International Women’s Day 2024: Actors who turned entrepreneurs

Women across the world have come a long way when it comes to running successful businesses Some call our kind boss ladies while others patronise and say were ldquodifficult to work withrdquo Women as entrepreneurs have overcome challenges at workplaces that are even more complex than a 16course meal You donrsquot get to ask them what theyrsquore bringing to the table because boy theyrsquove bought that table Take for instance actors who have ventured beyond glitz and glamour They exclusively speak to middaycom on achieving this featRicha Chadha Pushing Buttons StudiosWe havent really opened a production house but a small creator studio under which we hope to make interesting films series documentaries and shows But the primary driving motivation was to be more involved in the whole process of the creation of art stories and projects than just being an actor Weve been lucky our first film won two brilliant awards at Sundance so we are very thankful that its worked out Both Ali Fazal and I have been acting in the Hindi film industry and Ali also in the West for a long time and we are just putting the lessons weve learned to good use in this manner It is challenging any day to mount an independent film because of the way the distribution models exist in India especially now when its harder to make a smaller film as compared to a bigbudget film with big stars First we want to break the bank then we will break barriers In any case if a film is successful or its not a loss that in itself is a huge achievement and we are at that point where we will start looking at films to be financially viable firstSunny Leone Star StruckI wanted to endorse a cosmetic company and the brand didnt allow that due to the complexity of my image We decided to open one to learn the business of cosmetics and because it was a space that I enjoyed and understood we invested time to learn everything about it and continue to learn even today Five years later its been an amazing journey It is a massive segment and theres a lot of competition So for us building a brand that can sustain but also concentrate on product quality and formulation quality is the key point Theres lots of ups and downs I think women can achieve anything theyre good or better than any man It is about your capabilities it is about your hustle It is about your desire to learn and achieve and I thoroughly believe that A woman is capable of anything and there is no such thing as a barrierSonakshi Sinha SoeziWhen my partner Srishti Raai approached me with the idea of press on nails I was instantly drawn to it because beauty and grooming are such a big part of my career as an actor Nails have always been a pain point for me while completing any look so when I experienced the ease that press on nails offered I knew this was something I wanted other women to feel as well We identified a gap in the market and the fact that there were no mainstream players in the Indian market specialising in press on nails we jumped in At the start the biggest challenges are to find the right people set the right systems in place and balance so many different threads Itrsquos also switching to a different gear with daily business and decisions I think we are breaking many barriers outside of just gender being an actor and entrepreneur not being a fulltime entrepreneur and also having fun growing a business not just doing it for the business of it I want to show that women can start grow and scale successful ventures which we are starting to see more of now I also want to show how businesses are run and that creativity empathy and passion are superpowersGabriella Demetriades DemeI felt there was a gap for premium womenrsquos wear especially cocktail and party wear Internationally there are many successful brands in this category and I wanted to make that available in India and be a premium womenrsquos fashion brand to emerge from India on a global scale It takes years to get the right people on board I also feel like production that is not mass is not easy Also having the gumption to stick with bad days and months is something not everyone can do Irsquove been brought up to be as equal as any man so I donrsquot see any difference between men and women in business I know there are some misconceptions about women in business which are just preconceived notions and I think women are breaking those dailySimple Kaul 1BHK Que Sera Sera Sorozai Baoji Asian Home The Homemade Cafe amp BarIm blessed to have partners like Aditi Malik Vatsala Rajeev Raj Ankit Anand and Suraj Shetty Aditi Vatsala and I have always been friends so women entrepreneurs doing it together is a different experience Hello we are running a bar right now and people think women cant do that because you have to go at night and you have to look into a lot of technical things I think a woman can do anything and everything if she puts her heart and soul into it I want to break that stereotypical type of thinking