The Conversation

Cat Hulbert started gambling for a living 40 years ago. A blackjack player in her 20s, she became so skilled at winning money from casinos, she was soon very unpopular with them all around the US. Cat took up poker in the 1980s, and was one of the first women to break into the ranks of professional card players. The Game Show Network called her "the best female gambler on earth." Now retired, Cat says she is not sure that she would legalise gambling in a state that did not have it, as it can ruin so many lives.Celina Lin, who has been described as 'China's Queen of Poker', was born in Shanghai and moved to Australia as a child. Always a gaming enthusiast, she got into poker by accident, but quickly became a skilled online player and has been employed by the company PokerStars for the last eight years. She is now based back in China, playing high-level poker tournaments in the casino city of Macau. Celina has won the prestigious Red Dragon cup twice, and views poker not as a game but as an extremely demanding mind sport.Image: Celina Lin (L) and Cat Hulbert (R) (Images courtesy of Celina Lin and Cat Hulbert)

Megan Harrington-Johnson doesn't let worry and doubt stop her when she wants to complete a 13km open-water swim. The South African endurance swimmer has swam in shark infested waters, even though she's petrified of them and has had a close shave with a Great White. Megan says she's often the only woman on the team, but thinks it's fear rather than ability that holds other women back from doing what she does. Sweating in the water is an issue and Megan talks about the importance of staying hydrated and eating lots of calories to get through a big swim. Manu Vilaseca started by running 5km races and now does 160km ultra-marathons. The lengthy courses are rarely on flat terrain, they're normally up and down mountains and the conditions can be unpredictable, but Manu, who's from Brazil, says even when her mind is telling her to stop she knows how to talk herself round and get through. The competitions might be punishing on Manu's body, but she says she loves the feeling of total exhaustion and almost craves the pain she will feel afterwards so she knows she's pushed herself to the limit.Photo: (L) Megan Harrington-Johnson. Credit: Charl Rorich. Photo: (R) Manuela Vileseca. Credit: Bernardo Rodrigues.

Cathy Bramley is the UK author of best-selling romantic comedies such as Appleby Farm and The Plumberry School Of Comfort Food. Cathy has spent most of her working life in marketing, however reading has always been a passion of hers, and she says one particular book inspired her to take up writing herself. Four years ago she went for it and self-published her first novel. She was then taken on by a publisher and was able to give up her day job to write full-time in 2014.Cheryl Ntumy has written 11 books, including romance novels for a South African audience and young adult fiction. She grew up surrounded by books and has been writing stories since she was very young. Originally from Ghana, Cheryl now lives in Botswana and her characters often reflect her feelings and experiences of being an outsider. She says writing isn't really taken seriously as a career in Botswana, so it has been a challenge to keep going at times. Photo credit: (L) Cathy Bramley and (R) Cheryl Ntumy

Jacquie Davis began her career with the British police, but soon moved into security and close protection. This was in the 1970's when Jacquie says it was "very lonely" being the only woman in the industry. Today Jacquie runs the security and risk management firm Optimal Risk and her clients include the ultra-rich and famous; she's dealt with everything from hostage situations to screaming fans and celebrity tantrums. Denida Zinxhiria grew up in Albania during a time of social upheaval where it was commonplace to hear bombs and bullets in the street. As a child she remembers her grandmother covering her to protect her from gunfire and says that incident sparked an interest in keeping people safe. Denida worked her way up through private security in Greece and now runs Athena Academy, a security company that trains female bodyguards.Photo: Jacquiee Davis. Credit: Aaston Parrot. Photo: Denida Zinxhiria. Credit: N/A.

Maria Toorpakai grew up in the traditional tribal region of Waziristan, and from an early age decided she would rather play with the boys than stay inside with the girls. So she burned her 'girly' clothes and cut her hair short so she could run and jump and wrestle outside. When her family moved to Peshawar Maria picked up a squash racket for the first time, and by the age of 16 was Pakistan's number one player. Her success led to death threats however, and she was forced into hiding and playing only in her bedroom. Maria now lives and trains in Canada. Her book A Different Kind of Daughter: The Girl Who Hid From the Taliban in Plain Sight (with Katharine Holstein) is out now.Malaysia's Nicol David has dominated women's squash since 2005. She was the World No 1 woman player for an unprecedented 9 years. Nicol says her greatest win was her first world title when she was 22 in Hong Kong, which came as a complete surprise. She started playing squash with her sisters to work out her hyperactivity, and quickly became a junior champion. She says squash is like 'physical chess' - you are always thinking ahead by two or three moves.

Michelle Payne is the first ever female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup­ and is the youngest of ten children of Paddy and Mary Payne who grew up in central Victoria, Australia. Mary died in a motor vehicle accident when Michelle was only six months old, leaving Paddy to raise the children as a single father. Michelle entered racing aged 15, the eighth of the Payne children to do so. She won in her first race at Ballarat, riding 'Reigning' a horse trained by her father. Michelle’s book “Life as I know it” is published by Melbourne University Press. Jadey Pietrasiewicz grew up in a small town in The Netherlands and started horse racing by accident at 14. Jadey started off as an amateur and turned professional in 2013. She won the HH Sheikha Fatima Ladies World Championship in Abu Dhabi in November 2014 and has ridden worldwide on both Thoroughbreds and Arabians (100+ wins). She is currently riding in Australia, based with Ellerton Zahra Racing.(L) Michelle Payne. Credit: Racing Victoria. (R) Jadey Pietrasiewicz. Credit: Wouter Tijtgat.

Phillippa Yaa de Villiers is an award winning South African writer and performance artist. Phillippa, who is mixed race, was adopted as a baby by a white couple but did not learn of her adoption until she became involved in anti-apartheid politics whilst attending University. Negotiating this newfound racial identity has informed much of her writing. She discusses her inspirations and the journey to becoming a writer, why she found it hard to initially call herself a poet and how South Africa is a country blossoming with poetry.Imtiaz Dharker is a poet, artist and film maker. Born in Pakistan, Imtiaz was brought up in Scotland before she eloped to India aged 20, becoming estranged from her family. She feels that it is important that poets don't get too comfortable in any one place and describes forging her life in 'the cracks in-between'. Imtiaz picks up words that inspire her poetry from her surroundings, sometimes overheard, she jots these down on a paper napkin or whatever is to hand. She now lives in the UK and in 2014 she was awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry. Her advice to aspiring poets is to read a lot and find your own voice.Image credit (l) Imtiaz Dharker (Melanie Brown/BBC) and (r) Phillippa Yaa de Villiers

Sandra Magnus is a US astronaut with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and is now the executive director of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Sandra always wanted to become an astronaut and has had a lifelong passion for science and exploring how the world works. On the space station she says that every day is about trouble-shooting, and sometimes it doesn't seem very organised, there is a lost and found plastic bag, "I always thought that was rather amusing because that means there were things on the station that were missing parts".Samantha Cristoforetti made history when she became the first person to make an espresso in space. "We got to try the first freshly brewed espresso coffee in space" she says proudly. Born in Milan and raised in the province of Trentino in Itlay, Samantha speaks four languages including Russian. She has a second degree in aeronautical sciences and a masters in mechanical engineering. She is a captain in the Italian air force, a qualified jet-fighter pilot and has been an astronaut with the European Space Agency since 2009, the first Italian woman to take the role. (Photo: Sandra Magnus: NASA, Samantha Cristoforetti: ESA-S. Corvaja)

Hafsat Mohammed is a Nigerian peace activist who survived a Boko Haram attack on a bus and works to combat violent extremism in the country by engaging young people at the grassroots level. She brings Christian and Muslim communities together to find ways to stop young people joining radical groups. Hafsat says when she was growing up this was a peaceful part of the world and it makes her sad that there is so much hate and violence there now, so she's made it her mission to stop it, despite threats made against her. Gulalai Ismail remembers being young and seeing graffiti chalked on the walls of her home town Peshawar, in north-west Pakistan, calling for young men to join violent extremist groups. As a teenager Gulalai started campaigning for the rights of women and today has broadened her activism out to include anti-radicalisation programmes, and projects dealing with HIV/AIDS education and safe abortion. Gulalai, who has won many awards, has been threatened because of the work she does and had to flee her home after an attack a few years ago. (Image: Hafsat Mohammed on the Left, Gulalai Ismail on the Right)

Hasmik Asatrian runs the Basen Hotel in Sisian. The business was owned by her husband's family, but Hasmik took over the management and day-to-day running in 2010. She transformed a rundown, Soviet-style complex with communal bathrooms and a leaky roof into a modern hotel that attracts tour groups and independent travellers who come to Armenia to discover the country's ancient history and culture. Hasmik's success won her Armenia's Young Businesswoman of the Year award in 2013.Yin Myo Su runs the Inle Princess hotel, located on the shore of Inle Lake, in Myanmar. Su was raised in the hotel industry and says she was trained to work in it from an early age - her earliest memories are being taught how to cook, clean and entertain the guests. She says her strangest request was when a guest asked for his wife to be woken up by a flock of ducks quacking outside her window. Su won the Goldman Sachs & Fortune Global Women Leaders Award in 2013. Left: Hasmik Asatrian / photo credit Sirun Snetcunc Right: Yin Myo Su / photo credit Moethida Aye

Al Beli Afifa is an Additional Superintendent at Dhaka Metropolitan Police, the largest unit of the Bangladesh Police. Al Beli joined the police partly to serve the women in her community as she felt they were less able to access justice. She has specialised in combating crimes against women, in particular sexual violence. In 2013, Al Beli became the first woman in Asia to receive the International Association of Women Police Excellence in Performance Award.Rebekah Jones is an Inspector with the Royal Grenada Police Force. Since joining the force in 1997 Rebekah has been involved in a wide range of operations including a lengthy investigation that required her to go undercover to bring down a group involved in financial crime. She specialises in tackling domestic violence, a crime she says is prevalent but still too little understood in Grenada. In 2014, Rebekah received a scholarship from the International Association of Women Police.

Dr Madhurita Gupta grew up in a research institute in Rajasthan. Her father was a scientist and she was exposed to different species of wildlife from an early age. She held her first snake, a sand boa, aged 15 and describes the experience as 'divine'. She says she still gets goose bumps when she holds one of the reptiles because of excitement, not fear. Madhurita is now the chief vet at an animal clinic in Mumbai and runs a snake rescue service. She says she can get up to 10 calls a day, but only goes out to relocate a snake if it is inside someone's property.Julia Baker grew up in England and Germany before settling in Australia in her 20s. She started her career as a five-star pastry chef, but a life-changing experience led Julia to follow her passions and become a snake catcher. Julia has her own reality TV show called Snake Boss, or Snake Sheila, which follows her as she rescues snakes from people's properties and relocates them in the bush nearby. According to Julia fear is the biggest threat to snakes, as it can quickly turn to hatred and lead to people mistreating them, so she does what she can to educate people about the reptiles. (Photo: Dr Madhurita Gupta (L), Julia Baker (R) Credit: Deb Nash)

Maysoon Zayid is an Arab-American actor and writer with cerebral palsy. Brought up by parents who believed that nothing was impossible, she learnt how to walk by placing her heels on her father's feet. Combating unequal treatment in her profession, Maysoon went on to become a popular stand-up comedian, co-founded the New York Arab-American Comedy Festival and has performed in clubs in the US and the Middle East. Gloria Williston was born with micromelia – one leg shorter than the other - and uses a prosthesis to keep balance when she walks. Growing up in Ghana she faced prejudice and stigmatisation but always kept a positive attitude. She completed her degree and now works at the Orthopaedic Training Centre in Nsawam. Gloria believes that the key factor in her success was her family's 'love all the way'.Photo: Maysoon Zayid (L) Gloria Williston (R).

Farzana Wahidy grew up under the repressive Taliban regime in Afghanistan and as a young girl was banned from studying. Encouraged by her father she attended an underground school, and even set up her own at the age of 14. She later became the first Afghan female photographer to work for international press agencies AFP and AP. Farzana's photos range from street violence to leisurely meals and festivities, from scenes of war brutality to veiled moments of happiness. One of her unique techniques is shooting photos from behind a burkha. Xyza Bacani's black and white photographs uncover the hidden world of domestic workers and victims of human trafficking. She can relate to their plight very well. Originally from the Philippines, she later moved to Hong Kong where together with her mother she looked after six children. Through her poignant images she wants to bring the lives of domestic workers to light. Xyza's work has been published in Vogue Italia and she's now showcasing her first solo exhibition in Manila.(L) Farzana Wahidy. Credit: Meg Prudhomme. (R) Xyza Bacani. Credit: Jan Gonzales.

Karen Lord's writing feeds off the real world but knits in magic, folktales and adventure to create a unique and original universe. She is the author of three books, and her latest is called The Galaxy Game. Karen has won numerous awards including the Frank Collymore Literary award, which recognises literary talent in Barbados. She says that she loves the place where she writes from, because the melting-pot nature of the Caribbean is a constant source of stories and inspiration.Maria Turtschaninoff started writing fairy tales aged five, and now weaves historically inspired worlds of magical realism with elements of mythology. The prizes she's won for her work include the Finlandia Junior Prize, for Maresi, her first novel published in English. Maria says her 'cricket-mind' means she's easily distracted from writing, but her best ideas often come to her when she's bored. Surprisingly, she writes in Swedish, as she comes from the tiny Swedish-speaking minority in Finland.[Picture: Fanstasy writers Karen Lord (Right) and Maria Turtschaninoff (Left)]

Jill Heinerth is the world's top underwater cave explorer. More people have walked on the moon than have ventured to some of the places she has dived. Originally from Canada, and now living in Florida in the US, Jill has broken records mapping whole water courses underground, and once had a narrow escape from cave-diving in an Antarctic iceberg. She takes photographs and video whilst underground, and says that she would never attempt a dangerous dive just for the thrill of it - there has to be a new discovery to pursue.Elen Feuerriegel is a PhD student from Australia who was catapulted into one of the most exciting scientific discoveries of our time, when her caving experience and slim build led to her joining the Rising Star Expedition. This all-women team excavated over a thousand fossils from a deep cave system in South Africa, which at its narrowest point measures just 18 cm. It was announced in September 2015 that these bones were from a previously unknown species of human ancestor, Homo Naledi. (Photo: (L) Jill Heinerth in diving gear, Credit: Wes Skiles. (R) Elen Feuerriegel holding MH1)

Dr Lina Triana is one of Colombia's top plastic surgeons and was the first woman to become president of the country's Plastic Surgery Association. Lina's father is a plastic surgeon and at first he tried to dissuade his daughter from following in his footsteps, saying this wasn't the right job for a woman to do as it doesn't allow for being a good wife and mother. But Lina proved him wrong and now works alongside her father's clinic doing aesthetic procedures including body contouring, breast augmentations and facelifts.Dr Prisca Hwang works for the Korea University Ansan Hospital in Seoul. Like Lina she does aesthetic surgery, which is big business in her city, but also performs reconstructive surgery. This might include working on cancer patients, car crash victims and congenital deformities. Prisca says she makes it clear to patients who want cosmetic surgery that a nose job won't change their lives, and that it's important that she spots any underlying psychological issues.Photos: (L) Dr Prisca Hwang and (R) Dr Lina Triana

Shailee Basnet grew up in the shadow of the Himalayas in Kathmandu, but never thought of mountaineering herself. In her twenties she answered an advert for Nepali women to tackle Everest, and has never looked back. Shailee is now the leader of the first all-women team to successfully complete the Seven Summits Challenge - climbing the tallest mountain on every continent. Katja Staartjes became the first Dutch woman to summit Everest in 1999, and has also done more dangerous climbs of over 8000 metres in Pakistan and Tibet. Katja says she loves putting everything she needs on her back, and setting off into the mountains. Her latest project is opening up the Western part of Nepal to trekking and tourism, by extending the Great Himalaya Trail.Main image: Shailee Basnet (lhs) (credit Shailee Basnet); Katja Staartjes (rhs) (credit Katja Staartjes).

Senem Škulj is a senior forensic anthropologist for the International Commission on Missing Persons in Bosnia. Thousands of people lost their lives during the bloody conflict when Yugoslavia broke up in the early 1990s. Many bodies were thrown into mass graves and it's Senem's job to put a name to the bones that are found and to reunite the remains with relatives, so they can have a proper burial. Kornelia Nehse is a hair and textiles expert, she began her career in the forensics department of the Berlin police 30 years ago. At first Kornelia went to the crime scene to collect evidence, but says it was difficult seeing murder victims, especially the vulnerable ones. Now her job is mainly inside the laboratory working with the tiny microscopic fibres that can help catch and convict an offender.(Photo: Forensic scientists Senem Škulj (Left) and Kornelia Nehse (Right) at work. Kornelia Nehse picture credit: Claudia Wendt)

Parina Subba Limbu first tried drugs as a teenager. Expelled from nine schools, she eventually ran away from home. After a decade of escalating addiction, and many disastrous love affairs with other addicts, Parina finally got help to get clean, and now runs Dristi Nepal, a charity she founded to care for drug-addicted women in Kathmandu, a group she says who are harshly judged by her society.Melinda Ferguson, who grew up in Apartheid-era South Africa, started stealing her mother's brandy aged 10, and was soon experimenting with drugs. In 1993 she tried heroin, which led to a downward spiral that saw her losing her kids, and selling her body for the next hit. Melinda's journey to recovery began in 1999, and has since published two addiction memoirs, Smacked and Crashed.[Picture: Parina Subba Limbu (Left) and Melinda Ferguson(Right) Melinda Ferguson picture credit: Aubrey Johnson ]

Karen Igho Rakos was joint winner of Big Brother Africa in 2011, and was the first Nigerian woman to win the competition. The reality star claims she was "one of the most hated" people on the planet when she entered the house because of her bold personality, but says viewers fell in love with her "good heart". Karen won $200,000, but reveals that dealing with fame has been tough.Alexandra Zazzi hit the reality TV scene when the concept was still in its infancy. She won Sweden's Expedition Robinson, also known as Survivor in 1998, winning $17,000. Alexandra says that back then no one knew the power of this type of television, and that it could catapult contestants to instant fame; for her it was about the challenge of living on a desert island and having to find her own food and shelter.(L) Karen Igho Rakos. Credit: JD Barnes. (R) Alexandra Zazzi. Credit: Peter Jademyr.

Maureen Nzioki is a private investigator based in Nairobi in Kenya, a country where this industry is well established. She says she never feels guilty for trailing a suspected cheating spouse, because she is only following instructions from their husband or wife, whose trust they have broken. Although Maureen loves her job, it has made her cynical about relationships, and she now finds it hard to trust any potential partner.Akriti Khatri runs her own private detective firm in Delhi, and after a decade in the business puts her success down to a combination of confidence, chattiness and patience. Critics say agencies like Akriti's are unregulated, employ illegal surveillance techniques and routinely invade people's privacy, but she says she is providing a useful service, preventing bad marriages from ever taking place, and catching cheats in love and business. (Picture: Private Detectives Maureen Nzioki [Left] and Akriti Khatri [Right])

Growing up in an Israeli kibbutz taught choreographer Jasmin Vardimon all about group dynamics, but she came to dancing relatively late, aged 14. Now artistic director of the Jasmin Vardimon Dance Company in the UK, her visually stunning and exciting performances are inspired by universal themes such as brutality and justice, filtered through the personal experience of her and her dancers. Jasmin says that leading a production is like bringing up a child - at a key point you need to be able to let go and trust the dancers to do their best. Aditi Mangaldas was trained in the classical Indian dance form of kathak from the age of five. Her Aditi Mangaldas Dance Company, Drishtikon Dance Foundation, now performs all over the world. With its fast footwork and rhythmic complexity, kathak gives Aditi a sense of feeling timeless, of being bound to the ground. She believes that there is room for the dance form to evolve and in some of her productions fuses kathak with contemporary dance. Aditi still performs on stage, and on those days says she has to become just one of the company.(L) Aditi Mangaldas. Credit: Dinesh Khanna (R) Jasmin Vardimon. Credit: Ben Harries

As a child, Ameera Ahmad Harouda wanted to be the first female Palestinian fighter pilot, but as an adult she became a pioneer in the news field instead; starting work as Gaza's first female news fixer in 2005. Ameera's work begins when the violence escalates, and she's now the 'go to' person for many international journalists who need to hire a fixer to help them get into Gaza and gain access to stories and people. Al Jazeera camera woman Alina Gracheva grew up in the former Soviet state of Moldova. She's covered some of the biggest news stories in recent history - the war in Chechnya, the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan and the invasion of Iraq, but it was the Beslan school siege in 2004, that had the biggest effect on her. Alina says that instead of focussing on the bombs and bullets, camera women can give a different perspective, "they are more likely to notice a mother in the corner, or a child with dirty fingers". [Picture: Ameera Ahmad Harouda (Left) and Alina Gracheva (Right)]

Subadhra Devi Rai started her nursing career in a busy intensive care unit of a hospital in Singapore. She has also dedicated her life to working with those in desperate need in countries where her skills are in short supply, including Thailand, Nigeria and Laos. Subadhra, who's now a senior lecturer in health studies, recently won the Florence Nightingale International Foundation's International Achievement Award. Rose Kiwanuka isn't saving lives but helping patients as they die, she was Uganda's first palliative care nurse in the early 1990s. Rose, who is the national coordinator of the Palliative Care Association, has the momentous task of making patients and their families, in urban and rural communities, as comfortable as possible about death.(L) Rose Kiwanuka, Palliative Care Nurse, Uganda. Picture Credit: Alan Hofmanis (R) Subadhra Devi Rai, Nurse, Singapore. Picture credit: Nanyang Polytechnic

'You can never tell what type of person is getting into your car' says Iris Javed who has been driving a taxi in New York City for over twenty-two years, 'and once they're in your car you have to deal with it'. Iris, who drove an 18-wheel truck before scaling down to a taxi, has had her fair share of drunk and troublesome passengers - and even one who got into her car completely naked. Karin Holmström has been driving a taxi in Stockholm for twenty years. She says driving is only a tiny part of the job - 'you more or less have to be a mother, a priest and a psychologist'. She's doled out relationship advice and consoled the lonely and although she welcomes all kinds of passengers, Karin has one hard and fast rule about fast food - 'they will never eat hamburgers and hotdogs in my car. I'm not a restaurant!'(Picture: Iris Javed (Left) and Karin Holmström (Right - Credit: Stockholm Taxis)

Cori Schumacher was surfing before she was born - her mother, also a professional surfer, carried on surfing while she was pregnant. Cori got her first board when she was five and was competing by eight. She quickly came to love the sport and her dedication led her to become a three-time world champion. However, she came to have reservations about aspects of surf culture and the pressure placed on female athletes to be attractive and thin. She now campaigns to raise the status of women's surfing and to make surf culture more inclusive. Ishita Malaviya grew up in Mumbai where there was very little surf culture. Many Indians, she says, have a fear of the sea. Ishita first learnt to surf at university. She and her boyfriend saved up to buy a second-hand board which they shared - one of them would practise in the waves while the other cheered from the beach. Now Ishita has been recognised as India's first female professional surfer. She runs a school where she 'spreads the stoke of surfing' to other Indians. (Photo: (Left) Cori Schumacher. Credit: Maria Cerda. (Right) Ishita Malaviya. Credit: The Shaka Surf Club)

Norma Foster from Scotland discovered karate in her teens when her male friends began taking classes and using Japanese words that were strange to her. She decided to start learning herself but when it came to competitions she found herself the only woman in the room. She wasn't deterred and after spending eight years in Tokyo studying karate she now has a sixth degree black belt. Norma became the first female referee at the World Karate Federation, but her career was not without obstacles: on one occasion a competition was shut down because a member of the referee committee claimed that women were not allowed to judge male athletes. Now she wants to increase the number of women referees at all levels of the sport. Natália Falavigna from Brazil knew she wanted to be an Olympic athlete from the age of four. She tried several sports before finding taekwondo. When her teacher told her he could make her a world champion she realised she'd found what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. She enjoys the 'explosive' nature of taekwondo which involves high-energy kicking and spinning, and the challenge of mastering her emotions during a fight. In 2004 she achieved her dream of competing in the Olympics, coming fourth place. Then in 2008 she won bronze at the Summer Olympics, becoming the first Brazilian to win an Olympic medal in taekwondo.Picture: Norma Foster (Right) and Natália Falavigna (Left) Picture credits: Peter Stoddart (Right) /Fausto Roim (Left)

To celebrate the programme's first birthday, Kim Chakanetsa is at Parktown High School for Girls in Johannesburg, bringing 22 students who are in their final year and about to set out into the world, together with two dynamic southern African women who share a passion for connecting people through technology.Khosi Zwane-Siguqa is Head of Content for the communications app WeChat Africa. She dropped out of a law degree to become a community journalist, a move her father was not happy about - but she says she has made him proud by going on to have a stellar career, becoming the youngest ever editor of South Africa's iconic Drum magazine. Her move into tech came recently, and she is now using her story-telling skills to create engaging and relevant content for one of Africa's newest digital platforms. She says her approach to content is all about community, and she is passionate about finding African solutions to African problems through technology.Emma Kaye is founder and CEO of Bozza, an online platform that links local artists and musicians with a global audience, and enables communities to tell their stories from the inside out. A serial entrepreneur, Emma says she and risk have always been good friends - she jumps in, and only does the things she loves. After trail-blazing in South African films and animation, she realised that the next big screen in Africa was going to be the mobile phone, so went into developing apps and content. Frustrated by how few story-tellers were getting exposure, she did something about it, and her platform is now helping 10,000 artists across Africa to be their own boss. The girls about to finish high school share their hopes and ideas for their futures, ask searching questions and seek advice from Khosi and Emma, on how to grow their confidence and achieve their dreams.Picture: Kim Chakanetsa with Emma Kaye, Khosi Zwane-Siguqa and pupils at Parktown High School for Girls, Johannesburg, South Africa

Lyric soprano Danielle de Niese was a star performer at Last Night of the Proms 2015. It was another milestone in this Australian-born American star's glittering career. Growing up, Danielle won various talent and television competitions and debuted at New York's prestigious Metropolitan Opera House when she was 19 years old. She says she knew she wanted to sing opera from the age of eight. Described as "opera's coolest soprano", Danielle is best known for her performances of Handel, Mozart, baroque music, as well as her reality TV shows, including The Diva Diaries.South African soprano Pretty Yende discovered opera by chance. She was 16 years old and watching a television advertisement for an airline, which featured The Flower Duet, from the opera Lakme by Léo Delibes. Pretty fell in love with the sound and instantly wanted to imitate it. She went to be classically trained at Cape Town University and then got a place at the Accademia Teatro alla Scala, in Milan. In 2011 Pretty won first prize in Placido Domingo's Operalia competition and two years later she shot to fame when, at short notice, she had to stand in to perform Countess Adele in Rossini's opera, Le Comte Ory. This was Pretty's Metropolitan Opera House debut. (Picture: Opera singers Danielle de Niese (left) and Pretty Yende. Credits: Chris Dunlop/Kim Fox)

Jóhanna Bergmann Þorvaldsdóttir grew up on an Icelandic farm that has been in her family for three generations. She has always loved Icelandic goats - a rare and beautiful breed - and when she took over the family farm she decided to concentrate on raising them. Iceland did not have a big market for goat products but Jóhanna slowly built a customer base for her goats milk, cheese, wool and meat. After the country entered a financial crisis in 2008, Jóhanna ended up in danger of having to sell her farm. This would have been a great loss to her, but could have led to extinction for the Icelandic goat as Jóhanna's was the only commercial farm still breeding them. She saved her goats with the help of a crowdfunding website and, to her great surprise, thousands of 'Game of Thrones' fans. Rashida Khan is a cattle producer and animal nutritionist. She runs a stud farm and a cattle station in Northern Australia. Rashida has Afghan and Aboriginal heritage and her family has worked with livestock in the Northern Territory for three generations. When the Australian government banned the export of live cattle to Indonesia following evidence of cruelty in the livestock industry there, Rashida and many like her were affected. She knew that many cattle workers live in remote, isolated places so she turned to social media to offer support to those struggling to adjust after the ban.(Photo: Jóhanna Bergmann Þorvaldsdóttir (left). Credit: Audra Mulkern of the Female Farmer Project. (Right) Rashida Khan)

Visaka Dharmadasa is a celebrated Sri Lankan peace activist whose son went missing in action in 1998, while fighting for the Sri Lankan army against Tamil Tiger rebels. She won a landmark case against the government to get DNA checks done to trace missing soldiers and she works with mothers from both sides of the conflict, Tamils and Sinhalese, for a peaceful future. Visaka's work and her belief that her son is still alive keep her sane; she still keeps the chocolates in the freezer, that she bought for him 15 years ago, waiting for his return.Luz Villamil is Colombian Palestinian. Her father was kidnapped by Farc left wing guerrillas in 1998, but released after 81 days. Luz's family's joy was short lived as two years later her brother went missing from a Colombian seaside resort. His disappearance has remained a mystery and they have no clues, only rumour and speculation. Luz hopes her brother is hearing the messages her family sends out on a Colombian radio show that features relatives of kidnapped and missing people.Left: Luz Villamil, Credit: Angelika Bakou Right: Visaka Dharmadasa. Credit: None

Sangduen 'Lek' Chailert comes from the small hill tribe village of Baan Lao in northern Thailand. At a young age she heard the screams of an elephant that was being forced to work in terrible conditions for the logging industry. Lek felt compelled to help it. Although she had no training she bought some medicine and soon she was being called upon to treat other local elephants. She later formed the Save Elephant Foundation to advocate for the rights of these animals in Thailand and the Elephant Nature Park, a protected area where rescued elephants receive protection and form new herds. Lek says that rebuilding an elephant's trust in humans can be a challenge - 'they never forget' - but she's found a novel technique: singing them lullabies. Saba Douglas-Hamilton was born in Kenya where her father worked as a prominent elephant conservationist. In fact she says she was 'baptised in elephant's breath' as her mother introduced her to wild elephants when she was a baby. Today she works for the charity her family started, Save the Elephants, which researches their behaviour and works with local people to promote human-elephant co-existence. She once feared for her life when she woke in the night to find a wild bull elephant towering over her mattress. Unperturbed by this, she says 'I find elephants endlessly fascinating…We recognise in them, and they recognise in us, a parallel intelligence'. (L) Saba Douglas-Hamilton. Credit: Sam Gracey (R) Sangduen 'Lek' Chailert. Credit: Save Elephant Foundation

Lauren LeRoy is a 25-year-old funeral director from New York State. She says she knew she wanted to do this job from the age of 12. Lauren works at a funeral home established by her great uncle, and explains that you have to be good at reading a situation to know how to deal with each grieving family. The worst part of the job for Lauren is the moment just before she closes the casket for the final time and the family are saying their last goodbyes, knowing they won't see their relative again. Nomthetho Zote runs a funeral parlour in South Africa's Eastern Cape Province. The funeral business is in her blood too, she took over the home from her parents. When Nomthetho was growing up she says death was less common, people generally died of old age, but the high prevalence of HIV/ AIDS in the country has made death an every day thing. Nomthetho even gets calls at 3am from families asking for her help, and she says whatever time of day it is you always have to be patient and kind with grieving people. (Picture: Nomthetho Zote (Left) and Lauren LeRoy (Right). Credit: Amanda Polanski)

Jenny Brusk didn't know what she was letting herself in for when she enrolled in a university Masters course in computing in 1990. She went on to become Sweden's first female games developer but she was often mistaken for the company receptionist. The experience made her stronger. She says, "rather than go hide somewhere in the office I would fill my space". Jenny is now researching how game characters can be made more psychologically realistic by using natural speech, gossip and lies. She is also the founder of DONNA, an organisation which aims to attract more women into the games industry.Roboticist Angelica Lim is a self-professed 'geek' who programmes robots to have more 'human' traits, like compassion and empathy. She has lived, baked biscuits and made music with a robot, all in the name of research. The goal is creating the perfect companion robot which might provide help and therapy to the elderly or provide assistance at home to anyone. At some points when she was sharing her home with the robot, Angelica found herself questioning the relationship asking, "is it my servant or is it my kid?"(Photo (L): Jenny Brusk, credit: Torbjörn Svensson. (R): Angelica Lim, credit: Andy Heather)

Iliana Fokianaki is from Athens and is an art curator, critic and journalist. She also runs a non-profit contemporary art gallery which opened its doors in the Greek capital last year. Iliana describes seeing people rummaging through bins on a daily basis, which didn't happen before the crisis. She is in her mid-thirties and reveals that even though she would like to have a child, she can't because she can't afford to. Bettina Rosenqvist is from Caracas and recently opened a new juice bar despite the financial situation. She says that queuing for hours at the supermarket for essential products and dealing with constant price rises has become the norm. Bettina won't visit the cinema anymore as she's scared to sit in dark places because she feels muggings have increased in the Venezuelan capital as people get more desperate.

Anastasia IV from Poland joined the circus at eighteen. She performs one of the most risky and unusual acts in the circus: hair-hanging. Anastasia endures pain in her scalp and neck as she swings around the auditorium suspended by a metal ring which is plaited into her hair. She says it's 'the closest you can get to actually flying like a bird' Sarah Swarz grew up in a circus family in Germany and started performing at the age of ten. She trained as a wire walker, contortionist and acrobat. She and her husband live in a trailer and travel with their Piglet Circus where her pig Max, is the 'boss of the show' - he can use a microphone and is trained to undo her clothes for a striptease routine.Anastasia IV (r) (credit: Circus of Horrors) Sarah Schwarz (l) (credit: Jessica Ford)

Simone Singh is an award winning Indian television and film actress. She became a household name for playing the title role in the popular serial drama Heena. The audience was sympathetic to the heroine of this show, but Simone says even when she played a "baddie" she doesn't lose fans because "they remember your past work, they love you anyway". Sarah Mayberry works on Australia's longest running soap opera, Neighbours, as a script writer and story liner. She describes the storyline meetings as intense, where the team "absolutely bare their souls" when using personal experience to brainstorm ideas. Sarah has worked on Neighbours for 16 years and says they "spread the villainy across the sexes".(Picture: Simone Singh - Left and Sarah Mayberry - Right)

Mahboba Rawi was a teenager when the Soviet-Afghan War broke out. She led protests against Soviet control in her high school. After she was nearly arrested, she decided to flee the country. Along with millions of others, Mahboba made the ten day walk to the border with Pakistan, not knowing whether she would ever see the relatives she was leaving behind again. Eventually, she married an Afghan-Australian man and settled with him in Australia. Life took another tragic turn when her son drowned in an accident. His death moved her to set up her own charity, Mahboba's Promise which supports impoverished children and widows in Afghanistan. Cynthia Masiyiwa left Zimbabwe ten years ago when the country was in political and economic crisis. Worried for her future, her parents sent her to live with her sister in the UK. Cynthia thought the UK would be a "land of opportunities", but she quickly experienced several setbacks. She disliked the cold climate, the "frosty" behaviour of Londoners - and then her mother died. As the only black student in her class, Cynthia was shocked to experience racism; in fact she jokes that running from bullies helped her become a 'champion sprinter'. Later she gained the confidence to challenge the prejudices of her peers and eventually her classmates became her allies. Now she works for Citizens UK helping other young migrants to navigate the immigration system and even persuading the government to improve it.(Photo: Cynthia Masiyiwa. Credit: Cynthia Masiyiwa) (Photo: Mahboba Rawi. Credit: Rob Tuckwell Photography)

Agony aunt Criselda Kananda found out she was HIV positive 16 years ago and was given two years to live. Determined to change her fate, the South African discovered that most of the information available about the illness was full of stereotypes and judgements. So she made it her mission to help others and became a well-known radio and TV presenter, offering advice on health and well-being. But this is not an easy job. She reveals that in order to cope with other people's pain and emotions she gives herself a 'cry day', followed by 'laughter therapy'. For almost a decade, the acclaimed Chinese author Xinran Xue hosted a call-in radio show that made her famous in her country. She offered advice to thousands of women on how to cope with traumatic experiences like domestic violence. As an agony aunt Xinran says that her callers inspired her and she learnt from their experiences. However, she became so affected by their stories that she left China in 1997 and settled in London. Since then, Xinran has published seven books, which include some of the issues she heard on her radio programme. In her latest title, Buy Me the Sky, she turns her attention to Chinese children born under the one-child policy, implemented in 1978.(Photo: Criselda Kananda. Credit: Metrofm; Xinran Xue. Credit: Juliana Johnston)

Maureen Kamari's cakes were always a hit in her office. They were so popular with her colleagues that they started to pay her to bake birthday cakes. Maureen realised she could turn her skills into a business and set up Amari Quickbreads, a bakery delivery service. She also passes her kitchen know-how on to other would-be cooks by giving training sessions. However, Maureen reveals that her path to success hasn't always been an easy one and she's had to learn how to recover from failure quickly. Serah Kanyua has also learnt some tough lessons on her business journey. She was known for having an eye for style at university and people would ask her to hunt out clothes for them. She got together with some friends and turned her passion for fashion into Closet49, an online start-up, which connects women who want to buy and sell clothes. Serah says persistence, determination and courage are key to being your own boss and making it work.

Captain Niloofar Rahmani is a pilot in the Afghan Air Force. Although there were female helicopter pilots before her, she is the first woman in the history of Afghanistan's military to fly a fixed-wing plane. The 23-year-old takes charge of cargo planes which are used to carry people and supplies to conflict zones. She was inspired, she says, "by my father's dreams." After Niloofar's story was first publicised she began to receive threats from the Taliban and others in Afghanistan who thought her career choice was inappropriate for a woman. First Officer Esther Mbabazi is the first Rwandan woman to qualify as a commercial airline pilot. As the daughter of travelling missionaries her ambition to fly was formed as a 4-year-old passenger, entranced by the on-board crew and atmosphere. Now at 26 Esther regularly flies routes all over Africa but sometimes her passengers say they won't fly with a female pilot. She tells them that they're "welcome to jump off, and good luck getting a refund!"Presenter: Kim ChakanetsaPictures: Niloofar-Rahmani. Credit: Shah Marai, AFP, Getty Esther Mbabazi. Credit: Esther Mbabazi

Jane Serwanga started her career with ambitions of being a high-earning commercial lawyer, but a revelation that the law can discriminate against women inspired her to enter women's rights law . Now she works with Equality Now, an international women's rights advocacy organisation. She might be working on a case defending the rights of one woman to inherit property or be safe from violence, but she and her colleagues will be thinking strategically about how to use that case to bring about changes in the law that benefit all women. Niranjali Amerasinghe grew up in Sri Lanka during the country's civil war. She was inspired to become a lawyer after watching the role that the law played in attempts to resolve disputes and prevent further conflict. As the director of the Climate Change Program at the Centre for International Environmental Law in Washington DC, Niranjali travels the world attending conferences and negotiations trying to convince governments and big companies to make promises that will protect the environment. She also advises communities affected by environmental damage on how to use the law to defend their rights.(Photo: Jane Serwanga (left) and Niranjali Amerasinghe)

Grammy award-winning backing singer Lisa Fischer has been performing with The Rolling Stones since 1989. She says duetting with Mick Jagger is electric, "he's unpredictable and he's exciting and he's mischievous". Lisa grew up in a musical family and trained to be an opera singer, but soon swapped the theatre for the New York club scene. She describes Luther Vandross as her mentor; he taught her to "wait, listen and don't sing while I'm trying to teach you the part". Lisa says the key to being a good backing singer is to listen to what the artist says, and to "what they don't say".Kanika Kapoor is an award-winning performer who has made her name as a 'playback' singer in Indian cinema. Leading actresses in the all-singing, all-dancing Bollywood musical blockbusters mime to her vocals. Kanika says you have to "become" the actress, because "body language has to come out of your vocals". She was classically trained from a young age, but her voice has only recently become the soundtrack of some of India's biggest films. She sang the song Lovely for Deepika Padukone in the hit movie Happy New Year and recently won the Filmfare award for Best Female Playback Singer, for the song Baby Doll.(Picture: Lisa Fischer (left). Credit: Djeneba Aduayom. Kanika Kapoor (right) Credit: Tim Whitby/Getty Images]

Elizabeth Stone has swum for Team USA in three Paralympic Games and has won three medals. Her achievements are all the more surprising because she started life in a Georgian orphanage. Elizabeth got her first prosthetic at 4 years old and not wearing it in the water is part of the reason she loves her sport. Her sporting fame led to an emotional reunion with her birth family in Georgia. Elizabeth is now considering whether to take up the triathlon. Vanessa Low joins us fresh from setting a new world record. The German long-jump star lost her legs as a teenager after being hit by a train. It took almost 3 years for her to walk confidently on her prosthetic legs and she talks about her disappointment in the way they looked and felt. Now Vanessa is training hard for the 2016 Paralympics in Rio but points out that without adequate funding she can barely afford to pay for her running legs. Presenter: Kim Chakanetsa

Lorena Feijoo is a principal dancer with the San Francisco Ballet. Lorena was born into the world of ballet in her native Havana. Her mother was a dancer with Cuba's National Ballet and she remembers being looked after by the costume managers whilst her mum was performing. Her sister Lorna also followed in her footsteps and Lorena is now married to a dancer, she has performed with both of them. Lorena's career has taken her to Europe and America, but she is always grateful for the free ballet training she received as a child in Cuba. Kitty Phetla grew up as a tomboy in a township in Soweto and did not know what ballet was until the age of nine. She was given the option of joining a ballet or karate group and thought she would not do the 'obvious' thing and went for ballet. Kitty danced with the Ballet Theatre Africans and is now a senior soloist and choreographer with the Joburg Ballet. Kitty is known for performing The Dying Swan, a piece made famous by legendary Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova. Kitty's version has an African twist though, instead of wearing a white tutu, pink tights and pointe shoes, she breaks with tradition to perform in an all-black costume to become The Black Dying Swan.(Photo: Lorena Feijoo (left) Kitty Phetla (right). Credit: Erik Tomasson, Susanne Holbaek)

Colombian Tatiana Calderón has gone from a teenage go-kart champion to a Formula 3 driver who reaches 280 kph at top speed. Her sights are set firmly on Formula 1. Tatiana is mentored by one of F1's most prominent women, the test driver Susie Wolff, and she describes how that's helped her handle other people's doubts about her abilities. Aggression on the track, training hard in the gym, and technical know-how are Tatiania's tactics for achieving her dream to get spotted by an F1 team. Ramona Karlsson is one of Sweden's most successful rally drivers, and is now a rising star in rallycross - where the races are shorter, the acceleration "explosive", and where there is wheel-to-wheel contact between the cars. Off the track she has had to overcome extreme shyness to approach sponsors and run her own team. She managed to do it, spurred on by her passion for racing cars and her determination to correct sexist attitudes towards female drivers. Tatiana Calderón. Picture credit: shoot-pro.de Ramona Karlsson. Picture credit: Glenn MattsingPresenter: Kim Chakanetsa

When Maria Luisa Catrambone helps to treat children who have serious burns and bloody injuries she says you need to control your facial expressions carefully and not show any sign of shock, so you don't scare them. This is something the teenager has learnt to do when going on rescue missions with the Migrant Offshore Aid Station - saving men, women and children from drowning in the Mediterranean Sea, where thousands of migrants have lost their lives trying to reach Europe in the past year. Maria feels this work is her "calling" and worked hard to convince her mum and dad, who set up MOAS, to let her join them. Our second guest, who we've called 'Gardenia' for security reasons, works with the Syrian Civil Defence, a group of unarmed volunteers who rescue and treat victims of bomb blasts and sniper attacks. Gardenia has worked in a field hospital in Syria's southern city of Deraa for the past few years. She says if someone's lost a leg you have to reassure them "it's ok" to lose a limb, even though she knows it's not ok. Gardenia only lets herself get emotional about what she sees when she gets home "because you cannot cry in front of their eyes". Even before the conflict in Syria Gardenia knew she wanted to help save lives, so when she saw people dying in front of her she knew she had to help. Maria Luisa (lhs) credit: Migrant Offshore Aid Station Medic with blood stained hands credit: ANWAR AMRO / AFP / Getty Images

Naballah Chi is a 25-year-old fashion blogger, model and hijab stylist from Trinidad and Tobago. Her blog celebrates colourful clothes inspired by her Caribbean island home, but it also addresses the concerns and questions of her followers. Naballah has worn the hijab since kindergarten, but as an aspiring model she acknowledges that keeping the commitment can be a struggle and describes the guilt she felt when she removed it to take part in a beauty pageant. Hidaya Mohamad is a Javanese-Malaysian graduate student in Japan and feels she looks "like an alien" being the only hijabi on campus. Her philosophy is that if you're going to get noticed, you should wear good clothes and have fun. She is a student of foreign affairs and a fashionista with her own style blog, who says the hijab enables her to control who sees her body, "it liberates me .... but it does not define me." (Photo: Hidaya Mohamed and Naballah Chi. Credits: Ryuuzaki Julio and Luis Young)Presenter: Kim Chakanetsa

Cecilia Braekhus is considered one of the best female boxers, pound for pound, in the world. She's known in the ring as'The First Lady, because she was the first woman to be taken on by one of Europe's biggest boxing promoters and has held all of the major boxing belts simultaneously. It hasn't been easy for Cecilia to make it in her career: boxing was banned in her native Norway until 2014, so she had to move to Germany to succeed. But she was highly motivated and admits: "The people who do this are not ordinary people, we need the adrenalin, we need the action". Cecilia says she doesn't want to be seen as a sex symbol, and has "respectfully" turned down offers to pose for men's magazines. She wants fans to come to her matches to see her fight, not "look up under my skirt". And in the other corner we have Hanna Gabriels from Costa Rica. Hanna didn't start out as a boxer, she was a runner, but a back injury as a teenager put a stop to a promising athletic career. As a result she gained weight, which made her unhappy, and her dad, who was an amateur boxer, told her to try boxing to get back into shape. Hanna fell in love with the sport and has gone on to win several international victories. She says that Costa Rica is a "soccer country", so promoting herself outside the ring has been tough, but was amazed when she managed to get 15,000 people in a stadium to watch her fight. Picture: Cecilia Braekhus (Left), Hanna Gabriels (Right) Cecilia Braekhus picture credit: Trygve Indrelid