Hollywood produced a powerful movie on women’s empowerment Erin Brockovich. Directed by Steven Soderbergh and released in 2000, the movie is based on the true story of Erin Brockovich, a single mother who fights against a corporate giant for polluting the water supply of a small town in California. The movie highlights the strength and determination of a woman who, despite all odds, emerges as a champion of justice.

The post Hollywood Women’s Empowerment appeared first on Four Columns of a Balanced Life.

Fuzia is a dynamic and robust organization that empowers women and has a community of 4.5 million people around the world, as well as 50,000 active contributors.

The goal of Four Columns is to empower women to lead balanced lives in the 21st century. Women empowerment is not a buzzword in Western society anymore. However, here are some scary statistics :

Globally, 750 million women and girls were married before the age of 18 and at least 200 million women and girls in 30 countries have undergone FGM. The rates of girls between 15-19 who are subjected to FGM  in the 30 countries where the practice is concentrated have dropped from 1 in 2 girls in 2000 to 1 in 3 girls by 2017. In 18 countries, husbands can legally prevent their wives from working; in 39 countries, daughters and sons do not have equal inheritance rights; and 49 countries lack laws protecting women from domestic violence. One in five women and girls, including 19 percent of women and girls aged 15 to 49, have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner within the last 12 months. Yet, 49 countries have no laws that specifically protect women from such violence.

Shraddha Varma and Riya Sinha are game-changers in the women empowerment landscape. They are the founders of Fuzia, which is a creative community driven by women all around the globe. The mission is not only to empower creative individuals but also to work towards women’s empowerment and gender equality.  They focus on shattering the glass ceiling, forming relationships, and creating change.

I wanted to know something unique about the founders. Shraddha Varma in all her humility says ‘Aside from being a management expert, an experienced marketer, and an ambitious entrepreneur, I’m a keen learner and a creative thinker with decent communication and leadership skills. I believe that economic freedom is necessary for women to be able to break out from patriarchal, pseudo-liberal patriarchal structures. In addition to leading Fuzia’s global marketing and operations as a Co-founder, I’m also a full-time mentor to my team in diverse cultural activities! Being a firm believer in gender equality, we have together driven a million women to represent their largest untapped talent pool! My notion is to reach out to every single woman to stay empowered in the challenging world from every minute to minute. Our organization, Fuzia intuitively influences global women to assist one another to grow, live their interests, chase their aspirations, and create their own identity, thereby promoting gender equality, feminism, and empowerment.’ 

Riya Sinha tells me ‘As an 11-year-old school student at Palo Alto High School in California, I was curiously intrigued with the intention of Fuzia for women, by Women. I’m currently in my second year at UC Berkeley, California, and work part-time for Fuzia. I’m mainly focused on initiatives like Fuzia’s public relations that is supported via television as videos and interviews with notable women and partnerships with other companies.’

Shraddha Varma talks about Fuzia and its various initiatives.

What was the motivation behind starting Fuzia? Did the success of it come as a surprise?

Fuzia sparkled up with a conviction for us to enlighten the stereotypical minds of society. Riya Sinha and I bonded over a cause of uplifting our sister women and defeating our mutual frustration at all orientations! At 11, when most of us were worrying about how our freshman year at high school would be, Riya Sinha had authored a book. Her short novel “Runaway Twins” at a local bookstore in Palo Alto destined a short fan moment when a kid came running to her and exclaimed that Riya’s book had inspired her to write and create; that she wanted to become a writer as well.

This incident laid the founding bricks of what Fuzia is today. I joined Fuzia in 2015 and am relentlessly devoted to empowering women worldwide. The small writing club, at the present, is an independent international online space for women to create and connect globally that I seamlessly manage.

We have reached significant milestones during the last five years. Over a year, we achieved 1 million users and supporters on social media. For our users, we launched a high-tech user-friendly app that marks the precise version of the Fuzia website. We have even received honors from prestigious organizations, such as the Women Economic Forum’s “Iconic Teen Entrepreneur and Innovator” award. Fuzia now has a community of 4.5 million people around the world, as well as 50,000 active contributors.

Empowering women through the fusion of cultures and ideas is your mission. Talk to me more about this?

Fuzia believes that talent shared is talent fostered, thus the outcomes are numerous campaigns and contests where women from all over the world participate and express themselves. They are also given training and employment opportunities in areas of their interests and expertise. At Fuzia, we broadly collaborate with our in-house talents and experts, including social media influencers, entrepreneurs, and inspirational women, to host interactive live sessions where women can have their questions answered and receive the training they need to launch their own businesses.

With the potential that many women possess, we ensure them to have economic assistance and opportunity in a variety of ways. Consequently, we indulge in preparing the individuals with their extraordinary skills tuned in such a way that benefits both the organization and its users financially. Our zeal of organizing a variety of interviews with strong women who share their inspiring experiences on Fuzia TV assists other global women to break free from their shells.

Empowerment is a new concept in many cultures where patriarchy, misogyny, and two levels of citizenship are hegemonic. What have been some of the challenges you have faced on the journey of Fuzia?

Fuzia as a community has always kept its focus on being a cultural organization that is gender inclusive. We strongly believe that gender inclusion is not just restricted to peripheral equality but also facilitates the breakdown of the very unconscious bias. We’ve tried and made our platform open to every individual, be it men, women, or people of other genders. Anyone who supports the cause of women empowerment, feminism, equality, and mutual support/upliftment has to be of our deciding interest. Fuzia also believes that true ‘Empowerment’ is incomplete without people of all genders supporting it. Therefore, we highly support and encourage gender inclusion, which as a concept transcends mere equality.

In North America, women are outperforming men in every area. There are more women in universities and in many careers. Do you see this happening in India?

The majority of men in India emphasize that women are befitted to being homemakers than at the workspace. They show fewer interests to encourage women who are striving to become a better version of themselves. This created a wall of hindrance for many men to participate in women’s empowerment. The patriarchal system also holds back men who care about the cause and want to empower women.

But this situation is gradually changing as we see many women breaking through barriers to live their dreams. A successful woman as a homemaker is also a multifaceted professional in every field establishing herself with ground-breaking achievements. Women have effortlessly proved to accomplish things that even men fail to do. This strong setback is emerging from both the rural and urban backgrounds embarking on the real adventure of women across her unending hurdles.

Walk me through what areas that women need to be empowered?

Women in the modern world stay super dynamic to dust off their routine starting from domestic chores to the documentation at the workplace. Many other women are silently enduring their pains as a part of their existence. Discriminations, failures, false hopes, negativities, character assassinations, and many more are dragging them to the dome of darkness. Taking this forward, Fuzia anchored firm affirmations in every woman to surpass the series of discouragements.

The Fuziaties testimonials evidenced that a larger introvert community has benefited the most from what Fuzia offers to every single woman in the world. Women empowerment needs to be focused on women’s sense of self-worth, their right to have and determine choices, and get unlimited access to opportunities and resources. More importantly, enriching their ability to influence the direction of social change to create a more just social and economic order, nationally and internationally.

Help me understand how men can empower women in their lives?

Fuzia believes that men can act as allies to women by showing support for the women’s empowerment movement. They can increase their share in domestic work and family responsibilities. They need to promote gender equality when fighting for women’s access to jobs, rights, and opportunities. Men need to understand and listen to the unhidden voices of women and truly give a solid secure space for them to unleash their inner potential. Genuinely appreciating their best efforts will encourage them to perform even better at home and in the workplace. We must also understand that women’s lives would be much easier with a supportive and attentive partner by accepting their scars and making women feel worthy about who they are.

Talk to me about the cities you are from? I want to know the food scene and why should one visit them? (You can take Mumbai and Delhi).

I am heading from Mumbai, a city that never sleeps and is beautifully located in the mid-western part of India. With a population of over 18 million people, Mumbai is popularly known as the “jewel in India’s crown” is a merging pot of religions, customs, food, and thriving trade. Mumbai’s cultural diversity can be reflected in the city’s gastronomic diversity, which includes street food with Muslim, Gujarati, South Indian, Parsi, and Maharashtrian influences. Dishes with these flavors, colors ,and textures burst in your tongue without breaking the bank. If you’re a foodie, you’re in luck if you’re in Mumbai because there are so many great spots to munch over street cuisine!

The other city I can’t skip bringing up is Delhi, the country’s perennially intriguing capital, that works as a magnet, drawing visitors from all over the world. The city has its distinct charm and diverse culture that encompasses all of India. The city is proud of its rich history and possesses many well-preserved historical monuments. With its vibrant and bustling marketplaces, Delhi is also a shopper’s delight. Delhi is also known as the cuisine capital of the world, with a cornucopia of delectable street food such as parathas, chaat, butter chicken, kebabs, chole bhature, biryani, nihari with a slew of contemporary eateries. One of the things that keeps the Delhi culinary scene alive is street food. Eating on the streets of Delhi is a crash course in the city’s history and culture, which is unparalleled in its richness.

The post Fuzia: Shattering the glass ceiling for women appeared first on Four Columns of a Balanced Life.

I find writing cathartic. I love writing about empowered women because women make up fifty percent of the population. The writing community has embraced me, and I love interacting with them.

In the first interview, I talked to Jamie Weil about her mission, vision, youth mental health, balance, and creating sacred spaces in our lives. In the second interview, we talked about bipolar depression, spirituality, and being in a mixed marriage. In the third and final interview, we talk about writing and women’s empowerment.

Jamie Weil lives in Cottonwood, California. She writes everywhere. She has identified as a writer since third grade when her teacher sent her poem “Red” to the Record Searchlight and they published it. She has written for the children’s educational market, the adult non-fiction market, and has worked as a journalist, second-grade teacher, and mom. Her YA novel, First Break, was released on World Mental Health Day, 10/10/18. Her second YA novel “Intuition” was published almost exactly a year later on 10/2/19. She is currently in post-production on the pilot episode of “A Crazy Thought,” a groundbreaking docuseries on youth mental health and suicide which she is creating with a team of amazing award-winning female filmmakers.

Jamie, the writing community is an amazing community. I am enjoying interacting with them. What is different and unique about writers?

Oh my yes! I am so excited to have found this group on Twitter. They are teaching me in such a kind and gentle way how to interact in that space which I really haven’t understood up until now. Honestly, I get lost in the conversations where there are more than one @ and wonder “are you talking to me or?” I’m loving it though and I actually got a “trigger finger” on one #writerslift because I was so excited to finally interact! I had to go get X-rays, chiropractic, acupuncture, the whole nine! It still hurts and that was a month ago. Who knew Twitter with writers could cause injury?

Writers are the best. They are so observant and I love the way they tap into the ether to bring stories into consciousness. I love to watch the choices of medium they choose, their process, how they choose to put themselves into the world. They’re also very brave because when we write we pour out a piece of our souls for the world to see whether intentionally or not. I can sit and talk with writers for hours. I especially love the banter of television writers who write comedy because their minds are so quick and bounce off each other in such fun ways.

I feel like I’ve only touched the tip of the iceberg with the writer’s community. I am looking forward to digging so much deeper. I’ve even started keeping a notebook of my favorite @peeps. You’re in there, by the way.

Thanks for choosing me as one of your favorites. Art imitates life. Do you write from your own experiences?

Not usually in works for hire, but certainly in my young adult novels. My best writing has always come from that space. Sometimes tangentially, sometimes directly. For example, First Break was really from a space of watching closely what is happening in a psychotic break when my son was young but then seeing it over and over from various angles in other’s lives. Paige, the protagonist, is 17 because when I started that book, I had gone to a seminar at UCLA on the Lanterman-Petris Act which says that once a minor turns 18, they are in charge of their own decisions. However, a very common time for a psychotic break is this age transition and when one is in a psychotic break, their mind isn’t working well enough to make those decisions. Both men who made that law were there and said they had never intended for the horrible fall out that was happening from that law. In that case, I was very preoccupied with the stories I was hearing of young people lost in state hospitals due to the very privacy laws that were happening and leaving them super vulnerable.

In the case of Intuition, which was my second young adult novel published in 2019, this was based on my direct experience of having a babysitter who was a serial killer, tried to pick me up on the day of his last kill, and eventually was brought to trial (with my stepdad defending him as the Public Defender and calling me to testify), then executed on California’s death row at San Quentin. In that case, art definitely imitated life with the ability to push the time frame into contemporary and think about how technology may have affected that outcome differently.

In Chasing Sacred Spaces, I will definitely be writing from my own experience and that is non-fiction so the boundaries are different.

You are a filmmaker. The impact of visual art is totally different from written art. Do you notice the difference?

Completely different, especially in the area of documentary filmmaking. I came to filmmaking as the means to an end. I answered a calling centering around shifting the landscape of youth mental illness and suicide, beginning with youth. The calling was to use visual media that could reach more people, to make a movie that would make a movement. But like I said earlier, I had the issue that I was not a filmmaker and barely knew how to use my Iphone to take video. 

It was yet another education, but I feel like thinking through an interview with the film is similar to what you’re doing here. You put together a list of questions you think will guide the interviewee to tell their story in a way that relates to the whole. Then you have an additional step (about 100 additional steps) to think through and make a shortlist of how the story will be visually told. It was quite overwhelming at first and VERY expensive so you don’t want to mess up. It’s much more collaborative than the written word in that you have sound, camera people, writer, director, producer, talent, etc. and all those pieces need to be coordinated. It’s really hard to do them all yourself though I know people who do because it’s cheaper and less frustrating in many ways. But the magic of filmmaking is when you watch from concept to finished product and you put out a piece that really moves people. When the quarantine hit, filmmakers were locked down and couldn’t work, taking away this beautiful immersive medium that I personally so enjoy collectively experiencing in a theater. My husband and I see several movies per week. We have been really missing this during the pandemic. I called my executive producer on a docuseries we’ve been working on the past few years called “A Crazy Thought” and we brainstormed how to edit some of that footage into a few pieces that would really help people during the quarantine. We put together shorts called “Social Distancing Together – for the health of it -,” put them on Facebook and Instagram TV (IGTV) as a gift to the world. We couldn’t have done that with books in that immediate timing.

The written word, however, is my happy place. I have written over 50 journalistic articles, blogged on three different blogs with 300K words, over the past ten years, and have written 8 traditionally published books. I love to sit in my big red chair in my home office and write stories about causes, people, places, ideas, passions, food, wine, adventures, and ways I see the world. I love to play in different genres. From the moment my first poem “Red” was published when I was 7, I was hooked on writing for an audience, and in so doing, I could connect with them in some way.

Jamie, as a writer what does women empowerment, mean to you?

I think I covered this above in my novella, but basically it means listening to women’s voices. It means scooting over and making room at the table in real ways. It means understanding the “Me Too Movement” could only happen in a container that resembles a Gilead-like world so dramatically portrayed in The Handmaid’s Tale. Nearly every woman I know, including myself, have been sexually molested, assaulted, discriminated against, harassed both subtly or overtly at work, date raped, and so on. It’s just never-ending. Binary cultures have formed undercurrents where no matter how progressive a partnership may look, there is often still an underlying expectation that the woman will take care of the meal planning, shopping, cooking, cleaning, kids, and hold down a job or whatever else needs to be done. In same-sex partnerships, partners are presented with these dynamics as well, but somehow, they seem more balanced than the hetero partnerships I have seen.

Women empowerment, then, means having the resources, the voice, the stance to be in the world in a way where one’s gifts can shine, be used, be compensated in the same way men are. It means that women are addressed more like in indigenous matriarchies as the wise intuitive beings that are and less like all they have to offer are their bodies, their looks, and their ability to give birth and cook for the tribe. 

Recently, I’ve seen some very authentic deep conversations between women about women that I feel very excited about. Many women have “women issues,” but it is not ladylike to talk about these so historically they haven’t. However, as my son and daughter-in-law have taught gender studies over the years, I’ve had an opportunity to understand this both intellectually as a construct and personally in my own journey with sabotaging women. In Village of Oak Creek, near Sedona, it hit me on the women’s hat: Empowered Women Empower Women. The ones who don’t sabotage out of fear or retreat. We need to begin by empowering our girls early on with different education than they get now. We need to keep honest and open conversations about this topic between women on the surface and recognize that we have been trained to NOT talk about this. We need more allies like you in this space to pick up the cause, open the conversation, and get this party started because once enough women feel empowered, I truly believe we will be living on a much more peaceful planet.

Finally, what kind of music do you listen to when you write?

I always have a water feature nearby and am listening to that. Recently, I have been listening to this compilation soundtrack given to me that is supposed to activate and release flow. I think it works because that was what I was listening to when I wrote Chasing Sacred Spaces in a weekend.

Thank you so much Jerry for inviting me to your blog. I hope I didn’t write too much. I can’t believe we didn’t even get to the food!

The post Empowered Women Empower Women appeared first on Four Columns of a Balanced Life.

Amarilla Nirmala is the co-founder and Chief Marketing Whizz of WeDO5, based in Vienna, Austria. WeDO5 believes in the power of women, especially women who want to make a difference. The focus is on female-led impact start-ups, that not only create businesses that make money but also push the status quo to be more ethical, transparent, and create equal opportunities. They support female entrepreneurs, who are driven to establish long-term business solutions.

WeDO5 contributes to the value chain in the start-up ecosystem through community building. They are the first yes for early-stage Startup-founders and offer support from idea generation to conception until growth and internationalization.

Amarilla has years of experience in executing and developing marketing strategies in the UK and Dubai. I am a big believer in start-ups. It is small businesses that are the growth engine of the economy and that create jobs. I talk to Amy about her life in Vienna and what she wants her legacy to be with female entrepreneurs.

Amy welcome, I want to know a little about you?

Hi, I am Amy; I am an Indonesian living in Austria. I have lived in 4 different countries in the past 12 years. I have 2 kids, and currently am a social entrepreneur. I have several businesses that focus on giving back to the community as a business model. I love cooking, gardening, paddling, and in my spare time, I love to play a tourist in my own city.

Talk to me about your social entrepreneurship and what WeDO5 is all about?

WeDO5 is the new name of KulturenReich (German words for Culturally Rich). We started as a social initiative focusing on immigrant women and Austrian women with migrant backgrounds. Austria is a rich country. Vienna has won the #1 city with the best living quality for several years in a row. However, for many foreigners, they find difficulties in starting their professional life again upon residing in the city. Most of them spend years to fully integrate, mostly because of language capability, and tight competition.

KulturenReich focused on empowering foreign-born women to be professionally successful and financially independent, through various activities such as workshops, focus groups,  and on the job training.

In 2020 we changed our name from KulturenReich to WeDO5, the number 5 stands for the fifth point of SDG by the UN, gender equality. We are now focusing on women impact entrepreneurs, those who aren’t only making money but also giving back to the community.

Help me understand mental health and your group Sahabat Jiwa?

Sahabat Jiwa (means soulmate in Indonesian), is a project that basically started in 2013 by my partner Anya. In 2019 I joined the organization as I believe I need also to give back to Indonesia, my home country. Mental health is a sensitive issue where people with problems receive stigma and often they also don’t realize they have issues. We provide literacy about it, and free consultation for young adult Indonesian people with mostly SES C- and below. The consultants are professionals with license, so even though free of charge but it is reliable. However, we do not accept life-threatening or emergency cases.

I want to know a little about the city you live in, the food and the culture?

I’ve been living (again) in Vienna since 2017. I came here in 2011, but moved to different countries in 2013, came back here in the middle of 2017, and found out the city has been changing quite fast!

Vienna is a classical city with beautiful landmarks and parks everywhere. The size isn’t big but very convenient as many things are easily reachable by public transportation.

What I like about the food here is that we have high standards, from eggs till meat, vegetables till desserts!

We try to buy our food from organic farms, and meat from local Austria as it provides certain standards and quality. We are quite concerned about where we get our food from. Things like how the animals slaughtered, how the chicken that produces eggs, what kind of banana we have, how sustainable the honey is, etc. And I must say that many people here are also thinking the same.

What does women empowerment mean to you and how is the modern Indonesian woman different from a few decades ago?

When people think about Indonesia, they think about the exotic paradise Bali, and it is a Muslim country. The fact is, Indonesia has the biggest Muslim population, but we aren’t a Muslim country. Since I was a child, I grew up reading some powerful and inspiring Indonesian women, such as Christina Martha Tiahahu from Moluccas province, or Cut Nyak Dien from Aceh province who bravely led an army to fight colonialism.

My mother, she was also a career woman, independent but also a loving mother. She worked in a British bank with high responsibility, oftentimes she came home late. But in the morning she was the first who wakes up, prepared stuff for my father and us, the kids. She didn’t have a me-time at all, because she spent her time caring for others.

This isn’t bad but she should have taken good care of her life too! So if we are talking about empowerment in Indonesia, it isn’t about women not getting an education or being forced to marry at a young age (although this is also still some cases in several provinces), but moreover about less judgment to women. Let them choose what they feel right. We still expect women to perfectly manage all aspects of their lives. People still expect women to do everything from cleaning the house and raising the child. Household responsibility needs to be shared. People need to be less judgmental to women who are still single.

Tell me a little about your role as a mentor in micro-entrepreneurs?

Currently, I am also active in Micro Mentor; I am giving free mentorship for micro-entrepreneurs in Indonesia.

My current mentee is an Elementary school teacher who produces brown sugar with low glycemic as an alternative for diabetes people.
I am giving guidance on how he should market his product, from marketing strategy to basic branding knowledge. We have 12 sessions, 1.5 hours per week.

You have a Masters in Design & Brand Management. Are you using it presently?

Yes! It has helped me helping female entrepreneurs market themselves.

How has social media changed your country and life in general?

My private Instagram is basically about things I find amusing. It can be a beautiful pic of Vienna, my plants, everything.

But currently, I am using Quora Indonesia to also share my knowledge about branding and marketing, giving advice and some simple steps about career and education. I believe social media is a powerful tool we can utilize for anything. Selling your products? Creating your professional persona? Building your company’s image? Or getting your 15-minute fame as Andy Warhol said last time.

It all depends on us; we just need to be careful about what kind of image we’d like to be remembered.

For me, my focus in life is about legacy. Surely I won’t win a Nobel prize, but I still can help some women who start their small business, I still can inspire young Indonesian people to decide their career path better, and also making good memories with my kids

The post Empowering Female Entrepreneurs appeared first on Four Columns of a Balanced Life.