In the game of communications, those with more empathy, emotional resilience and an ability to foster meaningful relationships. Well, nearly all women know this like the back of their hands. Today, we’re bringing you some of the women founders who fought for their dreams and won.
Kiran Ray Chaudhury – Aether Public Relations
There are storytellers, and then there’s Kiran Ray Chaudhury — someone who doesn’t just tell stories, but architects reputations. As the co-founder of Aether Public Relations, she carved out a space in India’s cluttered PR landscape for communication that’s both crisp and culturally grounded.
What sets Aether apart isn’t size, but sharpness. Under Kiran’s leadership, the firm has built campaigns that blend journalistic intuition with brand strategy, especially for high-growth startups and impact-driven companies. From funding announcements to founder positioning, Aether’s work doesn’t shout — it resonates.
Kiran herself wears many hats: strategist, writer, mentor. But above all, she’s a listener — and that’s what makes her campaigns hit home. While many chase virality, she plays the long game, building brands people trust and talk about.
Abhilasha Padhy – Co-Founder & Joint MD, 80dB Communications
Abhilasha Padhy co-founded 80dB Communications in 2015 with an ambition: to make PR more strategic, ethical, and effective for India’s growing tech and impact ecosystem.
Today, the firm serves startups, digital brands, and government campaigns with clarity and credibility.
What sets Abhilasha apart is her commitment to ethical storytelling. At panel events, she’s emphasised that “ethics has to be displayed in everyday interaction across multiple stakeholders” — not just in headlines. She’s also guided the firm through pandemic-era pivots, adding data analytics and performance metrics into their service stack, yet staying fiercely independent and culture-first.
Under her leadership, 80dB has maintained profitability since inception, doubled revenues in three years, and earned clients like BOULT, Bombay Shaving Company, and tech startups across sectors.
Pooja Pathak – Co-Founder & Director, Media Mantra
If Media Mantra is known as one of India’s fastest-growing PR agencies, a lot of that stems from Pooja Pathak’s strategic vision and grit. She co-founded the agency with her husband in 2012, and since then has helped scale the firm across major cities—Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, and Pune—growing at an impressive 65% CAGR and earning recognition as Asia’s second-fastest-growing PR firm.
Pooja’s leadership style blends mentorship with impact. She’s been named one of Reputation Today’s Most Important Women Professionals in PR and won Entrepreneur of the Year at the 2020 Exchange4Media Women Achievers Summit.
What sets her apart is her belief that PR must be ethical, inclusive, and empowering—not just effective. She coaches young talent, builds internal leadership paths, and holds deep convictions about gender equality and empathetic management.
Nikky Gupta – Co‑Founder & CEO, Teamwork Communications Group.
If healthcare PR in India had a poster child, it’d be Nikky Gupta. She co‑founded Teamwork Communications Group in 2010 with a dream and zero fanfare. Fast forward to 2025: her agency is India’s first healthcare-specialist PR firm, and a trusted force in government, pharma, and startup storytelling.
Her strength? Seeing opportunity where others saw risk. From landing the GSTN mandate during India’s tax rollout to building award-winning campaigns for Kerala, Jharkhand, and Delhi government bodies, she led from the front.
Teamwork’s client list spans Fortis Healthcare, Cipla, Delhi Government, and Essilor India—and growth has stayed resilient even through pandemic dips.
Manisha Chaudhary – Value 360 Communications
Manisha Chaudhary co-founded Value 360 Communications in 2007 with a vision: to build an agency built on purpose, performance, and values. From those early days managing startups like Snapdeal and Paytm to today serving over 150 clients across industries, she has steered the agency to consistent high-growth—30% CAGR over a decade—all while maintaining a 70% client-retention rate.
A journalist-turned-PR strategist, Manisha’s unique strength is turning communication into meaningful engagement. She has championed gender-inclusive policies like VMoms and the “Relaunch” returnship program—making Value 360 one of the most empathetic workplaces in the industry.