Growing up as a female in India, I rarely encountered or identified with gender discrimination in an intellectual or professional setting. It was not until I started scaling the corporate ladder that this rosy world outlook was forced to change. As a result, it is only now that I value the importance of representation.

This was reinforced to me recently as I was listening to my favorite podcast host, Dr. Maya Shankar interviewing Priya Parker, author of the book “The Art of Gathering”. The episode was one of the most engaging and intellectual conversations I had heard on any podcast. The insights were perspective altering.

After the interview ended, I went into self introspection mode and realized that hearing two female Indians, experts in their own fields, engage on a public platform had left a much deeper imprint. Simply by virtue of their identities, they had opened up my mind. Galvanized me to imagine possibilities of a future where I could be an impactful confident leader like them.

That’s why representation matters. Because it inspires us to dream of possibilities that are not even in our peripheral vision. And it normalizes them so we can own our stories and identities unapologetically.