Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business?
Simran Kaur: When I started out my professional life, I did not think about the ceiling, the pay gap, or topics such as diversity and inclusion. I came into the workforce believing that the playing field was level.
I became mindful of many of these topics as my career progressed. Like many other women of colour, I experienced being excluded or felt the “imaginary ceiling”, and had my own struggles when I became a working mother.
These experiences made me realize that my journey had hurdles that as a young ambitious girl, I had never imagined I would encounter. Over time I realized I needed to find the right networks and build a support system around myself to overcome these challenges, get stronger and keep on rising.
I started looking for a network of women leaders like myself, especially women of colour so that we could support each other, talk about such experiences and be stronger together. Strangely enough, when I searched, I couldn’t find such a space and ended up founding it.
Great Companies: What are the various services provided by Power Women?
Simran Kaur: Power Women is a Fellowship Holding impact startup that supports working women to navigate through challenges in their careers and makes it easier for them to reach their full potential.
Our pioneering virtual model supports working women across phases, from pregnancy and motherhood to career transitions and accelerations to giving back, delivering better growth and well-being outcomes, and transforming lives.
We provide a supportive and safe space to address unique work-life challenges. We look at careers holistically and help women prioritize their health, their well-being, and all that affects their personal and professional growth.
We have had important conversations with global experts from purpose and leadership to investing and getting board positions and even dealing with anxiety and elderly care. This helps women leaders accelerate growth, build cognitive flexibility and intellectual curiosity, rethink, discover their blind spots, and become truly effective leaders.
Great Companies: What makes Power Women different from hundreds of other similar service providers?
Simran Kaur: Women leaders are over-mentored, over-trained, and under-sponsored. At Power Women, we believe that women don't need fixing, instead, we provide them with the required support to help them thrive.
Our pioneering virtual model supports working women across phases, from pregnancy and motherhood to career transitions and accelerations to giving back, delivering better growth and well-being outcomes, and transforming lives.
Our vision and mission are aligned with UN SDGs of gender equality, improved well-being, and reduced Inequality. We are a Global 2% Founder Institute Select Portfolio Company. We have worked with women leaders from UN, Novartis, HSBC, IQVIA, Target, TCS, Deloitte, Citibank, etc. and alumni from Stanford, Imperial College, London Business School, INSEAD based in the US, UK, Middle East, and APAC.
To accelerate our impact in balancing the world for the better, we have collaborated with various organizations over the years, ranging from large corporations to not-for-profits. It is with the help of these organizations and the unwavering support of our members that we have touched more than a quarter million lives.
Great Companies: What were the struggles and challenges you faced and how did you overcome them?
Simran Kaur I have built Power Women from the ground up by working very hands-on from day one, whether it’s building our website, running social media campaigns, or launching and hosting a podcast.
I feel my technical and marketing skills and my own professional networks have helped in building and growing the collective, positioning our brand, attracting the right members, and developing meaningful partnerships.
There are so many challenges when you start a company. Hiring and retaining talent, shoestring budgets, getting the right product-market fit…However, I feel the biggest challenge for female founders remains raising investment.
Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for Power Women?
Simran Kaur We have been growing organically with members within the community recommending other leaders who they feel share the same values. Over the years, we see the community growing with more stellar women leaders joining us to bring about a change.
We want to not only bring these women leaders into the C-Suites and Boardrooms and make them have multi-billion dollar exits but we also want to inspire the next generation of women.
Our vision is to further build a B2B SaaS solution that focuses on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in organizations. We want to help build balanced workplaces by providing DEI advisory, recruitment and certifications. We know that gender parity is distant. But we CANNOT wait.
I believe if we can go to Mars, we can build a gender-balanced world.
Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?
Simran Kaur: I grew up thinking I was a superhero and then somewhere along the way, I lost this belief. I am happy I believe in myself again!
My advice to young women is never ever stop believing in yourself. Every girl, every woman should believe she is a superhero!
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