Cartier and TED believe in the power of bold ideas to empower local initiatives to have global impact. To celebrate Cartier’s dedication to launching the ideas of female entrepreneurs into concrete change, TED has curated a special session of talks around the theme “Bold Alchemy” for the Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards, featuring a selection of favorite TED speakers.
Leading up to the session, TED talked with women’s health advocate and TED Fellow Zubaida Bai about what inspires her work to improve the health and livelihoods of women worldwide.
TED: Tell us who you are.
Zubaida Bai: I am a women’s health advocate, a mother, a designer and innovator of health and livelihood solutions for underserved women and girls. I’ve traveled to the poorest communities in the world, listened compassionately to women and observed their challenges and indignities. As an entrepreneur and thought leader, I’m putting my passion into a movement that will address market failures, break taboos, and elevate the health of women and girls as a core topic in the world.
TED: What’s a bold move you’ve made in your career?
ZB: The decision I made with my husband and co-founder to make our company a for-profit venture. We wanted to prove that the poor are not poor in mind, and if you offer them a quality product that they need, and can afford, they will buy it. We also wanted to show that our business mode — serving the bottom of the pyramid — was scalable. Being a social sustainable enterprise is tough, especially if you serve women and children. But relying on non-profit donations especially for women’s health comes with a price. And that price is often an endless cycle of fundraising that makes it hard to create jobs and economically lift up the very communities being served. We are proud that every woman in our facilities in Chennai receives healthcare in addition to her salary.
TED: Tell us about a woman who inspires you.
ZB: My mother. She worked very hard under social constraints in India that were not favorable towards women. She was always working side jobs and creating small enterprises to help keep our family going, and I learned a lot from her. She also pushed me and believed in me and always created opportunities for me that she was denied and didn’t have access to.
TED: If you could go back in time, what would you tell your 18-year-old self?
ZB: To believe in your true potential. To follow your dreams without fear, as success is believing in your dreams and having the courage to pursue them — not the end result.
The private TED session at Cartier takes place April 26 in Singapore. It will feature talks from a diverse range of global leaders, entrepreneurs and change-makers, exploring topics ranging from the changing global workforce to maternal health to data literacy, and it will include a performance from the only female double violinist in the world.
from TED Blog https://blog.ted.com/follow-your-dreams-without-fear-4-questions-with-zubaida-bai/
via Sol Danmeri
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