Two-time Laadli award winner, BeliEVE is back with Season 3 with host Elsa Marie D’silva as she profiles trailblazing Indian women who are first-movers and agents of change in their chosen fields. From pioneering businesswomen, to climate change warriors, political activists, to alternative arts educators, and scientists, this season features unique stories on how these women have gone about challenging the status quo and setting new benchmarks for society as a whole. Tune into new podcast episodes only on aawaz.com.

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Cheryl's ‘cosmeceutical’ company became India’s first ever home grown brand to be acquired by global giant L'oreal. Cheryl’s was created and co-founded in 1986 by Cheryl Pereira. The brand’s entrepreneurial journey started from a 500 sq ft factory, and Cheryl with her passion and dedication led it to being a successful, globally respected brand. While her father wanted a son and was disappointed at her birth, Cheryl used every such obstacle to fuel her further along an uncharted path to quit her job, take out loans and set up her cosmetics business, formulating products from scratch with formulations created especially to suit Indian skin. Join host Elsa Marie in this thrilling story of one of India’s first self-made entrepreneurs and the trailblazing journey of Cheryl Periera.

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Like many others Swara Patel struggled silently with the pressures of academic performance during her childhood, with an undiagnosed learning disability. Unexpectedly she found joy of expression, confidence and grounding through dance and movement. Only after motherhood did she begin her journey as a Dance Educator and Entrepreneur pioneering the use of kinesthetics in teaching. Tune into her inspiring story and hear about how her flagship academy supports children by providing them with an active learning environment and integrates dance and mindful movement into the classroom. In 12 years, her academy has touched more than 12000 students, across 5 centres and 45 schools. and Swara Patel hopes to inspire other mothers like her to follow their dreams and be the change they want to see. Tune into her story on this episode of BeliEVE, exclusively on aawaz.com.

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Tara Krishnaswamy grew up in a feminist household with a strong sense of fairness and belief in the need for financial independence for women. She recognized the many privileges of her upbringing and pursued a fulfilling career in technology, while running campaigns around civic activism and co-founding Citizens for Bangalore. Five years ago, she decided to change the status quo by quitting her corporate career to found Political Shakti, a non-partisan group to improve the representation of women in politics. Political Shakti was created with the goal of getting more women into state assemblies and the parliament, because representation matters. In this wide ranging conversation with Elsa Marie, Tara speaks about her formative experiences, breaking with social convention, and the importance of creating a more inclusive political environment to inspire ground-up change. Tune into this episode exclusively on aawaz.com

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Prathima Manohar is an entrepreneur with a focus on sustainable living and eco-tourism. Prathima chairs the think-do-tank on Liveable Cities, The Urban Vision. As an urbanist, she has worked on projects and researched on issues such as urban innovation, liveability, placemaking, affordable housing, participatory planning and green cities. Prathima holds a bachelor’s degree in Architecture. She was awarded Stanford University’s Fellowship at Centre of Democracy Development & Rule of Law and has been a Harvard Kennedy School Ash Center Fellow. Listen to the episode where Prathima shares her entrepreneurial journey with Elsa only on aawaz.com.

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Chaitaly Mehta is the Director of EKF Global Logistics Pet. Ltd and the first woman in the family business in this sector in India. Her ability as a natural problem solver and keen observer, allowed her to quickly learn the tricks of the trade and carve out a niche for herself in this dynamic sector. In this episode, Chaitaly speaks to Elsa about the importance of remembering one's roots and staying true to one's journey despite public opinion.

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Her ability to dally deliciously and dangerously with unconventional ways of telling stories, coupled with her infectious infatuation with the paranormal has made Kiran Manral one of India’s most well known authors. After having published her first book, The Reluctant Detective, in 2011, she’s continued to author a total of 15 books across genres since. Tune into this episode as Elsa uncovers Kiran’s journey, what makes it to the books and what has fueled her perpetual 'inspiration-engine' over the years.

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In this episode, Elsa speaks to Rukmini Iyer, Director at Exult! Solutions about her work at the intersection of business, leadership, peacebuilding and systems design. Tune in to hear Rukmini speak about her work across the globe spanning 21 years with corporate organizations, development sector, communities and individuals through the modalities of consulting and dialogue about the singularity of the world and the misconceptions that tear us apart.

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In this episode, Elsa speaks to Gabriella D'Cruz, a Goa-based marine conservationist and the founder of The Good Ocean, about what drove her to pursue a career in creating awareness about the general conversation of marine biodiversity the main character in her story- seaweed. Having been involved in the conservation of coral reefs and the marine ecosystem for ten years, this Oxford aluma is also part of the Women Climate Collective, a community that seeks to increase the representation of women's voices and perspectives in climate change.

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In this episode, Elsa speaks to Priya Hingorani, a leading Delhi based senior advocate and activist, who continues her mother’s legacy of fighting for the right cause. Priya is the daughter of Nirmal Hingorani and Kapila Hingorani, both late Senior Advocate. Kapila Hingorini was a leading lawyer of the Supreme Court and described by many as an “institution” by herself or the “mother of Public Interest Litigation (PIL)” in India. She filed the very first PIL pertaining to prisoners languishing in jail awaiting trial for long periods and helped numerous causes in her career. Tune into this episode as Elsa finds out more.

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