International Women's Day is celebrated on March 8 every year. However, this day shouldn't be the only time we recognize women and their achievements. There are roughly 4.09 billion women in the world, as of 2025, and each of us is capable of amazing things. Here are some Gen Z women who have taught us (and are still teaching us) what success looks like - that you may not have heard of before.

Amanda Gorman

Amanda Gorman has climbed her way to the top in 2021, performing her original poem, "The Hill We Climb" at Joe Biden's inauguration. She is the first poet to perform at the Super Bowl that same year. Along with being a poet, she's also an activist, focusing on social justice issues such as race, feminism, and more.

In 2015, she published a book titled The One for Whom Food Is Not Enough, which was followed by several more over the years. Several of her books became bestsellers even before they were released!

Due to her work, Gorman has received many honors. She was the first person to be named National Youth Poet Laureate (2017) and recognized in Time magazine's Time 100 list. For her books, she won the Goodreads Choice Awards in 2021 and 2022. Additionally, as probably the most interesting one of her recognitions, in 2022, a new species of alga in New York, the Gormaniella terricola, was named after her.

Amanda Gorman shows us how powerful our thoughts can be. She has reached great heights by putting her thoughts to paper, and we all have the ability to do that as well. By communicating with others, Gorman fosters a sense of inclusion and understanding, which is something we should all strive to experience.

Take the Quiz: What K-Drama Character Are You The Most Like?

Take this quiz to find out which K-Drama Character you're like the most!

Gabrielle Jordan

Gabrielle Jordan teaches us just how young we can be to make an impact with her company Jewelz of Jordan, which she started at the age of 9. She is also the co-founder of the ExCEL Youth Mentoring Institute, an online mentoring organization. She didn't stop there, since she used her talents to teach us all how to be successful entrepreneurs as well with her #1 Amazon bestselling book, The Making of a Young Entrepreneur: A Kids Guide to Developing the Mind-Set for Success. She currently hosts The UV Effect Podcast, where she, along with her guest,s share motivational advice for listeners of all ages.

Jordan has worked with many companies and organizations, such as United States Embassy Nassau, the Congressional Black Caucus, and even Google! For her work, she has won the Greater Prince George’s Business Roundtable Outstanding CEO Award in 2012, Nehemiah Davis Foundation Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2015, and received the key to the city of Corpus Christi, Texas, among many more.

If you've ever thought about starting a business, Gabrielle Jordan is the perfect person to look up to. Starting as a small store in elementary school, her ambitions blossomed into a successful career. She teaches us that no dream is too unfathomable, and you can create success from scratch.

Marsai Martin

Marsai Martin is the youngest person to ever get a deal with a production studio. At the age of 13, she became executive producer of the movie Little by Universal Pictures. However, she has been in the movie industry a lot longer than that, playing Diane Johnson on the ABC sitcom Black-ish.

In 2019, when Martin was 14 years old, she signed a first-look deal with Universal Studios. She is the youngest person to do so, and the youngest person to get any deal with any studio.

For her immense dedication to her work as an actress and producer, Martin has received many awards, including the YoungStars Award by BET Awards (2018), Choice Movie Actress - Comedy by Teen Choice Awards (2019), and NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for Little (2020).

Marsai Martin demonstrates just how young you can be to follow your passions. It's important not to let your age stop you when you set your mind on something. Whether you're 13, 20, or 79, everyone is capable of and has the right to seek success.

Naomi Osaka

Naomi Osaka is an outstanding tennis player. The Women's Tennis Association has labeled her the World No. 1 in singles for 25 weeks. She has won 7 tour-level titles, including 4 major ones, and she was the first Japanese player to win a major title.

Osaka proved her ability to do everything she wanted by taking maternity leave in 2023 and bouncing back as high as she was before it. She is also an activist, publicly supporting the Black Lives Matter Movement.

In 2020, Osaka had the highest income of any female athlete. Time magazine recognized her as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2019, 2020, and 2021. Her fame has led her to be an ambassador of large brands such as Nissan, Louis Vuitton, and Nissin Foods.

She also works with companies including Mastercard, PlayStation, Levi's, Airbnb, and GoDaddy. In 2021, Netflix created a series about her life.

Osaka teaches us that we can achieve all of our dreams and we don't have to settle for just one path. We can be career-oriented yet also focus on our family and social image. If you're an athlete, you should definitely keep her on your radar!

Scarlett Curtis

Scarlett Curtis, a champion of women's rights and equality, founded a collective in 2017: "The Pink Protest". She organized the #FreePeriods campaign to make supplies accessible to all women, regardless of economic status. A championer of collective voices, she has curated several anthologies of essays by women around the world.

One of them is Feminists Don't Wear Pink & Other Lies, which became a Sunday Times bestseller and won the 2018 National Book Award for Young Adult Book of the Year. All profit from purchases of this book was given to the United Nations Foundation Girl Up. Empowered by the success this book got, Curtis began a podcast of the same name as her book. Feminists Don't Wear Pink was also adapted into a TV show by Mark Gordon Pictures in 2021 and titled Girls Can't Shoot (& Other Lies).

Curtis was labeled by BBC as one of the 100 Women of 2019. Her success represents the result of a lifetime of dedication to her cause and the will to see it through to the end. She shows us all what we can achieve if we continue to work for what we believe in despite what others may think of it, and how rewarding it can be when we reach the right people.

Conclusion

Image Credit: Chelsi Peter from Pexels

4 billion women in the world, and these are only five examples of female role models. There are so many more women that represent quality human traits, and even more in the past centuries. I encourage you to do your own research on the lives of these figures, whether currently alive or historical. What all of them have in common is the passion for their dreams and the willingness to carry them out, and with this mindset, we can follow in the footsteps of these women who redefined success and create a definition for ourselves.