Gratitude-Driven Leadership: A Mediterranean Mindset for Building Empowered Teams
- Nov 13
- 3 min read
By Bashak Ilhan
My entrepreneurial journey started long before I even knew the word “entrepreneur.” I was a little girl growing up in a family business, and my father made sure I was part of everything he was building. As the older of two daughters, I was never told that there were things I couldn’t do because I was a girl. Gender limitations simply didn’t exist in our home — they were not part of my DNA. I grew up believing that if I was curious, willing to learn, and ready to work hard, there was nothing beyond my reach.
This early foundation shaped the leader I am today. It gave me a mindset where resilience, curiosity, and possibility are second nature. But it was only when I stepped fully into the business world that I began to see the incredible strength and determination of women around me. Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of building deep relationships with brilliant, ambitious, and generous women — founders, leaders, creators — who continuously inspire me.
Today, I lead a company of 25 women, surrounded by women partners, women-led businesses, and women entrepreneurs from all over the world. Together, we help global fashion and lifestyle brands enter and scale in the U.S. retail market — from brand strategy and digital presence to getting into major department stores like Nordstrom, Saks, and Neiman Marcus. But beyond what we do, it’s how we do it that matters most to me.
At the core of my leadership is kindness. It’s not a soft skill — it’s a strategic one. Kindness builds trust, and trust builds teams. It creates environments where people feel seen, valued, and empowered to do their best work. It turns colleagues into collaborators and clients into long-term partners. For me, kindness is not about being agreeable all the time; it’s about leading with empathy, clarity, and respect — even when hard decisions must be made.
As a Mediterranean woman, I’ve always had the instinct to combine reason with emotion. I trust my logic, but I also deeply trust my intuition — that “gut feeling” that has guided me through every major decision in business and life. This balance between head and heart is one of the greatest gifts of my culture and upbringing. It’s also what allows me to lead not just with ambition, but with purpose.
Gratitude is woven into everything I do. I am grateful for the opportunities I’ve had, the challenges that taught me resilience, and the incredible women who continue to shape my world.
I make it a daily practice to express that gratitude — to my team for their dedication, to our partners for their trust, and even to myself for continuing to show up and grow. Gratitude shifts how we lead: it turns pressure into perspective, and it reminds us that success is never built alone.
I also carry this gratitude into how I mentor and support others. I believe that as women, one of the most powerful things we can do is lift each other up — not just by offering advice, but by opening doors, sharing networks, and celebrating each other’s wins as if they were our own. The women who supported me in my journey are part of my story, and I strive to be part of someone else’s story in the same way.
Leadership, for me, is not about titles or hierarchy — it’s about energy, connection, and collective impact. It’s about creating spaces where women feel safe to dream bigger, speak louder, and build boldly.
Gratitude and kindness aren’t just values I believe in; they are the compass that guides how I build, lead, and live.
As I look ahead, I know the future will bring new challenges and new opportunities. But I also know that as long as I lead with gratitude, stay grounded in kindness, and continue blending reason with intuition, that future will always be worth building — not just for myself, but for every woman walking beside me.
Connect With Bashak
Instagram: @bashakilhan
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