Daring to Dream: Inspiring the Courage to Lead | Priya Tiwari | TEDxBBAU

Quick Overview

Priya Tiwari shares her inspiring journey of transitioning from a stable tech career to becoming a model and social activist, highlighting the challenges she overcame, including health issues and societal expectations, to pursue her passion and achieve multiple beauty pageant titles.

Key Points: Priya Tiwari is a Model, Engineer, Poet, and Social Activist from Bhopal. She transitioned from a stable tech career (engineering, MBA, M.Tech) starting in 2013 to follow her passion in fashion and pageantry, taking a bold leap in 2022. She overcame significant challenges, including losing her father in 2021, diabetes, thyroid issues, and high blood pressure, all stemming from stress. She has won numerous titles, including Miss Madhya Pradesh 2022, First Runner Up at Veenus Miss Univrrse 2022, and Miss International Queen of India 2023. She walked for Bombay Times Fashion Week twice in 2024 and was crowned Miss Asia & Oceania 2025, becoming the face of Indian Pride Walk 2025. She credits her supportive aunt (Bua) for raising her and providing the inner strength to pursue her dreams despite societal barriers against women pursuing glamour industries. Her core message is that inner strength and belief allow one to overcome challenges and that giving back to society is crucial.

Context: Priya Tiwari delivers a personal TEDx talk detailing her unconventional career pivot from a highly educated background in technology (engineering, MBA, M.Tech) to the world of fashion and pageantry. She emphasizes overcoming significant personal hurdles, including health crises and societal pressures, driven by the unconditional support of her aunt after the loss of her father, to achieve recognition in the beauty industry.

Detailed Analysis

Priya Tiwari opens by introducing herself as an engineer, poet, and social activist from Bhopal, whose story focuses on the transformation from a studious girl in a family of doctors to a beauty queen. She notes that everyone has different talents and she always excelled academically, completing her Engineering and MBA, while simultaneously working in the corporate world since 2013. The major turning point came with the death of her father in 2021, which caused immense stress, leading to health issues like diabetes and high blood pressure. Despite this, she found motivation in her family and decided to pursue her passion for modeling and pageantry, which she describes as a 'risky move' that required stepping out of her comfort zone. She explicitly states that she never knew how to use makeup or contouring products initially, but she was groomed by Tanvi Kharote. She has since achieved significant success, winning titles like Miss Madhya Pradesh 2022, First Runner Up at Veenus Miss Univrrse 2022, and Miss International Queen of India 2023. She highlights that her mother and aunt were her biggest motivators, teaching her inner strength. She concludes by encouraging young women to utilize their birthright—inner strength—to change their situations and give back to society.