Flipkart's #RaiseHerToLead encourages parents to raise their daughters as future leaders

• Flipkart's campaign is aimed at confronting and breaking gender stereotypes.
• The film seeks to inspire fathers, brothers, husbands and friends to do everything they can to encourage and celebrate the women in their lives and help them pursue their dreams of starting a business.

Right ahead of International Women's Day, Flipkart has unveiled its campaign, #RaiseHerToLead, that addresses families that own businesses and is aimed at confronting and breaking gender stereotypes that define parts of our society today.

With the view to change the discourse around the role of women, Flipkart’s Women’s Day film takes us on an emotional journey with a father who has brought up his little girl to become a capable, responsible and a strong woman. Stylistically, the film is shot to mimic a ‘vidaai’, but rather than focusing on her wedding, Mr. Mishra has invested in his daughter as his heir and successor, with plans to leave the family business to her. The film ends by showing the family and friends celebrating the beginning of her entrepreneurial journey, as the father emotionally reflects on the immense pride he has for his daughter, who is now not just his daughter but also the CEO of his company.

The film seeks to inspire other fathers, brothers, husbands and friends to do everything they can to encourage and celebrate the women in their lives and help them pursue their dreams of starting a business. The film ends with the call-to-action ‘#RaiseHerToLead’, entreating parents to invest in their daughters’ futures. Although women are making dents in the glass ceiling of the corporate world, owning a business is not viewed as a viable career option for them still. Through this film, Flipkart is trying to motivate more and more people to take the pledge of grooming their daughters to be business leaders and bring about change in society. This will then open up a new career path for generations of women to come.

The Flipkart platform is home to many second-generation sellers, who have used online marketplaces as a way to grow their parents’ existing operations. However, in parts of our society, the belief that handling a business is a man’s domain is still prevalent. Daughters are not seen as capable and are not groomed to hand over the baton when the time comes. E-commerce, however, has proved to be a strong democratizing force, with many women becoming first time entrepreneurs in their families thanks to platforms like Flipkart. It is not uncommon to hear of women simultaneously managing their families and businesses from the comfort of their living rooms.

Flipkart Seller Hub is the right avenue to drive this change as it is a platform with no gender bias. It gives every entrepreneur, irrespective of their gender, equal opportunity and an equal playing ground to start a business and grow it on their own terms. Thus, the Flipkart Seller Hub plays a pivotal role in empowering women by providing a platform to become self-made entrepreneurs, to be financially independent and successful.