30 Million Women Entrepreneurs: Why Women Are Still Waiting to Start

Are you ready to meet the woman speaking for 30 million female entrepreneurs?

Because this episode of Change_Licious is exactly that kind of conversation - the one you didn’t know you needed...

I sat down with Bhargavi Swami, joining from India, and what started as a warm “soul sister” exchange quickly turned into something much bigger. Think: culture, ambition, motherhood, business… all colliding in the most honest way.

Bhargavi isn’t just building a company but building a movement.

From her base in Bangalore (the Silicon Valley of India), she runs an all-women HR consulting firm — designed to bring women back into the workforce after life happened.

And by life, we mean everything: motherhood, relocation, caregiving, the invisible load no one really prepares you for.

Her team? Women across the country. Her model? Hybrid before it was cool. Her mission? Make work work for women again.

But here’s where it gets interesting. When we talked about the “30 million women,” I thought she was exaggerating. She wasn’t.

She was talking about 30 million registered women entrepreneurs in India — and even that number doesn’t include the countless women building businesses unregistered from their kitchens, homes, and communities.

...Let that sink in for a second.

What I loved most about Bhargavi is how real she is about it all.

No perfect story. No “I always knew.” In fact, she accidentally joined the business her "feminist" father build.

She had other plans, came in for an internship… and stayed. And somewhere along the way, it became hers.

One of my favorite moments?

When she said this:

“You can give people every tool… but the instinct to act has to come from within.”

Because if we’re being honest — especially as women — the opportunities are often there. But we hesitate. We overthink. We wait. We question if we’re ready. And she sees it too.

At the same time, she works with women who had none of those opportunities.

Women who had never touched a laptop before. Who didn’t speak English. Who came from environments where even dreaming felt like a luxury.

And today? They’re working with international clients. Running global conversations. And building lives that once felt completely out of reach.

Simply because they decided to give it their all.

There was also this personal moment when Bhargavi spoke about how she starts her day: with gratitude. Not in this sometimes performative, “morning routine” checklist kind of way. But in a very simple, human way. Because when she does that she likes “that version of me.”

We also went into the uncomfortable truth around women supporting women.

Because yes, sisterhood is beautiful. But it also requires honesty and transformation. If you’re constantly doubting yourself, fighting yourself, being your own harshest critic…it’s hard to genuinely celebrate someone else.

And that’s not failure. Because this is how we're programmed. But shifting into real support starts with awareness and reprogramming into a cup that overflows.

Today Bhargavi is expanding her work into something she calls strategic healing inside organizatio

ns — addressing burnout, internal conflict, and the human side of work that no KPI will ever fix.

So, all in all, this episode isn’t just about entrepreneurship. It's about making changes wherever you are and whatever needs to be done.

The full episode is now live. And trust me — this is one you’ll want to sit with.

CLICK HERE

Enjoy ❤️

Bhargavi Swami is a second-generation entrepreneur and founder of an all-women HR consulting firm in Bangalore. She works with startups and global companies on talent, culture, and growth, and is the creator of the podcast People Who Matter, with over 2 million downloads.

Passionate about empowering women and reshaping the future of work, Bhargavi is building solutions that bring more women back into the workforce — and help them thrive. https://excelcorporation.in