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Women across industries are redefining success beyond traditional norms balancing ambition, reinvention, and purpose on their own terms.
(L-R) Mariyam Khatri, Jasmine Khurana and Priyanka Sugandh on ambition and balance
For women, success has never been a fixed idea. It evolves, shaped by lived experiences, societal expectations, and deeply personal choices. Today, as more women rewrite the rules of work, ambition, and identity, success is no longer just about titles or milestones. It is about ownership, purpose, reinvention, and, increasingly, self-definition.
Across industries from beauty and entrepreneurship to storytelling, women are challenging conventional ideas of success, often in ways that are both deeply personal and quietly transformative.
From survival to self-definition
Priyanka Sugandh, Creative Expert, Enrich Salon, knows what it means to build success from the ground up. Entering what she perceived as a male-dominated industry while raising two children as a single mother, her early goals were rooted in stability.
“When I started working at Enrich, I felt this was a man’s world,” she recalls. “My definition of success back then was to own a house.”
Today, that milestone stands achieved but the meaning behind it has evolved. “Now I am proud to own a home I can truly call mine,” she says. What once symbolised survival now reflects resilience, independence, and self-worth.
For Mariyam Khatri, Founder and Creative Director, Banana Labs, success has shifted from individual achievement to collective growth.
“When I started, success was personal about building something of my own,” she says. “Today, it’s about growing alongside the people who make this work possible.”
For Khatri, that includes artisans, seamstresses, and teams whose livelihoods are tied to the brand. Their progress, she believes, is as important as the brand’s own trajectory redefining success as shared impact rather than individual milestones.
Meanwhile, Jasmine Khurana, poet and storyteller, approaches success through a deeply introspective lens. Rejecting traditional metrics, she frames it as alignment with purpose.
“For me, success has never been about money, name or accolades, it is about giving my all to whatever I pursue,” she says. Whether it was clearing the NET, embracing motherhood, or transitioning into writing and performance, each phase has been guided by what she calls her ikigai, a sense of purpose that evolves with time.
Her biggest measure of success? “Women across the world finding their story in mine.”
The myth of “having it all”
Few ideas burden women as much as the expectation of “having it all.” Yet, each of these voices challenges that notion in different ways.
Sugandh believes women already balance multiple roles often seamlessly, but not without pressure. “A woman is expected to manage work, home, children, and social expectations—and do it all with a smile,” she says. For her, balance exists, but it is deeply individual.
Khatri rejects the idea of balance as a fixed destination. “It’s not something you arrive at,” she explains. “It keeps changing depending on what matters most in that moment.” Instead, she prioritises alignment making choices based on purpose rather than chasing perfection.
Khurana reframes the conversation entirely. In her spoken word work, she highlights how women constantly redefine themselves through career shifts, motherhood, and even sabbaticals.
“Sabbaticals are not pauses in growth,” she argues. “They are often the most powerful phases of reinvention.”
Her words capture this sentiment poignantly: what appears to the world as a full stop is often just a semicolon.
Confidence: Quiet, bold and often misunderstood
Confidence in women continues to be judged through a double lens, admired when subtle, criticised when assertive.
Sugandh has experienced this tension firsthand. “There were many instances where my confidence was seen as too bold,” she says. Her approach was to stay grounded in her decisions and let outcomes speak. Over time, scepticism turned into belief.
Khatri’s experience highlights a different challenge. With a naturally soft demeanour, she often found her authority underestimated. “Softness can be mistaken for passivity,” she notes. “But there’s conviction underneath and when needed, I stand my ground.”
For Khurana, the issue runs deeper into cultural conditioning itself. “Women are nurtured to be emotional anchors, but the moment they claim space, they are labelled difficult,” she says.
Her response has been to turn storytelling into resistance. Through performances like Six Yards Are My Cape, she has created space not just for herself, but for countless women whose stories often go unheard.
Adaptability, reinvention and the courage to begin again
Adaptability is often prescribed as a necessity for women but each of these journeys shows it in a different light.
For Sugandh, it meant stepping into an entirely new identity. “Transitioning from a housewife to a hairstylist was one of the most difficult phases of my life,” she says. Not naturally outgoing, she had to consciously build communication and leadership skills, transforming herself through persistence.
Khurana’s journey is defined by reinvention. From teaching economics to leading a school, taking a decade-long sabbatical, and eventually discovering her voice in writing and performance, each phase required a different kind of resilience and faith.
Her debut in cinema at 52 is perhaps the strongest testament to this belief: that ambition does not come with an expiry date.
Khatri, however, offers a nuanced take. While acknowledging the importance of adaptability, she draws a line when it comes to values. “I’m not adaptable when it means compromising what we stand for,” she says. Her drive, she adds, is fuelled as much by impatience, the need to build and grow as by resilience.
Rethinking ambition and self-belief
Looking back, all three women converge on a powerful truth: ambition does not have to follow a single template.
“Never be afraid to take a bold step, even if no one supports you,” says Sugandh. “You either win or you learn.”
Khurana reflects on the pressure of always being the “good girl”, a mindset she wishes she had broken earlier. “I learned much later to prioritise myself unapologetically,” she admits.
Khatri offers a quieter, grounding perspective, “Ambition doesn’t have to be loud to be powerful. Meaningful work has its own rhythm.”
A new definition of success
Together, these voices signal a larger shift. Success for women today is no longer linear, nor is it universally defined.
It is the courage to rebuild, to pause, to pivot, and to begin again.
It is the ability to create impact beyond oneself.
And above all, it is the freedom to define success on one’s own terms.
Because for women today, success is no longer about “having it all.” It is about choosing what matters and owning it fully.
March 18, 2026, 18:26 IST