Enterprise Is About Creativity, Courage And Conviction/Confidence: Priya Khanna, Advocate & Legal Consultant
At the Women Economic Forum event in April 2018, there was a session on Creating Personal Definitions of Enterprise and Success, where successful women talked about their definitions of success.
Priya Khanna, Advocate & Legal Consultant, India, said, “I was unsettled most of the time at work. When you actually become someone, you realize that the person you wanted to become. I was buttoned up, serious, and thought I had to please. People will tell you reach for the stars and you can achieve anything you want. I soon realized I have to take personal responsibility for what I can change and to be happy. Serious change needs serious courage. I still continue to provide independent legal services with niche focus on sexual harassment cases. I feel really responsible for creating legal awareness about this epidemic called sexual harassment. We live in a neo-liberal society where we are known by the work we do.”
Khanna also went on to add, “Talking about enterprise, in my personal opinion, enterprise is the 3 Cs, which is creativity, courage and conviction/confidence which you need. When we talk about a successful person, we think about someone who has billions in his account, or has authored books or is leading a nation. But success is the accomplishment of a desired aim or goal. Some people go further and personalize their definition of this word. Success to me is being able to spend my life the way I want it. Great figures from history have helped me get a closer look at my personal definitions of success. I am still enterprising." She also said, “The people I have admired the most have lived their life with their own definition of success. Success can be defined subjectively. It can be the people you impact and so on. My heart resonates with Maya Angelou’s definition of success. Get clear what success is to you, so you know when you reach it. Shooting for the moon is great, but out there in the universe, there are hundreds of moons, so choose which one is yours.”
Ellie Rome Reed, FEAR Strategist, Ellie’s Essentials, LLC, USA, spoke about her definition of success, saying, “Success is often defined by the culture, media, family, and peers. I challenge you to break the mould of what they should do. Success is not defined by the pay-check. You can find success in any position. My mother raised me to become a lawyer, make a big pay-check, marry a person with a stable pay-check, buy a car and have lots of kids. I earned a lot but became sick because I was chasing someone else’s definition of success. So I quit, and I immediately became better. My biggest moment of success was being with my son when he fell and being fully present." Reed also went on to add, “Success is not about the pay-check but people keep saying that it is. Our parents often define something for us, but it won’t make you happy. Finding your own definition of success is what will make you happy. It’s about taking one little step at a time towards your idea of success. You don’t need anybody’s permission to achieve success. Don’t be afraid.”
The session ended with personal anecdotes from the attendees of the room, and their experience and quest towards success, with a positive vibe reverberating throughout the room.
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