“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

"Courage," I thought, "it's a toy pistol."

I had never seen a gun before. But now I was standing with one pointed at my head. My mother had spied car thieves from our balcony and had raced down, barefoot and alone. So I followed her, age 15; battle power: 0. Two armed bandits versus two unarmed women. My mother pulled me behind her while yelling for help. I was scared, but I knew that I could not leave my mother alone. She was five-feet three-inches of ferocity and guts, spitting fire, never backing down. No one came to help. But she saved our car as the two men ran away.

My mother has inspired me for all of my life. She aspired to be a fighter pilot. But the closest she got was zooming around the streets of Pakistan in her little blue Suzuki, driving full throttle. Married off at a young age, she never realized any of her own dreams. I inherited them and added my own. I am the keeper of these bright dreams.

My mission is to bring her, and all women like her, with me into the boardroom and to places unfrequented by us. Together we will have the temerity to travel the world and breach the skies. Courage.

— Sundus Husain