Tina

43 | Single | Chartered accountant 

I come from a typical conservative middle-class family. Conservation since a girl/woman’s role is serving the family through household work, be its fathers or after marriage husbands. My parents are quite progressive in their thought process, but society is not. I was constantly verbally abused for being a girl child. I was at times ridiculed for being dark as well. I grew up with a rebellious nature since I did not accept all these so-called societal norms. I knew from an early age that being financially independent is the only way to shut people’s mouths and also help me be independent so I can make my own life choices.

Now I am at a place where I am a Chartered accountant, travelled, worked, and interacted with people from 25 countries. This has helped me grow mentally, emotionally, and spiritually as well. I have learnt that there is a lot of hard work and challenges but if you use your energy in the right direction it can work to your advantage. For example, I wanted to become independent out of fear of not having life similar to what girls from my society have provided me with enough determination to study and achieve something. So, the same childhood traumatic experiences helped me excel.

Currently, I feel I am at a place in my life where I can add value to various challenges by helping them analyze their root cause and supporting them to navigate through them. Trust me, all the qualities you need to overcome a hurdle are within yourself. It’s only a matter of identifying them and managing them and giving them time.