Empowering women to rewrite social norms

Medha Mukherjee, a young entrepreneur started feministaa.com, with the aim to provide a platform to women and address their issues. She started the project four years back and hasn't looked back since then. When asked how and why she became an entrepreneur, Medha said, "Entrepreneurial hunger is a desire to change something and create an impact. That craze for changing something will drag you to build anything that drives that change."

"A friend and I opened a lemonade shop in our neighborhood when we were just 12. At that point, we were just filling up a need gap in the market. But concurrently the entrepreneur in me was born. Although I worked in a multinational for short time, I was longing to start something of my own," she added.

Why feministaa.com?

She replied, "I saw women in my family and around not doing enough to realise their full potential. Their minds were stymied by the pressures of a patriarchal society. As a result, they were conditioned to look for different excuses. But when they saw women from their generation doing well, it started creating a positive impact on them."

Medha, who initially started it as a blog, decided to launch a full-fledged website after she was introduced to 'word press'. She began to write about all kinds of women and their lives. "Soon I found that my audience wanted to read about women who were achievers, as it inspired them. So I started communicating with famous and successful women; it could be professionals, authors, actors, requesting them to mentor my readers," mentioned the young entrepreneur.

Talking about the challenges she faced during the journey, Medha replied with an example, "The impact of patriarchal superiority was so strong that when I went to Bangalore to pitch for my first investment, I was asked 'who handles your team'. They couldn't believe that I, a woman could manage a team."

She always felt the need for a media platform for women and hence decided to work on this project. Now, they will be holding their first event in March in Mumbai, in association with 'coworks'– a platform which facilitates startups. Medha is happy that finally there is no stopping, funds have come and the website has started making small money too.

A known name among young entrepreneur, Medha believes that as long as the purpose for what you are working for is sorted, it is easier to work for yourself than for someone else.