Girl Boss Interview: Pole Mounika

This interview was conducted by Maanasi Shyno, a Dartmouth sophomore interning in Marketing and Communications with Launch gURLs. There have been grammatical edits made to the interviewee’s responses with their permission.

In this series, we talked to several of the Girl Bosses in our pilot program about their experiences with Girl Boss. This week we interviewed Pole Mounika, who is living in Hyderabad to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in political science. Mounika comes from a smaller village where she has witnessed discrimination against women and has noticed that women are not given any leadership opportunities, so she is passionate about uplifting women. We asked her the following questions and these were her answers!

What problems do you hope to address in your community?

First I want to convey that I want to become a “social entrepreneur.” I am always focusing on how to resolve social issues with business tricks and in an entrepreneurial way. I have found many problems in my community with my self experience. Mainly I am focusing on women’s political empowerment because I know that women’s representation in the Indian political system is very low. If women are political equals, they will definitely get social equality. It will lead to stopping all challenges regarding women. I want to start “Future Politicians Training Institution for Women” (FPTIW), an organization to help empower women in politics and enhance their leadership qualities. It will provide political training by using a special and appropriate curriculum. I am planning to conduct some public meetings and camps in villages for women to empower them. It will work in online and offline modes. Slowly I will expand its branches to the whole country and then to the world. I am doing business for social change and it may become a non-profit organization.

What has been the best part of Girl Boss?

I am glad to be part of Girl Boss because it’s such a unique programme. I’ve never been part of a program like this before. I like Launch gURLs’theme and mission of helping women become economically independent through entrepreneurship. I especially like that Girl Boss launched the Community Connect platform on Facebook for us to share our thoughts and listen to other girls.  It’s very good that Girl Boss connects young girls from different countries because it exposes us to international perspectives about gender and women’s entrepreneurship opportunities.

Another part of Girl Boss I like is that it helps us strengthen ourselves by providing us Girl Boss Advisers. They encourage us a lot by conducting weekly sessions. Through this we are able to improve our communication skills and learn about each other’s perspectives . 

I also like the guidance provided for Girl Boss. The website makes accessing activities easy and we are given enough time to complete tasks on our own.. I am really exploring new things which are awaking thoughts about entrepreneurship and leadership skills . I felt every part of the Girl Boss programme is the best for me. Thank you.

What is the most important thing you have learned through the Girl Boss program (so far)? How do you hope what you learn through Girl Boss will help in the future? 

There are many things I am learning from Girl Boss. It’s a great opportunity for me to interact with girls from different countries which gives me immense pleasure. Before this I didn’t know how to start a business, but, after clearing all the  activities, I am learning how to start business. It’s a brilliant experience through which I came to know some technological skills. I am improving my communication skills and the programme is helping me expand my scope in this world.

Girl Boss is also boosting my leadership skills. Before this I never used  Facebook, but now I am a little bit active on Facebook through the Girl Boss platform. It’s encouraged me to share my opinions on the Community Connect platform. I’ve also learned how to do activities on my own which improves myself towards self-learning. The Girl Boss programme has helped me to unlock my knowledge and hidden talents by creating a positive energy. I’m sure that one day I will be on the top of the world.