Whether it is environmental activism, storytelling, politics or business, women have made great sacrifices to break the "glass ceiling" and pursue their dreams.
ABC Radio Sydney has spoken to four ladies who represent different professions, generations and cultures about their journeys and aspirations.
So, what are their definitions of success?
'More diversity in politics and decision-making bodies'
When Charishma Kaliyanda was elected to Liverpool City Council in 2016, she became one of only 11 female councillors in the local government area's 144-year history.
Ms Kaliyanda, who had previously missed out on a council seat in 2012, says success is "about consistently showing up and getting back up again".
"As someone who has chosen a pretty unconventional path, I struggled with self-doubt and impostor syndrome," Ms Kaliyanda said.
"Being a candidate and navigating an unfamiliar system, fundraising and egos was also a huge learning curve."
The then 27-year-old politician's appointment also made her the youngest and first Indian-Australian councillor in Liverpool.
"I'd love to see more diversity in politics and decision-making bodies," she said.
"Our institutions are best served when they have people that reflect the broad spectrum of experiences within our community at the decision-making table."
Ms Kaliyanda recalls attending the NSW Parliament ballot draw in 2015 with her mother and grandmother and says they have been instrumental in her political career.
'A clean, healthy, safe environment'
Greenpeace Lawyer Katrina Bullock shows corporate law is not "just about protecting the interests of conglomerates".
"Awards, accolades and titles will never be the metrics by which I measure my success," Ms Bullock said.
As Greenpeace Australia Pacific's general counsel, Ms Bullock has had the opportunity to work on many "meaningful and impactful" environmental projects to combat climate change.
The Central Coast-based lawyer was involved in a project to successfully convince Norwegian oil producer Equinor to abandon plans to drill for oil in the Great Australian Bight Marine Park.
"I think the challenge with a lot of these campaigns is that the overarching goal can often feel impossible until it is achieved," she said.
"There are long nights and early mornings, along with moments of self-doubt and feeling overwhelmed."
The 2020 winner of Lawyers Weekly's 30 under 30 Corporate Counsel (SME) Award says "an incredible team of people" have inspired her to overcome these challenges with their "intellect and unwavering vision of hope for the future".
"As women, we often have an innate emotional intelligence, intuition and empathy."
"I am often working with communities and harnessing people power to create change, so these skills are essential."
'Food brings me great fulfilment'
Owning two successful food businesses, "proud" entrepreneur Diem Kieu Fuggersberger never forgets the two times her family was plunged into poverty.
"The challenges from my early age have taught me a lot about resilience and survival," she said.
Arriving in Australia as a Vietnamese refugee in 1976, Ms Fuggersberger's family had no money and did not speak "a word of English". She associates her fondest memories as an eight-year-old girl with her family's "delicious meals".
"There were 15 of us living in poverty and crammed up in a three-bedroom home in Punchbowl," she said.
"We didn't have much back then, but we had each other, and we loved to eat and cook."
"This is the origin of my vision and mission in life to work in food and all about feeding people — it makes me truly happy and is what has driven me my whole life."
Hundreds of stores under supermarket giants are now stocking frozen meals by Diem's Coco & Lucas company. Diem developed the recipes for these dishes in her own home kitchen to facilitate her daughter's "fussy" eating habit and her nephew's food allergies.
Ms Fuggersberger won the Optus Businesswoman of the Year Award in 2017.
"What started out as a necessity to make a living for my family and to get us on our feet to me to a place beyond my imagination, with numerous national awards," she said.
Looking at today's success, it is hard to imagine the Fuggersbergers once found themselves $900,000 in debt and without a home in 2009, as a result of the global financial crisis.
"It really struck me hard when I realised we couldn't even afford medicine for my daughter's cough because we were two dollars short," she said.
"We were distraught, but we didn't lose everything, because our marriage was intact, we were healthy and could still make use of our brains and working hands."
"It took us five years to get back on track, but we got there at the end."
Mrs Fuggersberger says she is "grateful for the hardships" she has endured because they taught her the "value of hard work.
'Success comes in many shapes and forms'
From tripe j's Creatures of the Spotlight and Morning Show to TV programs such as Recovery, Race Around the World and Two Shot, Sarah Macdonald is a prolific broadcaster with an impressive portfolio.
When asked what her next big goal was, ABC Radio Sydney's Evenings host Sarah Macdonald gave a simple answer — to get through her emergency broadcasting duty that night.
"I just want to rock up and do things as well as I can," she said.
" As we have gone from fire, COVID, floods, COVID and COVID to floods, you can't really plan for everything and need to constantly adjust along the way,"
The Surry Hills-born presenter doesn't believe in having just one definition of success
"I think success comes in many shapes and forms," she said.
"If you have just one overarching goal, then you are missing the opportunity of now."
"If you are too single-minded, you are not alive to other opportunities currently present in your life."
In 1999, she left a successful career as a journalist at triple j to live with her then-boyfriend, now-husband Jonathan Harley in India.
Here, I she wrote about her journey of soul searching in the South Asian country in the book Holy Cow — which is still an India travel bible for many readers until today.
"If you can have some wins within those parameters, that is success to me."
Ms Macdonald claims to have a "complicated relationship" with success.
"I took a lot of years off to focus on other things that were not connected with career such as taking care of my kids and looking after my parents and I am equally as proud of them as I am of my work," she said.
The mother of two says her "proudest achievement" is her children.
"They are their achievement in their own way, but as parents, you would like to think you have had a role in them becoming great people who contribute to the world," she said.
