THE WATER ORACLE Despite being trained in fashion styling, make-up and photography, Jayanti Chauhan, the only child of Bisleri owner Ramesh Chauhan, decided to follow her father’s footsteps. When she took over as the director of the brand, she faced a humungous task of proving herself to the world as the rightful heir of 1,000 crore iconic bottled water brand. She did not disappoint! She took calculative steps that would not only add to the face value of the brand but also preserve its stature. She started with infusing much-needed energy into the team, ensuring that the brand does not lose
GRACEFUL SUPERSTAR When the gracious and elegant Peng Liyuan tied a knot with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in 1987, she almost immediately became a focal point for being the stylish first lady of China. She is a superstar folk singer, and is often joked about as being more famous than her husband. She is often being mentioned as China’s centre of soft power for her graceful etiquettes. Having carried herself in panache at various charitable events, her preference for domestic designer brands is a source of encouragement for China’s apparel industry. After graduating, she was head-hunted by o
THE MAKEOVER QUEEN Flamboyant and a fashionista, Nisha Jagtiani is busy changing the fashion scene in Dubai. She is the Business Head of Landmark Group’s fashion and lifestyle brand, ICONIC. Landmark Group is a multinational conglomerate based in Dubai that focuses on the MENA region. It also has a large presence in India. Headquartered in Dubai, ICONIC is Middle East’s major fashion retailer. The lady has her priorities right, and is working hard to strengthen her brand’s position and reach. She is always thorough with her research, and keeps a close track of customers’ changing pref
THE IRON WOMAN Politics in Bangladesh is not easy with intermittent military coups and rules since Bangladesh’s independence in 1971. Being a woman in such a scenario doesn’t make things easier. Sheikh Hasina Wazed took up the position of Prime Minister of Bangladesh for the third term in 2014, and has more than four decades’ experience in the field of politics. She is the eldest child of the founding father and the first President of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Hasina was born during the violence of partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, and grew up amidst fear owing to her fat
THE HERMIT POLITICIAN Politics and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra have a thing going on and it’s magical! Each time she enters the limelight, an average Indian can’t help but wonder: will she [join politics] or won’t she? And the way she has handled the Congress party campaigns in the past, there is no doubt that she shows an immense capacity for the power game. Though she has been denying the speculations about her joining politics, people do not seem to be convinced. And why will they be? After all, she is a Nehru–Gandhi scion and a member of India’s first family. The lady’s lineage speak
THE BRICK AND MORTAR GENIUS Fondly called as “the woman who built Beijing”, Zhang Xin’s two decades in the real estate business has brought her huge respect and fortune. The CEO and Co-founder of SOHO China, the largest commercial real estate developer in Beijing has long been hailed as one of the highly regarded self-made billionaires. Picking up from a poor childhood and living in the outskirts of Beijing to forming the face of the city, she has definitely come a long way. Zhang Xin formed SOHO China with her husband, and she took that company from the grassroots level to huge project
THE GAMING LORDESS The deftness with which Pansy Ho handles responsibilities and various projects is admirable. She is the co-chair of MGM China and Managing Director of property-and-transport outfit Shun Tak. Ho has successfully got herself included in the list of Hong Kong’s richest women when the casino outfit went public in Hong Kong a few years ago. MGM’s property, the MGM Macau casino, is a five-star integrated casino and luxury hotel resort located on prime waterfront property. The daughter of Macau casino magnate, Stanley Ho, she succeeded in becoming the Chairman of Jetstar too a
THE ARDENT DREAMER Solina Chau knows how to dream big and manifest it. She has left a success trail for every woman to follow. This Cofounder of Horizon Ventures aspired for stars even as a child. Born in 1961, Chau attended Diocesan Girls’ school where she had an impressive record as a student. Later, she went to study in Sydney and moved to London in search of work. It was here that in 1980s her dream to be a business woman was realised when she struck up a friendship with Debbie Chang, a cousin of the former Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, becoming her flatmate and a business par
TENNIS TRAILBLAZER Last autumn, in September 2014, she stunned the world with her unexpected retirement at the age of 32 from the world of Tennis. The two-time grand slam winner was the first-ever Chinese player to be ranked amongst the top 30 players in the world. Bringing laurels to the country, Li has become a household name as she introduced tennis to the masses in China. Her father died when she was 14, but her mother supported her, and in 1999 at the age of 16 she became a professional tennis player. As she won tournaments one after the other, she became the most successful and popular
A LEADING LIGHT A leading light of the venture business, Jenny Lee and her company GGV Capital are going from strength to strength. A self-professed investor, Jenny figures out the best technology-based companies, and joins hands with them to create a new user base in the market. Jenny Lee is the Managing Partner at GGV Capital, a company that aims at dealing with realistic businesses such as Xiaomi and YY. She strongly believes that one negative aspect of the venture capital business is its male dominance, and feels conceited to be a leading woman in a man’s world. Not only is she capable