecommerce.

The 50 upcoming women entrepreneurs in the audience were mesmerised by the speeches from these leading entrepreneurs from the city.

The panellists also spoke on self-motivation, innovation, use of technology, learning at every level, and stated that women have all the rights to pursue their dreams, a profession and explore new opportunities.