Dr. Gladys West was a pioneering mathematician whose work laid the foundation for modern GPS technology. Known as a “hidden figure”, she played a pivotal role in mapping satellite paths which helped create accurate models of the Earth; that technology is still embedded in today’s world including global commerce, aviation, and everyday navigation.   Early Beginnings West was born in 1930 in Virginia, USA, and spent most of her childhood working on her family’s farm. As the dau

I first met Louise in 2019 while completing my final-year dissertation, which explored the barriers elite athletes face when building themselves as personal brands. At the time, she had just moved to Los Angeles to launch her boutique training facility in Hollywood, and I remember being in awe of her bravery - choosing entrepreneurship in a foreign country when London wasn’t ready for her vision. Writing this feature years later, her journey resonates so deeply. At 19, during

Bessie Coleman never set out to be a trailblazer, but history made her one anyway. Born in 1892 in Texas to an African American mother and a Native American father, Coleman grew up during the Jim Crow era, in a society structured to exclude her on the basis of both race and gender. Discrimination and segregation were not abstract concepts; they shaped the reality of her everyday life from an early age. In 1915, Coleman moved from Texas to Chicago, joining the Great Migration