How can one woman’s vision create a business masterpiece?

Dilma was a professional dancer performing at a corporate event when the client’s marketing director took the stage. That presentation spoke to her. Dilma envisioned herself on a different path; one that’s taken shape in Nossa Praia ESG Tech, the thriving marketing and communications firm she’s built in Brazil. Getting there required Dilma to overcome a world of nay-sayers who said her race and gender precluded her from CEO status. She’s proven them wrong.

Dilma was 22 when she leapt from dance to university studies. Degree in hand, young daughter at home, she moved to marketing. Seven years in, progress stalled. Folks around her moved into more senior roles as Dilma hit a ceiling. Across the agency’s 23 business units, Dilma couldn’t see a single Black person at her level or higher. Set on growth, Dilma pursued two MBAs, learned English and worked endless hours before her director asked why she couldn’t “just be happy” as the only Black person at her level.

Dilma quit and co-founded an agency; a steppingstone to her own shop, Nossa Praia, in 2013. Grounded in her values. No funding or back-up plan. Dilma poured every dollar made back into the company, ultimately carving out a niche around ESG-focused events and experiential marketing.

Now? Nossa Praia has more than doubled annual billings to R$7 million since 2016. Clients include world-class brands. Dilma has spoken at the United Nations. Set to graduate university next year, Dilma’s daughter knows she can be anything, and anywhere, she wants to be.

Suneera was working for a merchant service provider when she saw a need for a new solution; one that would enable small- and medium-sized businesses to think smarter and move faster with better payment terminals. She founded Stax with that purpose in mind, upending an industry and building a billion-dollar unicorn of a business.

It wasn’t easy. Her male employers shut her idea down. Seizing on her father’s suggestion, Suneera built the platform herself. In 2014, she quit her job, moved into her parents’ home and built the company from the ground up.

For Suneera, every step was a struggle. She needed partnerships and technologies to build her vision, so she started small. Her brother and a technical co-founder came on board and got to work.

The road to success was not easy. Suneera showcased her high-tech payment terminals out of the trunk of her Volkswagon Beetle. She fundraised while pregnant — twice — all while facing off with sexist questions, sub-optimal terms and low valuations. Eventually, investors couldn’t ignore the scalability of what she’d built. Suneera refused to take no for an answer until she found the yes she needed.

Now? Suneera’s made history. Her final funding round generated $245 million in 2022, pushing Stax’s valuation to the billion-dollar mark. And this, at a time when less than 3% of venture capital goes to minorities; less than 1%, to businesses whose CEOs are women of color. Now, she’s making sure her success isn’t a unicorn; it’s the norm. Exiting Stax as CEO, Suneera founded The CEO School to help women dismantle barriers, and become the example the world needs next. Podcast downloads so far? One million — and counting.