Human 1100
London, Uk
The term ‘Superwomen’ conjures up a diverse image of women with exceptional qualities and sometimes often with godly superpowers that would save the world. But for us mere mortals here on this planet, our definition of superwomen extends to the new generation of women who are changing the world in their own way, with or without a lasso in tow.
So this is one such story of an innovator and a superwoman who is here to change the skincare industry and create a space for community engagement through a unique social app. In the increasingly inclusive skincare world, this app allows every beauty, makeup and skincare enthusiast to share their experiences and review products with people across the globe.
And the term ‘overachiever‘ would be such an understatement when it comes to defining the next human in our series. From being a spelling bee finalist to a physicist to being an amazing guitarist with a penchant for E-sports, there is seriously nothing this one young lady can’t do. Here’s introducing the magnanimous entrepreneur and innovator, Ahana Banerjee, who hails from the city of London and is currently the CEO of the company ‘Clear‘ that has been touted as the next big thing to watch out for in the beauty industry.
Growing up in Chester
Born to Indian-origin parents, Ahana grew up in the historic city of Chester in northwest England. The idyllic city had been predominantly famous for its medieval city walls and as she would recollect her family was one of the few brown families in residence. Her upbringing had been as quintessentially British as possible.
Her parents’ decision to move to the UK came when her dad got a new position at the company he was working for and gave him an opportunity to shift base. She remembers how her mother validated the decision, as that same day she had an encounter with a ‘Kinnar’ who predicted that good fortune was coming her way.
The young family had to rebuild their home from the ground up in a faraway land. The initial shift was tough, and she describes how they had to save up each penny. She looks back on how in the initial days even a simple Mcdonalds meal was dear to her as the family tried to make things work in a new country. The Banerjee’s had shown their children the importance of hard work. And she is extremely proud of the life her parents had been able to build for themselves.
She admits, ‘I have to dedicate whatever little I have achieved to how my parents raised me. It is sheer hard work that has got us where we are now.’
She recalls attending the Catholic High School at Chester where she dabbled and excelled in a lot of extra-curricular activities. In her early life, she had even competed nationally in gymnastics and represented Wales. She was the fastest speller at the 2011 National Spelling Bee in the UK.
She reveals, ‘We were the only state school to make it to the finals.‘
The best part of the event as she would fondly recall was seeing Dick and Dom from the British Comedy TV Show host the competition at the O2 Arena.
There was simply nothing this one-spirited young lady couldn’t do once she had set her mind on something. She did make us realize how being an ‘overachiever‘ is such an understatement when it comes to describing her.
Among all her varied pursuits, music is something that is dear to her and has been a big part of her life. So by the time she was twelve or thirteen, she started learning how to play the guitar.
She would confess, ‘As a child, I could always tell what was UK’s top 40 pop hits for the week.‘
Her love for music led her to form rock bands with fellow music lovers across the various institutions she has attended. And being on stage and performing with her bandmates is an experience that has been close to her heart.
Finding her identity
She remembers relocating to different countries and shifting between continents due to the nature of her dad’s work. She recalls moving back to India at the age of fourteen and studying there for two years. And she admits it was an interesting cultural shift to experience the country her parents grew up in.
It was in India where she discovered her interest in ‘Philosophy’. She attended the American Embassy School in Delhi and her amazing 10th grade English teacher, Mr. Schmid, would introduce the young teenagers to various philosophical theories like existentialism. She had grown up with a scientific mindset, and she recalls how refreshing it was to find another way to explain the world around us.
That experience made her choose English literature as one of her majors in her higher classes. And she admits it did set her apart from other STEM students as she was equipped with knowledge of both literature and the sciences. It broadened her horizons and gave her an advantage in the job market. Then the family relocated to Singapore when she was sixteen and would go on to study there at the UWC South East Asia until she graduated out of school.
The experience of growing up in such diverse countries and having the opportunity to experience a multitude of cultures is something she truly feels grateful for. It has shaped her viewpoint of the world around her.
She would say, ‘You have to learn to adapt in such environments. It builds an empathy towards people from different cultures and backgrounds.’
It has made her realize how everything adds up. Being the founder of a company that runs a global team with people from diverse backgrounds and located on different continents, having that understanding and empathy is something that comes naturally to her.
One of the happiest memories she can recollect was a trip her family took to Israel. Her dad’s work involved a lot of traveling and he would try to sneak in some family time by taking the family along with him on his business trips.
She recounts some incidents, like her dad struggling to get into the right position to float in the Dead Sea in the scorching heat at forty-five degrees, and her mom’s hilarious gaffe in the famous mud bath shower rooms. The little family time they could get was always packed with such wonderful memories and it’s something she has always cherished.
The family has indeed come a long way. As Ahana would recall how her grandpa coming from a small village in Odisha in eastern India, worked his way up to become a civil servant in the Indian Administrative Services.
She would say, ‘He really used education as a tool to empower himself and get out of that cycle of poverty to become one of the top-ranking government officials.‘
Her family has always inspired her to do better and seeing her grandpa use the power of education to bring his family forward has only strengthened her resolve to create change. She feels responsible for making use of the privilege she has been given to do good in the world around her.
A cross-cultural upbringing
Her parents had been born and raised in India in South Asia. The magnetic Mr. Banerjee belongs to the city of Kolkata and has a management degree. He has worked in the corporate world for decades. The alluring Mrs. Banerjee hails from the state of Gujarat and her maternal grandfather had been a dedicated government official in the prestigious Indian Civil Services. Her mother had lived across the country and studied Psychology in college and finally pursued fashion design .
She gleefully admits,’ So I have a very stylish mother.‘
She would confess that her mom has been the strength of her family. The resilient Mrs. Banerjee in the early days had to quit her job to raise her children. But it wasn’t long before the resourceful mother of two would start up her own Yoga business in the quaint northwestern city of Chester almost twenty years ago. Ahana isn’t the only entrepreneur in her family.
She expresses, ‘My mother decided to become her own boss and open up a Yoga business. In her own right, she became a celebrity of sorts in the town.’
Her mother would juggle between taking care of her two young children and her Yoga business . Her father’s demanding job would pull him away from the family and it was often her mother who had to solely hold the fort. So the children would accompany their mom to work most days.
She describes a heart-warming moment when her baby brother refused to eat a chocolate till his mom’s Yoga classes got over as the sound of him unwrapping the silver foil would disturb his mom’s sessions with her clients.
The Banerjee children grew up being aware of their responsibilities from a tender age and the incredible amount of work and sacrifices their parents made to give them a comfortable life. Ahana recalls being a responsible child from a young age as her parent’s often demanding job and frequent travel made her take on added responsibilities for herself and her younger brother.
She laughs and recalls a song her mom would sing on the way to school each morning. The peppy song would start by listing out the chores she has to do throughout the day, like cooking, cleaning, washing and shopping to name a few. Her mom would turn it into a melodious tune while driving her kids off to school.
‘She will kill me for divulging this ..but in all seriousness , my parents worked incredibly hard to raise us in the best way possible,‘ she recounts.
She would relocate to different countries and shift between continents due to the nature of her dad’s work. She recalls moving back to India at the age of fourteen and studying there for two years. And she admits it was an interesting cultural shift to experience the country her parents grew up in.
Then the family relocated to Singapore when she was sixteen and would stay there till she graduated out of school.
The experience of growing up in such diverse countries and having the opportunity to experience a multitude of cultures is something she truly feels grateful for. It has shaped her viewpoint of the world around her.
She would say, ‘You have to learn to adapt in such environments. It builds an empathy towards people from different cultures and backgrounds.’
It has made her realize how everything adds up. Being the founder of a company that runs a global team with people from diverse backgrounds and located on different continents, having that understanding and empathy is something that comes naturally to her.
There were moments when she did face a certain identity crisis growing up in different countries and being identified and put into different categories. She has learned to come to terms with her unique heritage of being a British with Indian roots.
An entrepreneurial journey
Freedom to follow your own dreams was something her family had always championed through the years.
She reveals, ‘They were involved but never pushy. Whenever I wanted to do something in life, they never questioned my decisions. ‘
Turning down a secure high-paying job to start her own company from scratch would have met with a lot of questions. But her parents as she would acknowledge, have always had immense trust and faith in their children’s decision-making process and have always been supportive of their dreams.
‘We grew up with the courage to speak our minds.’, she would explain.
As a child her opinions were never shot down and she recalls how there was always a place for their opinions on the adult’s table. It has guided her to have the confidence to express her mind and to have the courage to speak up.
She confesses, ‘It made me who I am.’
When it came to choosing what subjects to major in, she would recall how she wanted to save the world and find the answers to the unexplainable phenomena in our universe. Her interest in Physics peaked with the help of amazing teachers like Mr.Toigo and Mr Kann. The subject of ‘Astrophysics‘ had always fascinated her. So it was only natural that she would take up the decision to study physics in Imperial College, London.
We had to ask her how the transition from a physicist to now helming a company that is changing the beauty industry took place.
‘I wanted to create a positive impact and at that time I thought it would be through academic research.’, she reveals.
She knew she wanted to study physics for as long as she could remember. She narrates to us a memory of how she dressed up as a scientist when she was ten years old for her primary school event. Her first science teacher, Mr.Vasey, was a huge influence on her and always encouraged her quizzical nature. He sparked a love for science in the young girl.
She describes, ‘I would write pages of Astrophysics questions for him.‘
That spark was something she missed out on in the monotonous academic routine of a university student’s life. She remembers falling behind in her grades and it was a tough phase in her life as she struggled to keep up with her academic expectations. It was also an important push for her to find where she truly belongs.
It gave her the gentle nudge to pursue her other wide range of interests. And she fondly recalls doing live shows with her bandmates, getting a language qualification degree in French , competing in eSports and hosting charity fundraising events for her college. She recalls meeting her partner Jamie , who is currently pursuing his PhD in Quantum Computing at Oxford, on the first day of college. And she reveals how he has been an integral part of her life ever since and a support system during the hard times.
This period of her life, as she recalls made her reflect on what she could do with all the skillsets she had if physics wasn’t the answer she was looking for.
She remembers applying for any opportunity that came along her way, even if it was something that she felt she didn’t fit the bill. She was determined to find a niche where she would fit in. There was not a single internship that she would refuse, and she recollects being an intern in diverse domains ranging from tech companies to financial institutions .
And that’s where she would find her passion for entrepreneurship . Having had the opportunity to work for diverse start-ups , she had found her spark back. She was determined to build a company of her dreams on her own terms.
The ‘Clear’ voyage
It was during the onset of the pandemic when she got heavily involved in creating various projects that would kick-start her journey into the world of entrepreneurship. She recalls applying to ‘Y-Combinator’, a Silicon Valley-based startup accelerator company. This accelerator company has launched massively successful companies like Airbnb, Stripe, Reddit and DropBox, to name a few.
She remembers how her chances of getting into the competitive programme were really slim and a lot of people had laughed her application off. But six months later, she had completely turned the tables. She got into ‘Y-Combinator‘ and that, as she fondly recalls, changed the course of her life.
It gave her the resources and support she needed to transform her innovative skincare project into a full-fledged company called ‘Clear‘, along with her fellow Imperial College alumni and co-founder Ben Richards. Having struggled with skincare issues herself, she knew there was a gap in the market for a community-based platform to discuss and highlight products as well as seek advice from people who had faced the same issues in their skincare routine. This game-changing skincare startup has gone on to secure partnerships with beauty giants like L’Oréal.
She now wishes to see more women take on an entrepreneurial route. There has been a significant increase in the past few years in initiatives as well as groups and communities to champion women in leadership positions and provide a support system for their projects.
She says, ‘I would like to see more women not just in tech roles but actually leading companies and shaping the future.‘
The social responsibility that tech companies have with the products and services they create and provide is something she feels passionate about. Representation is also a cause dear to her as she feels the landscape is slowly changing to harness the importance of sustainable companies that will have a positive impact in the world.
She would lament, ‘We have to come up with better solutions to use technologies to drive innovation for the future.‘
On being asked what’s the one life lesson she has learned along the way in her incredible life.
She reveals, ‘Do not be afraid of hearing ‘No’.’
There is a famous saying that fortune favors the brave, and her resolve and determination has shown us how this one young lady is making her mark in the world.
As we look at young changemakers like Ahana, we are reminded of a famous quote by a former US supreme court justice and feminist icon, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who once said, ‘As women achieve power, the barriers will fall. As society sees what women can do, as women see what women can do, there will be more women out there doing things, and we’ll all be better off for it.’
This new breed of women, who have had to work their way through decades of stereotypes and prejudices each step of their way to rightfully earn their seat on the table of leadership that has been heavily dominated by one gender for so many years. This new wave of change makes us feel hopeful for the future ahead as we enter a new era of possibilities where everyone has an equal opportunity to follow their dreams and passions.
So watch out for these phenomenal superwomen.
They are slowly changing the world.
