Breaking tradition — Shivani Gopal’s ride from arranged marriage to mentoring mogul

Curveball

“When my friends were all going out and still doing Contiki tours, I was navigating a divorce.”

Growing up in a traditional Fijian-Indian family, Shivani Gopal was given the message that women should be nice, they should serve others, that a woman’s value came from kindness and doing the right thing by others.

So when Shivani fell in love as a teenager and her family arranged for her to be married, she tried to be the perfect wife who gave up her hopes and desires for others. “I really did try to be the good girl, the good wife, the good daughter-in-law, to be accepted and loved,” she says. “But then my personality would just burst out. Voicing my ambitions certainly went against the fold.”

So, Shivani did the unthinkable. In her early 20s, despite the opinions of her traditional family and in-laws, she divorced her husband and super-charged her career in financial planning.

Her climb to the top wasn’t without a few other obstacles, including one potential mentor who told Shivani she was “too young and pretty” to be worthy of his time.

Find out how Shivani Gopal channeled her determination into a fundraise of $1 million to start the Elladex app, empowering women to reach their leadership potential.

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This episode was produced by Grace Pashley. Executive producers are Rachel Fountain and Kellie Riordan.

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