“WOMEN MUST BELIEVE THEY CAN HAVE IT ALL”

Entrepreneur, philanthropist, and newly-minted ambassador of L’Oréal Paris’ ‘I Know My Worth’ Campaign, Navya Naveli Nanda speaks to Bazaar India about standing up for what she believes in, embracing failures, and creating an equal world.

- Meghna Sharma

Harper’s Bazaar: You have grown up around such strong female forces in your family. Tell us how they have inspired you.

Navya Naveli Nanda: “My nani [maternal grandmother, Jaya Bachchan] is someone I have looked up to all my life—she has taught me to be unapologetically myself. What I admire about her is that she is very confident in who she is, and never shies away from speaking her mind. And I have implemented this philosophy when it comes to my work...whether it is speaking up about women’s rights or women’s health, I am not afraid to speak my mind.”

HB: What prompted you to launch your own company and an NGO at such a young age?

NNN: “I certainly can’t say that I know everything that I want to do in life...and there’s probably a lot more that I would like to do in the future. But when I got back to India after graduating from college, I began observing my immediate environment and realised that women face a lot of injustices in their day-to-day lives—some of it was through interactions with other people, and some I experienced personally. I realised that I have been given a lot in life and I should be using that privilege responsibly. And that’s when I decided to set up Project Naveli, an NGO that works towards women’s empowerment, and launch Aara Health, a start-up focusing on women’s health.”

HB: That must have made you feel very emotional...