Akanksha Singh to Akanksha Rathi – An Iron Lady
There are some of the concrete reasons due to which women in our Indian Culture are termed as ‘Shakti’. In our great country, there have been some women who with their huge determination and unswerving faith bestowed a whole new definition to the word ‘women empowerment’. Right from the standard household life of the ideal Indian Woman to the challenging roads of entrepreneurship and social work, they embedded the flags of success on each turn. The foremost and undying example of one such woman is Mrs. Akanksha Rathi. Born on 17th of November, Akanksha Singh did her schooling from Convent of Jesus and Mary school, Delhi. After completing her BA Hons. from the prestigious Jesus and Mary College, New Delhi. She went to pursue Advertising Course- at the Berkeley University, California, U.S.A., she completed her Post Graduation in Business Management with distinction from the Cardif University, United Kingdom. Later, realizing the changing demands and market trends, she even attained MSc. ITMOC (Information Technology Management and Organizational Change) – Lancaster University, England, U.K with Merit.
Rendezvous with destiny
But these were only a few among many milestones achieved by her during the academic journey. More laurels were waiting for her. After completing her education, she got married with Anirudh Rathi in 2004 and moved to Indore, M.P. She embarked on a journey that not only turned out to be decisive for her life, but also made Rathi steel a hallmark name in the steel Industry. After moving to MP from Delhi, she credited to be the youngest woman to operate in the steel industry – as a Director of the company. But the challenges ahead assured that her life would not turn out to be a ‘bed of roses’. She had to lead an industry that predominantly had the male monopoly. But within the first few months of her career, she realized what she is destined to do. Her famous personal quote- “Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength, mastering yourself is true power”, clearly tells that she was a woman forged with steel. Her meticulous academic knowledge, excellent strategic skills and personal guts, simply made her an iconic corporal figure. Not just the Government of Madhya Pradesh, but the Indian Steel industry in whole, never witnessed such an aggressive marketing campaign and brand building ever before. She uplifted a visionless Steel industry of India out of its comfort zone and realized it what the core values of innovation are. Her brand building strategy primarily focused on quality consciousness, while taking care of the purchasing power of an average Indian in parallel. Even before everybody realized, a low profile product like steel became a household name in entire Madhya Pradesh, fueling the economy of the whole state. Akanksha Rathi has represented the Government of Madhya Pradesh as ‘Industry Ambassador’ on different state and national levels. She was a distinguished figure in the prominent road show mutually conducted by the Government of Madhya Pradesh and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in New Delhi. Based on her remarkable achievements and unswerving vision for the Steel economy of India, she was asked by the Honorable Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan to partake in some of the major road shows in South East Asia. She is also remembered for her visionary approach and involvement in all the major business forums of the country, including the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), The Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICCI) and the Madhya Pradesh Chamber of Commerce & Industries (MPCCI). She remained the state council member and representative of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for the tenure of 3 successive years.
As a Social Activist
‘Live life like there’s no tomorrow, but with a sense of responsibility towards yourself and others.’ While following this statement as her motto of life, she ran tireless campaigns to bring positive transformation of the society in whole. She was the ‘Brand Ambassador’ for the Pulse Polio Drive that was successfully accomplished in the year 2005-06. She always believed in perseverance of an extra edge for the uplifting of the destitute, protection of the environment and empowering women from the underprivileged and weaker sections of the society. Alike her industrialized image, she always had a clear vision about the society. “We should always give back some percentage of what we earn from the society and state. Basically, try to be a responsible citizen. It is the society that makes us who we are. Keeping up with that belief, the company plans to adopt or open non-profit making Schools & non-profit hospitals in backward areas in future. It is also looking ahead to contribute for the uplifting of women in the weaker sections of the society”. Besides becoming the most successful entrepreneur, her most landmark achievement was that, as a business woman she inspired millions of Indian women. She facilitated the women of India to dream, understand their true caliber and showed them the courage and pathway of engineering the economy of our great nation. She turned herself out as a second-to-none example of an iconic woman, who succeeded in all the walks of life. Her dream was to open non profit schools and Hospitals in backward rural areas of M.P and later other parts of the country as well. She had meeting with the CM of M.P. State, Mr. Babulal Gaur in this regard.
Awards and laurels
During her remarkable career in business and social activism, she had been bestowed with an incalculable number of awards and laurels. In the year 2009, she received the most esteemed Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Award in the ‘outstanding entrepreneur’ category. In the year 2011, she won the first Public Relations Council of India-PRCI IMAGE AWARD in the category of Business and Entrepreneurship- Industrial. The award was specially bestowed upon her for excelling the image of Madhya Pradesh on the new horizons of industrial success. She also remained the chairperson of Women Entrepreneurs in M. P for MPCCI. For her sheer reputation in the industry and selfless social work, she received widespread acclaim and rave reviews from both state and national media over the years. She often referred as ‘WOMAN OF STEEL’ or ‘IRON LADY’ of Central India, by both media and public alike. 
Most of the people wonder; how a single woman could enter a discouraging world, revolutionize a whole industry and transform the lives of millions of citizens without expecting anything in return? Well, the ethics followed in life by her gave her the strength of character to even move the mountains. Right from the first day she stepped out of the University, she was familiar with the unswerving responsibility towards the society and the country in whole. She always followed ethics in life so never entrusted unethical business practices to beat the competition or to take the company to the new heights of success. As a responsible citizen of the country, she always ensured that the business activities of her company do not have even the slightest impact on the environment. She always had high respect and admiration for her employees and treated even their smallest needs with utmost care and compassion. She always believed that finding oneself is the true success, always believed in true family values. For the same reason, she always tried to spare some valuable time out of the extremely busy schedule for herself and her beloved ones. In addition of being a keen listener and astute reader, she was also a true writer. She normally preferred to invest her leisure moments with family and her beloved pet, Dopey.