Twelve years ago, she dared to follow her dream and this year, young entrepreneur, Jenobia Doctor, was recently awarded the Rashtriya Ratan Award by the government of India's National Economic Council. Jenobia is a great believer in 'girl power' and single-handedly heads Vision Marketing and Information Services Private Limited, an initiative that has now spread to over eight cities across India. She firmly believes, "My people are my strength."

The former employee of Citibank quit her job at 20 to "do something for myself. If I could work for a bank," she recalls, "I felt I could definitely branch out on my own!" "Initially, I operated from my own residence and then moved to Kaveri Apartments in Powai, where we still are today." The only difference is that she now owns the entire building!

Her 300-plus employees are all women. "I have always felt that women are more hardworking and efficient and I do try to provide a platform for individual growth," says the trained lawyer-turned businesswoman. "But, technical reasons also impel my decision to employ only women. A girl's voice is smoother and travels faster than the male voice. And girls are definitely more patient listeners."

"It is a great feeling to be able to do your own things," states Jenobia whose company has clients like Tata Power, Johnson and Johnson, Videocon, IBM on her list. "We continuously reinvent our skills with in house training modules and research so that we are not left holding the line on any call here, for silence is definitely not golden."