India, March 7 -- Naina Parekh's story reflects the quiet ambition of many urban Indian women today. On the surface, it looked like she already had it all. She married young into a well-placed business family, had a son who was doing well, and spent years contributing part-time to the family business. From the outside, it seemed like a comfortable life. Yet she always had a lingering thought about building something of her own.

For Naina, early marriage meant she never pursued higher studies abroad the way she once imagined. Later, as her son grew older and more independent, she began to fill that gap on her own terms. She studied luxury brand management in Milan (a city that remains her greatest international inspiration), took courses ...