My story: from being selected among the world’s 100 successful women entrepreneurs

I come from a place where having dreams is never easy; from a place where being a girl sometimes means fighting—not just for progress, but for the most basic rights. From a place where doors closed one by one, and the future suddenly turned into something vague and distant. But even in that darkness, I learned that when no path is visible, you can still create one.

My entry into the list of the world’s 100 successful women entrepreneurs may seem like a great achievement to many; but for me, it is not just a title. It is a narrative of years spent in silence—years filled with fear, pressure, and disappointment. Years in which every day I had to choose between giving up and continuing.

I will never forget the day I realized I could no longer study as before. The moment when the right to education turned from a reality into a dream. Something inside me broke that day. I felt as if a part of my future had been taken from me. But in that same moment, a decision was born within me. A decision that changed the course of my life. I told myself: “If no path remains for me, I must create one myself.”

Nothing in this journey was easy. The limitations were not only external. Sometimes I also struggled within myself—with doubts and fears. I often asked myself: Can I really do this? Will my efforts lead anywhere? Will anyone hear our voices? But every time I looked back, I saw girls who did not even have the chance to ask these questions. Girls who were forced to abandon their dreams too soon. Girls whose futures stopped before they even began. These images did not allow me to give up.

After the major changes in my country, when everything collapsed, I decided to rebuild. Not with big resources or wide support, but with what I always had: my words. I began writing. I wrote about pain, about deprivation, and about the hopes that were still alive. Every sentence I wrote was an attempt to keep alive a voice that was being silenced.

Writing was not just an activity for me; it was a responsibility—the responsibility to record our story. To show that we are not only victims; we are human beings with dreams, abilities, and a will that does not disappear even in the hardest conditions.

Over these years, I stood beside many girls. I learned from them, grew with them, and tried to help them believe in their own abilities. For me, entrepreneurship is not just about building a business; it is about creating opportunity—the opportunity to stand, to grow, and to change the direction of one’s life.

When I heard the news that I had been selected for this global program, the first thought that came to my mind was not about myself. I thought about the girls who walked this path with me, even if their names were never recorded. This achievement belongs to them as well—to every girl who has fought in silence and has not yet lost hope.

The “Global Woman Award” each year selects from thousands of women around the world those who have made an impact and worked for change. Seeing my name among these women means being seen—seeing stories that are rarely told, and hearing voices that are often ignored.

But I do not see this as the end of the journey. It is only a beginning. I am still the same girl with big dreams—dreams not only for myself, but for girls who are still waiting for an opportunity. I want to continue building, until no girl feels alone or believes her dreams are worthless.

I believe that even in the darkest conditions, light can be found. It may be small, it may be weak; but if it is preserved, it can illuminate the path. I have tried to keep this light alive within myself, and now I want to share it with others.

The message of my story to all girls is this: no limitation can destroy a dream if we do not allow it. No darkness is permanent if we search for light. I will continue—not only for myself, but for all the girls who still believe they “can.” And as long as that belief lives, hope will live too.