Challenges of being a woman CEO
From challenging societal pressures to the constant battle between intuition and logic
Juggling responsibilities and navigating a business landscape can be demanding for any CEO. However, when you are a woman CEO there are a few added layers of challenges.
The second panel discussion, titled ‘Life and Challenges of Women CEOs,’ featured four inspiring UAE entrepreneurs: Natasha Litvinov, Managing Partner, Orchestra Media, Akanksha Goel, Founder and Creative Director, Unlocked Studio, Dr. Parul Thakur, Co-founder and Specialist Dermatologist, Athena Dermatology Clinic, and Dr. Ludmila Vassiliev, Cardiologist, Homeopath, Holistic Healing Medical Center LLC.
From challenging societal pressures to the battle between intuition and logic, they offered some important insights.
“We’re very fortunate to be in the UAE where women are encouraged, and celebrated,” said Akanksha Goel. “However, even though we’re making developments daily, I do feel a big challenge is just remembering who we are. Society has quite deeply embedded norms on what women should not or cannot do, or what it is not appropriate for them to be doing.
“As women entrepreneurs, we need to believe in ourselves and focus on building a viable, successful company rather than looking at societal norms,” she said.
Meanwhile, Dr Parul Thakur said her biggest challenge was balancing the demands of entrepreneurship with her profession’s demands. “There are many female dermatologists, but few of them are owners of their clinics. I had to be more assertive to be able to build a relationship with distributors, contractors, and others with whom we must work.
“I fell there is a little bit of an unconscious bias against female owners... it is important to believe in yourselves regardless...” she said.
Dr Ludmila Vassiliev, explained that the balance of the masculine and feminine energies helps create today’s world, and feminine energy is helping elevate civilisation to the next level.
Meanwhile, Natasha Litvinov added: “Starting a business was a survival strategy.”
Her biggest challenge was finding the right balance between intuitive and logical decisions.
“Over the years... I have discovered that intuitive decisions are the right ones. The ones that you think about for too long and too hard, end up being not the right ones. Learn to depend on intuition.”