Winding Paths to Success

4Altruism

A sense of calling can take many forms. While Kataoka found her life purpose in challenging the world through art, it took the form of service to others in the case of Ayako Sonoda, the CEO of Cre‐en. Being useful to others was the life approach demonstrated by her mother, Fumiko Sonoda, another successful entrepreneur.

Building on the altruistic mindset inherited from her mother, Ayako Sonoda had her own awakenings in early adulthood that strengthened her conviction—a health crisis at the age of 25 and her survivor's guilt from the Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995. In their spirit of serving others, the mother and daughter alike put no hard boundaries between work and life—the mother would often invite troubled neighbors to a home‐cooked dinner and the daughter launched a charity fund in 2017 with her inheritance.

While Ayako Sonoda's professional thesis evolved to address environmental sustainability—Cre‐en, the firm she founded in 1988 specializes in sustainability consulting—she always stayed close to her initial proposition: empowerment of women in Japan through side projects and board directorship.

The challenge we face today about empowerment of women is fundamentally different from Fumiko Sonoda's era—the tangible playing field for men and women, from both legal and policy perspectives, is much more level set. What remains lopsided is the intangible playing field, the workplace customs unwelcoming to women and the unwritten societal norms that penalize working ...