30 Shining Stars of the World

By prachi

A book featuring the success stories of 30 great leaders from across the 7 continents and 20 countries, who are not only shining bright in their respective fields but giving back to society as well. The stories talk about success, failure, not giving up and second chances. Every human being goes through hardships in life and the 30 participants who are now the pioneers of their fields and shining bright in their country once had a struggle story too. It's through the hard path that one becomes a star, reaching the top. It's not only a book but an inspiration for the world. Different nations, different ideas, and different dreams; weaved together in a unique book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: prachi
• Release date: Sep 11, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215583098

Book preview

Copyright © Prachi Gupta

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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (except for mentions in reviews or edited excerpts in the media) without the written permission of the authors.

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Published by Galleon Publishing in September 2022

Price: $30

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Happy Reading!

DEDICATION

Dedicated to all the readers who patiently wait for every book I bring. And all those who wish to transform their life.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The world is a better place thanks to people who want to develop and lead others. What makes it even better are people who share the gift of their time to mentor future leaders, who strive to grow and help others grow. Thanks to all the 30 great personalities of this book to share their wonderful life stories with the world. The stories are extraordinary and inspiring. They will keep inspiring the world for ages.

Thanks to my brother Sanchit, who always supports me by not irritating while I’m writing and all my new friends who encouraged, promoted, and kept me motivated in the whole process. Special thanks to Anjali, ever-patient adept creative designer, the best designer I could ever find.

The human being holds a universe within, filled with overlapping frequencies, and the result is a symphony of cosmic proportions.

Masaru Emoto

Contents

S.No     Authors & Chapters    P.No

1. Ayse Top

Giving up is not an option!

2 .Ana Isabel Fiafilio Rodriguez

Resilience, A Strategy for Dreams

3 .Abraham Paul Vatakencherry

My True story

4. Bojana Bogojevic

Dreams do come true

5. C. V. Ananda Bose

India’s Man of Ideas

6. Queen Corazon Ugalde Yellen

2nd time Fairy Tale

7. Diya Choudhary

Being Significant is my Nature

8. Dimitris P. Kraniotis

A Medical Doctor Writes Poetry

9.Faten Elshaer

Lens Gave Me Life

10. Prof. Dr. Huma Shah

In The Line of Fire, Hope Exists to Make You Worthy

11. Isilda Areias Nunes

Solar Journey

12. Kaanchan S Farkiya

A Journey of Golden Dreams

13. Krisztina Konya

My Relationship with Myself

14. Marlene Pasini

The Experience of Living Is Like the Indecipherable Magic of Dreams

15. Amb. Dr. Mathew Godwin Mario

Against All Odds He Thrived

16. Dr. Melanie Falvey

Your Success Is on The Other Side of Fear

17. Mireille Toulekima

Becoming A Woman of Influence in A Male Dominated Industry

18. Mollica Maharaj

Believe In Yourself Always

19. Peter Kwadwo Asare Nyarko

An African Financial Literacy Pacesetter and A Global Thought Leader

20. Prajwal Bhattarai

Little Action to Academic Activation

21. Roshani Shenazz

A journey from Glamour to God

22. Rania Lampou

A Teacher Who Defies Challenges and Obstacles

23. Rana Ali Zohaib

A Man Who Looks Behind the Eyes

24. Salah Kotb

From a Spark to a Shooting Star

25. Sammie Lee Hill

World First Mentor Theme Song

26. Shokhida Yusupova

From Ordinary Girl To The CEO

27. Shyla Day

Second Chance for A Dreamer

28. Ujunwa Julie Favour

Start Your Journey

29. Dr. Olubogu Ifeanyi Petwise

From Thinking to Becoming

30. Xanthi Hondrou-Hill

Poetry Won Me Over

Ayse Top

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Owner of a range of companies in the beauty sector from eyelash treatments to weight loss in the Netherlands and Belgium, International Runway Model, International Presenter and part of event organisation- international celebrity awards Paris & world fashion awards Dubai, Jury Cannes film festival and Ms. Netherlands Universe 2018

Chapter 1

Giving up is not an option!

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The bar is never set high enough: My father's 'Ayse, you won't succeed' has taken me far.

I grew up in Tiel, a little village in the Netherlands, with my parents and two years younger brother. My parents are from Turkey, but myself born in the Netherlands, and feel really Dutch. I am not raised religious still, I couldn't choose my own path. My father was strict and determined on which choices I had to make. Education, future plans? He had it all mapped out for me. It wasn't what I wanted at all. Didn't suit me.

Accountant, my father wanted me to have the best possible future and that is why I had to study to become an accountant. He reasoned that it would pay well, and thereby chose the path my life would follow. I was a young, shy girl who dreamed of typical girly things like fashion and beauty, and I was up against a demanding father with high expectations about school performance. I faithfully did what was required of me because going against my father was impossible. And because the bar was set so high, I faced stress, frustration, and fear when I had to tell him about the poor school results.

The world of accountancy was not for me; it did not feel right and it did not make me happy. I dropped out during my first year and decided to resume my studies in a year’s time in the hope that I would be more motivated. In the meantime, I had found a job as a data-entry employee, but all the numbers I had to enter there daily also just swam before my eyes. I went back to school but not for the accountancy training. I successfully completed a secretarial course and many types of jobs followed. But with every new employer, the feeling of disappointment also grew. I felt disappointed because it was just ‘a job’ and it lacked ‘a goal’. I had never envisaged this future for myself.

At 29 years old, I took stock of my life up to that moment. I had to conclude that, because of my upbringing, I had certainly never stood up for myself. I always let the interests of others come first and I had not achieved anything myself. I felt pretty bad. But what a great discovery! Now that I saw it so clearly, I decided to change my direction drastically. Giving up was not an option. I would get rid of all the negative feelings about myself. From now on I would deal with things differently. From now on I would be number one.

My strict upbringing was intense, but it also brought me positive things. My urge to prove and fighting spirit comes from there."

Go for it!

And all those early dreams about fashion and beauty would become reality. That was my future. I wanted to operate independently and start my own company. And because I had also become a mother, I wanted to combine my new activities with my children’s school schedule.

An opportunity immediately materialized 

through a friend. She drew my attention to the application of eyelash extensions, which around 2010 in the Netherlands was a yet-unknown phenomenon. With the artificial eyelashes, I was a trendsetter, and acquaintances and strangers complimented me. In the mirror, I saw a magical glance and, in many ways, my eyes were opened. I knew exactly what I wanted: to make women more confident with beauty products.

I took a course to become an eyelash stylist and the assignments poured in. Apparently, I had hit a soft spot in women. The feeling of working with a goal was fantastic; I was on the right track. I made plans, worked them out, and showed them to my family and acquaintances. I wanted those around me to see that what I had always dreamed about had turned out to be true. Unfortunately, I also got a lot of opposition from those around me. Not everyone felt the same way about it. But that did not bother me. I persevered even when problems came along. Nothing could get me down; I was unstoppable now. Beauty Department became the name of my very own company.

Things were not going well at the call centre where I was working at that moment, so I left. The financial consequences of this did not bother me because what had started out as a side job to earn extra income had quickly grown to the point that I was opening my own business location in Utrecht, one of the largest cities in the Netherlands. My business at that first location specialized in eyelash extensions and other beauty products. And because I could now really go for it, I also invested more time in my business. As a result, the customer base grew tremendously. I was earning my own money doing what I liked the most! And this was also when my youngest child started going to elementary school.

Success and failure

The business in Utrecht went bankrupt and the takeover in Amsterdam was cancelled because the other party did not fulfil its promise. It was terrible and I had to start all over again, because giving up was not an option. I did, however, learn my lesson from this. I would have to exercise a lot more control and make strict business agreements with everyone.

Look before you leap is one of the most important lessons that I have learned here. And after all the setbacks, the people who hurt me and the many trials and errors, I now have four beautiful businesses with locations in the Netherlands and one in Belgium. Each one has the right team of employees to continue moving forward. I am proud of myself. I am the owner and I train others.

‘Ladies and gentlemen... Ms Netherlands Universe 2018!’ To participate in this competition changed my life completely. 

And when everything is running smoothly, you receive even more. In 2017, I was scouted to participate in the Ms Netherlands Universe 2018 competition. I was thrilled when I won the competition. 

I wanted to prove myself to one person, now the world knows me. I was living with a narcissistic person, who always wanted to make me feel bad, so he felt his self amazingly.

The preparatory period brought me a wealth of personal growth, knowledge and insights. I’m grateful for the opportunity I was given and grateful that I was able to fully develop myself. And of course, my beauty centres continued to do well. In December 2018, I participated in the Ms Universe 2018 competition in the Philippines. The experience did certainly enrich my life.

The Ms Netherlands Universe competition has a good cause: ‘Stop Domestic Violence Against Women’. Of course, I am an ambassador for this. In addition, I also contribute in my own way to making women financially independent. On the first day of each month, a woman at Beauty Department can choose a course and follow it for free. The course increases the independence and self-awareness of the women. These are exactly the two elements that I also eagerly wished for when my father chose the role of accountant for me. My father’s parenting style is very different from my own. I will advise my children and support their choices.

I have followed my heart and chosen my own vocation and I have not