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The GT Story Project is a collection of interviews from women & girls everywhere about their life experiences, challenges, and achievements. It celebrates women and captures global perspectives on what it means to be a woman in our modern world.
There are five regular series in the collection (Life As A Woman, W.Founder, Celebrating Our Mothers, #LivingForChange, and Seasoned Excellence) and one special edition (COVID-19: Women).
life As A Woman
LIFE AS A WOMAN SERIES
Narrowing it down to my culture, back in my hometown of Jilig in the North East of Ghana, women are predominantly groomed to take the back seat. It is unfortunate however it is the sad truth! Women do play an important role during marriage ceremonies. These roles are; however, played in the secret of a room behind closed doors. Women in my culture are expected basically to grow up, marry, and bear children. Education and economic value are secondary, though many families seem to be pushing for that in recent times.
We have been raised to expect wonders from our mothers and so little of our fathers. We demand food, shelter and warmth without considering that mothers also are in need of those. And yet there's a prevalent culture of judgment from women to other women who choose not to follow the norm. It’s almost as if we all know that the norm is killing us and yet to not be part of it would mean exile from your community.
I challenge society’s standards and I'm not afraid to take risks. Apart from being an aspiring freelance model, I also fix cars with my friends. I see myself as a Victorian - I don't let anyone or anything limit me and I go for what I want. I was bullied a lot and still I am being made to think I'm not worth anything. People have rejected me because I don't have clear skin, because I don't have the perfect body, etc., I've been raped and left for dead but through strength and prayer, I survived and lived through the experience. Many said I asked for it and some say they were trying to take the 'tomboy' out of me. My story still continues as I live to fight another day.
There are many things I am passionate about. I personally feel passion changes with time, with your age. Currently, I am passionate about a career in the Tech field - that’s the reason I am pursuing my career as a Computer Engineer. To talk about my childhood, I was more passionate about dancing, writing, and honestly I do it in my free time. Tomorrow, if you ask me, I would be saying I am passionate about travelling the world, counselling people, giving motivational talks at a big stage and many more. So, I think it’s a changing process. At the end ,"change" always remains constant right?
Literature and young people are what I'm most passionate about. I am a published author of short stories. I also had a radio show called The Book Factory which showcased Zambian authors, their works and writing tips. I also offer consultancy to upcoming writers. My passion for young people has led me to work with a number of organizations, aiding them to create content for young people, teach classes and even speak. I continue to do this.
I think in Ghana the most significant barrier is… the leaders. Most of the leaders in Ghana are men and they don’t think a woman is capable of handling big responsibilities. As an interdisciplinary designer, I can’t count the number of times I’ve been questioned as to whether the work I put out is work I actually designed myself. Being a female designer alone is very shocking to a lot of people.
Motorsport is my passion. Ever since I was a kid I have been into cars and racing. I am related to Sri Lanka’s oldest veteran racing driver, the Late Mr. Ananda De Alwis. I loved to tag along with dad for the races even as a kid. My racing career began with Karting, and I’ve taken part in several national races and endurances. I have also been a part of the First Ladies Team to run a 6hr Karting endurance race in Sri Lanka. My next exciting advancement in my racing career is to compete in international soil in extreme off roading (4x4) challenges.
The most significant barrier to women empowerment, I believe, is that we act or believe that we live in a modern society but actually we still lay on the foundations of old societal norms. The biggest barrier is the hypocrisy and I firmly believe that change must be from within.
I am currently living in Colombia and continue to find that I have so much more to learn from my roots. The beauty is finally being able to immerse myself in this culture; understanding why my parents had worked so hard and always pushed me to be my best. Because in Colombia jobs are limited, there are evident social clashes and constant reminders of a male-dominated culture. I continue to create and sell products and I am constantly educating myself on new subjects that assist me in evolving my career.
I hold a BTech degree in Biotechnology and landed myself a very prestigious job in the field of Molecular Oncology; however, I changed my field to the business side of Healthcare, where I was into international business. I changed again to the Construction field, and finally, I joined my husband’s business post marriage… It may sound like I am a restless and dissatisfied or confused person from my various assignments, but I feel that not accepting the same routine makes me run for more.
Being the last born of my family and growing up to have all that I wanted has not [prevented me] from striving for greatness. I have always been very smart, even as a child, taking top positions in the class and being every teacher’s favourite. I graduated from university with good grades and I have always loved to practice my profession. I wrote my professional accounting (ICAN) examinations and I was awarded the Best Female Qualifying Candidate and the Second-Best Qualifying Candidate. That was a great achievement for me and I felt very proud of myself.
When I started karting, let's just say I wasn't very good. Being the only girl racing with the boys wasn't easy at the start. There were entire years of karting where I didn't even make it onto the podium and most of the time I finished last. But many races and an uncountable amount of laps later, I won my first race! And it was pure happiness, to feel that a girl can be good as boys.
Women and girls in my society are dominated by men in all aspects of life. You can be a woman of any age who is capable of taking care of herself and be providing money for living, you still have to get permission from your father to get out of the house to work and he will tell you to came back at a certain time, and if you don't, you will get punished physically. Or if you are married, you still have to get permission to go to work or to go out with your friends. So basically, men make rules and women and girls follow them.
I'm a normal college going girl who lives in India. Nothing special in me. That's why the world should know how it looks from a normal teenager's point of view. I'm living away from home. Struggling with gender disparity and safety issues every single day. I'm studying in the country's most renowned college but the condition of girls there - gender inequality still prevails. And I have faced it too. I want to tell the world. I'm not a celebrity, who raises their voices here only for money. I want to represent all those simple girls out there, who are unique, but they can't speak for themselves. The state I belong to is known for child marriages and female foeticide. The state where I'm doing my college is considered a good literacy state. But the condition of women, it's all the same. I want to show it to the world.
Women are only supposed to be mothers for most of the population, especially for elderly people. Women are supposed to neither work nor have a social life. Women cannot go outside at late hours. Women cannot be leaders and they cannot be the best (at their work for example). Women are definitely not equal to men and they should be thankful, grateful to their man. Also, women must find a man and marry as soon as possible. One last thing, women cannot have an active sex life before marriage, even a boyfriend. Women must be pure and they have to wear conservative clothes. But [all] these rules are not strictly valid anymore. Only elderly people take these seriously. Young people (mostly Gen Z) hate these barriers and they fight these barriers so strictly.
Where I come from, women are brought up as homemakers. We're taught to cook, clean, and obey our husbands and accept their excesses. Nowadays though a lot has changed. Women from my part of the world are learning to stand up, to speak up for themselves and what is right (I guess we have feminism to thank for that). It's getting better and I know this is just the beginning.
W.FOUNDER
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The mission and goal is to help people who have the same problem as me. I struggled with skin for so long. Now that I’ve figured out what works I decided to share with people and there’s quite good reviews. It brings joy to my heart to see my products work for people because I know how it feels to have skin problems.
I wanted to do things that others considered difficult, and to take advantage of opportunities that others passed up as difficult. In companies I’ve worked for, I always quickly reached a glass ceiling and I knew that my curiosity and my inner geek would always be in search of nurturing me with more knowledge and experience. When you focus first on the purpose and then on monetizing it, the equation changes. When a problem represents a challenge and your actions reflect a solution, resilience increases. When each step leaves a green mark on the world and a smile on people, the perspective is different.
I was a professional dancer for 10 great years and that’s what I always wanted to pursue. Dance is not just an art for me - it’s my passion. While taking care of the website and marketing requirements for my dance company, I got this job opportunity at Hogarth (a WPP company) as a Software Engineer which I never wanted to take. However, I never said no to any opportunity, and like many others, my family wanted me to have a stable career. So I attended the interview, got selected, and that’s where my journey in this industry began. Leaving dance was a very big deal for me so I made a promise to myself that I would do the job for 6 months and if it did not feel fine to me, I would return to dance; and if I chose this [industry], then I was not going to do a 9-5 the whole of my life. I would learn and then start my own agency. Well, interestingly enough, after 6 months I was in love with this!
When I was a kid when my mother would relax my hair; I would cry from the relaxer burning my scalp and she would say “pretty hurts my child” and continue. I got used to healing the scalp burns after every relaxer treatment. Four years ago, I decided to cut my relaxed hair to grow my afro and that’s when I realized that I did not know anything about my natural hair - from products to use to maintaining it. I then started my natural hair journey through trial and error and lot of research. I got good feedback about my hair, people started asking what I did and what products I used. Initially, I only wanted an organic skincare manufacturing business but after my natural hair journey, I decided to start with haircare.
During lockdown, a ton of my friends would reach out to ask for baking recipes, wanting to get more familiar in the kitchen but they didn't know where to start. From there, I wondered how many people may like to have all the ingredients for a recipe pre-measured for them, ready to bake. Then I started at-home testing, using my friends as a focus group, trying different packaging, and finally, in March 2021, Crumb & Co. was born.
After working for 10 good years in the corporate world, I felt something was missing in my life. I could not find a purpose in life which makes a real change in the lives of people. When I was visiting my native area during one of the festivals, I visited this weaver’s belt near my home - that is when I decided to work for the handloom weavers, to spread and create awareness, to build a sustainable model, and to uplift them.
My search for where I belonged drove me to dig deeper, and my love and passion for seeing people win and thrive was my inspiration. For me, there’s nothing greater than seeing someone happy and at peace in a space where they feel like they belong, where they feel at home. My soul statement is to make a difference in at least one life everyday.
We started Triciclo as a social media agency - that was the real goal, but fortunately, we pivoted right on time when we saw that the social media market was completely saturated and yet saw a huge opportunity in the e-commerce field. Mexico was lightyears away from the US e-commerce scene at the time. I feel like I started at 25 because I had nothing to lose at the time, and that is when I met my business partners (which made sense).
When I started off, I had no investors and no funding. So I decided to start the company on a low budget. Whatever I had earned through freelancing, that acted like funding for my startup. Post registrations and procedural work, marketing was a problem as I had to pay various platforms to advertise my business. Hence, I learnt how to market my own company through social media and decided to cut down as many expenses as I can. That helped me to survive in the initial days. I didn’t opt for having a company website since I was working on major cost-cutting. But luckily mouth publicity and self-marketing helped me to get through corporates and get clients.
It was a dream at first: to raise awareness about sex education for children and parents. After numerous attempts of failing to hold down a job and create a difference in children’s education, I still can’t believe it! It was not a perfect launch. Instead, it was a rocky road. But despite everything, we managed to sell 2701pcs children’s books specializing in sex education on our first and second launch.
My chess life inspired me. Through 22 beautiful years and my childhood in chess, I've learned a lot about this specific wonderful world, but I also saw what lacks. As chess gave me everything, I decided to give my best to empower chess by transferring the traditional into the digital world so these beautiful people can connect worldwide. The 21st century is the best timing to start a tech company, also the well-known TY show - Queens Gambit - seemed like a momentum to start.
I wanted to start Lulibo Market almost 5 years ago. I had this idea to start a platform where I would share my transition from buying from big businesses to almost exclusively supporting small, local, black-owned brands. My goal was to amplify the work of black creatives, innovators, and entrepreneurs and to inspire more people to do the same. I then realized that so many people were going through this collective consciousness with regards to more purpose-driven consumerism. However, even though finding sustainable, ethical and eco-conscious brands was becoming easier, it was still difficult to find BIPOC-owned brands. So I moved from wanting to show people how I journeyed into shopping black to wanting more people to do the same. And with any movement, it is always easier to get people to join in if you make it as easy as possible. There came Lulibo Market, a one-stop-shop where you could find anything from dishwashing liquid to earrings to candles to skincare all BIPOC-owned.
Growing up from being a child actress, I thought acting would be my mainstream career but eventually, I stepped into dancing as a choreographer, after which I started my catering company. These were my passions and my skills but I could not visualize them being my career or I being able to make it big there. Hence, after I decided to try to make a saree on my parents’ anniversary; and getting confidence in the process - and also seeing my love for fashion, I decided to pursue it as my career. Today, when I am mentoring at Fashion colleges, the students make me realize that it was the right decision, and I can inspire more and more enthusiasts.
I created Aneta because I, and every working parent I knew, was desperate for a solution to help make sure that kids were having a safe and productive time on the internet without us having to be omnipresent. During the COVID quarantines, what before was a nuisance became a huge source of stress and had an impact on my income, as I was forced to take three months off my client service work.
As a young adult, I took a keen interest in reviewing different educational policies and observed a drift in their objectives, which made me feel uncomfortable. An insight into the nitty-gritty of the Indian education system inspired me to establish a platform, which provides an effective educational experience, fulfilling all the needs and interests of a child. Thus, Eduvest Connect was conceptualized.
After losing my mother, I wanted to do or start something that’ would keep her memory alive, and to thank her for being the mother she was to me; hence, I started the skin care brand named after her. Also, as a self taught makeup artist, and someone who was bullied during my teen years because of a birthmark I have on my face, I wanted to help my makeup clients who also experience skin issues which they want to hide with makeup. I want to help other women get their confidence back, by helping them take care of their skin.
I come from a family of bankers. Somehow a 9-to-5 job never excited me as a kid. After completing my design degree, I had decided to gather five years of work experience and then start my own company. After five years of working in India, I moved to the USA. Then it was important to gather work experience in a foreign land again to understand the work culture & the cultural nuances which could influence my work as a designer. During the pandemic, I lost my job. That's when I decided to pursue my long-awaited dream of running my own design studio. In a way, the pandemic pushed me to pursue my long-cherished dream and turned into a blessing in disguise.
The Kithul industry has been left to go astray for centuries, leaving it with many challenges (primarily, supply chain disconnect and refined sugar addition). Knowing this, I saw it as a space where there was a chance to do something truly innovative, impactful and meaningful – re-envisioning possibilities not just for the product but for the globally unique farming community that has preserved it.
My inspiration came from Dr. Esther Mahlangu when she painted that BMW, and the particular thing that pushed me to start was unemployment, and to combine the two, I figured, since we are no longer sitting around a fire for the elders to pass on the richness of our culture, why not do it in a modern, fashionable way?
I started HopeQure with the vision of overcoming the global stigma associated with seeking mental health treatment. I believe that the ongoing research on the "Application of Technology in Mental Health Counselling" at HopeQure will act as a catalyst to facilitate ground-breaking changes in the field of diagnostics, patient care, and assessments, which will lead to higher standards and result-oriented mental health counselling.
Celebrating Our Mothers
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She is not only my mother but also my heroine, my best friend and a sister like l have never had. In times of sorrow, she wipes my tears, in times of sickness she becomes my doctor, in times of giving up she becomes my motivator, and in times of hardships she becomes my baggage carrier.
The thing that I cannot forget was my mom's technique to manage my anger when I was little, around 5 years old. She would give me colour pencils and empty pages, and just install me in a calm corner, without even talking or discussing anything, and she could wait there doing her home tasks and all, for hours, till I went back to her and show her what I drew. That was something that many people cannot establish with a small one, and that’s what we call patience.
She became my first client on my freelance journey. I was changing careers and industries amidst the pandemic. She helped me believe in my art of writing and marketing and helped me to find my first gig with her company's social media. Following that, I have been able to work on many more clients nationally and internationally and have also been featured in many international magazines. Her help was the stepping stone for my journey in the world of Creative Marketing.
My best memory of my mother is one we recently made - we went on holiday together, just the two of us. We did it all - breakfast in bed, shopping, late-night chats, you name it. This was a first of its kind and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. Being far away from home due to work and school has been hard for me, so now I look forward to this little tradition of ours, spending mother and daughter time.
I will never forget when I was very sick at a young age and my mama had to stay with me in the hospital all along. It reached a stage where she even cried and at that time I couldn't help her but what she did was to cover me up despite the coldness - that is something sentimental and will always remain with me.
I belong to a family that is quite literally made by my grandmother. She has been my role model and inspiration. She has shown me how a woman in her 20s with four children loses her husband untimely and still manages to create and sustain a little universe of her own. Had it not been her sacrifices and tireless efforts, I would not be here in the universe.
Growing up, my mom was always around - until she began to provide for my whole family by herself. She used to make nice birthday celebrations with marathons for all the kids to play, with perfect decorations and baking. When she started to work more, we were mostly okay with it. I used to sink in my writing and in books, other worlds always felt better than my own. But my mother was always there, and she still is. Maybe I didn't grow up to be the perfect daughter she definitely deserved, but I try my best every day to make her happy because I know how much she did for me and still does. I love our whole story.
I seriously tell her everything, and when I say everything, I really mean everything. All the hot gossip of who's dating who from elementary school up until college. My friends are also probably closer to her than I am LOL! My parents are very open up to the point that my friends would be helping her cook or clean when I come home. I think when 'respect' doesn't equal fear, but a simple silver lining where we have mutual respect for each other - not always the young respecting the elders only like in most Asian homes, the relationship with your mother becomes the best sisterhood you'll ever have.
My mother? She is my bestest friend, my half-sister. I guess I share with her my feelings, my thoughts, which is the reason I am neither alone nor depressed. I think every parent especially mothers should develop a friendly environment with their children so that their child can easily speak out to them, be friendly, and most importantly, find love at home and be never in trouble.
#LivingForChange
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Growing up, I always had trouble finding my own clothes. They say “free size” but it ends with size 42/44 (EU)! The “plus-size” section always had the most boring clothes! I thought to myself “how many people face the same thing?” and I had to do something about it. Hence, my initiative - BOLD!
The stigma associated with congenital birth defects has long been present in this region and more specifically, here in Kenya. The result has been a flawed negative perception, and in some instances, sub-par humanization of the affected children. In our deliberations on how to address this status quo, The Bold One Out movement began.
The two years of teaching were the best years of my life. It made me learn so much about the stark realities of our society. I got sensitized to the stigma that existed against women. While the boys were sent to a private school, the girl was sent to a government school. Every day, I used to walk the girls back home after school. Every day, I met a person inside the house - the mother. I asked every mother one question - what dreams do you have for your girl child? Every mother had very blurry visions. They felt they could never fulfill their dreams growing up and had no voice, choice or power to dream for their girls. She felt financially dependent on the husband and saw her role limited to household chores. The society had made her believe that it is wrong for her to step out for herself to become independent. This triggered me to begin my journey with Khwaab.
I grew up in the streets of Soweto raised by a single parent (my mother). Growing up was never easy, but I was always determined to make my parents proud and to become someone that would someday inspire the kids in my community. I have always been a big dreamer and a visionary. I’ve always believed I was destined for greatness. I did not have it all as a child - it was a struggle as my mom was unemployed and we had zero income in our household. I used to wear torn school shoes, and when I started getting my period, my mom could not afford to buy me sanitary pads so I used clothes as a substitute so I could go to school and not miss my classes. That made me have low self-confidence as I could not play with my friends and enjoy school on those days, but not even that [experience] could get me to lose my focus, instead it propelled me to dream bigger. I made a vow to myself that I will help as many girls who are underprivileged, so they do not have to experience what I went through as a young girl.
Two years back, I founded my own social entrepreneurial venture known as the Play and Shine Foundation and set out to promote sports at a grassroots level. The education curriculum designed for underprivileged children as a part of the basic education program lacks a holistic approach, with a lack of emphasis on aspects such as skill development and engaging in sports. This motivated me to start the initiative, by which I can impart value sport education to children and encourage them to take up sports. Sports has the power to look beyond boundaries and discrimination, and to unite people to drive a positive social change in their local community.
I inspire and empower the voiceless and hopeless by sharing my mental health journey through storytelling, sparking conversations and raising awareness. I encourage those who have a voice to use it. I encourage you to use it for those who no longer have one, and for those still searching for theirs. I encourage you to no longer be ashamed of what you have been through; but be proud that you made it on the other side of victory! Be proud that the things that tried to kill you, you slayed them! Hold your head up high and shine on! Stand tall and raise your voice.
Growing up, I always wondered about the purpose of my existence, and how I could have a positive impact on the world. Seven years ago, I witnessed a neighbour brutally beating a helpless stray dog in broad daylight. Nobody else came forward to protect the animal. I became deeply affected by their apathy and the level of human cruelty. I wanted to help, so I did everything I could to rescue animals in my community. My experiences with overburdened, underfunded shelters made it clear that we need to fight for quality, accessible care for all beings, and inspired me to start #LivingForChange.
I am passionate about working with young people and women who strive to be better people through learning and sharing with others. I believe young people are today’s agents of change; hence, I have decided to take up any opportunity to create the change I want to see in my community, country, and Africa at-large.
We all need to be aware and have an understanding of our mental health & emotional well-being just like we are informed about the physical aspects of our lives. It is important to upgrade our emotional vocabulary to express ourselves better. I am seeking to streamline safe spaces, to infuse them with more understanding and open minds, with no room for judgment rather just love, support and inspiration for each other.
I’m a young Muslim woman with four law qualifications. I stopped practicing law because I was disenchanted with the system and how it robs people of financial investments, justice, and time. I had aspired to be a judge, however, my decision to live for change came when I realized that despite my law qualifications and practice, I still wasn’t making a major impact. In fact, I faced an ethical dilemma which I had to defend or lose my job. I didn’t want to be on the wrong side of justice. I wanted to help people and so I made the decision to quit law practice and actively pursue civic engagement in the non-profit sector.
I have been playing football and basketball in my school and club teams since childhood. During my training sessions, I noticed how some sports coaches had been promoting the notion that girls can’t play sports. I was very offended when the coaches used phrases like ‘you are a girl’, ‘you are playing like a girl,’ and those kinds of statements. I thought I need to demolish these differences between men and women.
I am fighting for Girl Child Education in Africa; that education be prioritized, with an emphasis on girls who are least likely to have access to learning and formal education due to poverty, geographical location, or long-held traditions that don't support learning for these girls. I am a first generation university graduate and my life is a testimonial that education is the key to unlocking a girl’s power; to equip her to actualize her dreams and aspirations as she contributes to societal development.
One of my major achievements was helping women and girls from a community get rid of their self-made barriers. I can happily and proudly say that I gave exposure to around 800 girls from the community who were stuck in those barriers. I made them - and their parents, realize that football can be played in any kind of clothing, even while wearing a hijab - all you need is your foot to play. Those girls are now into football! The schools in that locality have started their own girls’ football teams and they participate in various tournaments.
I got this idea one day when I was being driven to school. It was like any other day but it was rainy, kids were clutching their books and running to school and the reality of poverty and affluence living side-by-side hit me. If my books got wet, I would just get others, but these children didn't have that privilege. I wanted a way to give them some of the resources that I had readily available, so I started out just trying to give as much extra stationery and books as I had available.
After the blast of 4 August 2020, I founded an initiative called “Medonations“ and that’s where I started officially making change. We replaced the government by doing its role on the field. We went on the ground to help our people, afforded their medications, helped financially with the treatments, helped with the renovation process of the homes... and we are all a team of six ambitious dreamer girls, and I am the founder of this initiative. We were able, in two months of non-stop work, to change the lives of 350 families in Beirut that were affected by the explosion...
I come from Cameroon, where we have very talented children and it is unfortunate that most of our children suffer from low self esteem issues which affects their personal development and leads to failure to thrive syndrome, poor social skills, problems in school and being afraid to try new things. Being successful professionally at my young age, the only way to give back to my community was to use my creativity to add value to young boys and girls, to develop their self esteem and talent through creativity. My daughter’s self esteem issues was also a great motivating factor to [start doing something] through the Elevate Esteem program.
COVID-19: Women
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Nigeria went under lockdown in April and what was supposed to be a 2-week lockdown became months with little-to-no economic activity. In a country, in which most of the economy is powered by the activities of micro, small, medium enterprises (MSME), it was emotional to watch stores and other businesses shut down and also lay off employees.
This time has been very tough. I have to stay at home for my safety. I was supposed to do my research (collecting data) and I cannot do it as it mostly requires meeting with people. I also had a lot of business meetings and events to do but I cannot proceed due to this virus. Lastly, I wanted to travel to see my family and I am stuck here due to this.
I'm a student, currently doing my thesis, and it's really difficult to finish our data analysis without meeting with my group mates face-to-face, especially, when they're so busy with their families and are checkpoints away now. We're lucky to have finished our data gathering but the other groups aren't done yet!
At work, we are mostly working from home, other than once a week meetings, so we are not so affected. My sisters; however, have no school for a month, and are mostly at home.
I have had a kidney transplant and that means low immunity. I don't know who has followed the hygiene care or who has travelled to the affected place. Basically, I am under house arrest.
SEASONED EXCELLENCE
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When I started out, I found that it was a challenge to be taken seriously. I overcame this hurdle very early in my career by committing myself to diligent work. The schedule I described, though it has been modified over the years depending on my responsibilities, has more or less remained the same in terms of the hours I spend committing myself to my work.