Storyboard18 | To Her, With Love: Starcom's Niti Kumar and Tonic Worldwide co-founder Unmisha Bhatt on the women who inspire them

(from left) Niti Kumar, chief operations officer, Starcom, and Unmisha Bhatt, co-founder and chief strategy officer, Tonic Worldwide.

Mom, Sudha Murthy and millennial women inspire and impress Niti Kumar, chief operations officer, Starcom.

As the eldest of four children, three of whom were girls, being a ‘girl’ was something I was sensitive to from a very young age. While there was no discrimination in those growing up years, it always felt oddly different being a woman with a purpose beyond managing the home and kids. A clichéd choice perhaps, but a lot of who I am today is driven and influenced by the encouragement of my mother. Mostly a homemaker in a conservative Marwari family, she pushed her daughters to be independent, ambitious and at the appropriate time, not give a damn about what others thought!

I’ve met so many inspiring women in the course of my career, however it is Mrs Sudha Murty who stood out. The journey she has undertaken from the founding days of Infosys to the author and philanthropist she is today is just amazing. Not for a minute is she in the shadow of her spouse and her thoughts and ideals are grounded in a deep knowledge of the Indian ethos. For me, she is the perfect balance of what a professionally successful woman should be. For her, it’s not about men versus women, rather it’s a co-existence – as she once said “Men and women are complementary to each other. One need not prove one’s strength."

Lastly (and perhaps a little oddly) I’m extremely impressed with the millennial women in the workforce today. I love the focus that this generation has, the clarity of goals when it comes to a career and life and I really wish I had this when I started out! There is so much more that young women have to deal with today and to see them grow and navigate their way is very inspiring – makes me feel the future is in the safe hands of fantastically capable women!

In her shoes: Unmisha Bhatt, co-founder and chief strategy officer, Tonic Worldwide, shares how she learnt to take the lead

Dina Bhatt, the inspiration and role model of my life, forever! Beautician, stylist, food blogger, poet, writer, creator, designer, artist and many other hats she wore in the late '90s, when I was still graduating.

Technologically ahead of the curve at the age of 50 when the Internet itself was nascent. Receiving cheques from Google AdSense in her name for Google ads that would run on her blogs, when the concept of earning from ads was nascent for many digital content creators, was extremely fascinating for me.

She used to take on freelancing projects of content writing as a hobby, when I wasn't even familiar with the industry. Little did I imagine that I would be running an independent digital agency after 20 years.

Focusing on everyone's well being and accepting any challenge, she was a strong and compassionate woman and the role model of my life. She raised three financially independent daughters who are strong and empowered to take on the world and any challenge it throws at them.

Proud forever and ever to have her as my inspiration. My Mom.