The question came at the end of a 12-hour day in Dubai in May of 2023. I was one of 12 women being honored as “Most Inspiring Entrepreneur Women.” Exhausted from panels, performances, and speeches, I was running on fumes when my turn came to answer.
My filter was completely gone.
You know what? I inspire myself."
The room went silent. Then erupted in the biggest applause I’ve ever heard.
Yes, I can say its my family, my children, my mom who all played pivotal roles. But here's the truth: I worked hard every day, I made it possible, and that is why I am here today. The same opportunities that exist today? They were here last year too. Dubai was calling, the doors were open - but I wasn't ready. Today, I am ready. Not because the world changed, but because I did. So yes, I inspire myself - because I know what it took to get here."
That applause wasn’t just for me. It was every woman in that room releasing years of pent-up frustration about having to be modest about their own success.
Here’s what I realized: Every successful woman I know works incredibly hard. We pour our hearts into our businesses, we sacrifice, we push through barriers that would break most people. And yet when someone asks who inspires us, we always deflect. We always say “Oh, my team” or “My mentor” or “My family.”
We act like our own relentless drive and determination is just… normal.
But it’s not normal. What we do is extraordinary.
For once, someone in that room said out loud what every hardworking woman was thinking: “I inspire ME. I’m proud of what I’ve built. I’m proud of how hard I work.”
To every woman reading this who’s ever downplayed her achievements, who’s ever said “it was nothing” when someone complimented her success, who’s ever felt like she had to be modest about her own brilliance.
