Egypt’s Ancient Legacy of Women Leaders

Over the past two weeks, I’ve been on a whirlwind adventure in Egypt. It’s been 25 years since I was last here, and the minute Cairo’s brightly lit night sky and the pyramids came into view in my airplane window, I felt like I was coming home. 

If you’ve been following me on social media, you already know Egypt has always held a special place in my heart. Growing up here during my pivotal early adolescent years fundamentally changed the way I see people and the world. Studying at The American University in Cairo (AUC), in college, enriched that global perspective, enhanced my empathy, and showed me that while we may have different backgrounds, perspectives, and religions, when we know people, when we seek first to understand, and honor the traditions that are different than ours, we have a real chance at changing and healing the world. 

This time, I came as a female business owner, and let me tell you, it was surreal being back on the AUC campus. This time, as a teacher. 

In partnership with AUC’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and Women on Boards Observatory, I facilitated a workshop for about 30 women entrepreneurs, leaders, students, and even a member of Parliament, about the power of big ideas, how to use your big idea to create real differentiation in your business or career, and how to increase visibility for impact and revenue.

Their questions sounded exactly like the ones I hear from women I coach every day.

Does my idea really matter?

Is this idea really big enough to make a difference?

What makes me different?

How do I stand out in an already crowded market?

That dialogue was incredibly rich, and as I walked through Egypt’s ancient temples later that week, I realized these aren’t modern questions. Women have been wrestling with visibility, leadership, and legacy for thousands of years. 

This blog and the next one (or two) will chronicle this journey, dive into the history, and showcase local women who are bringing their big ideas to life in amazing ways!

Big Ideas Have Staying Power

One of the questions I went into this trip asking myself was, “What are you building? And is it meant to last?”

The ancient sandstone and granite stones, etched with deep reliefs, tell the powerful stories of queens and goddesses who were on a mission. 

Hathor’s Temple was my absolute favorite place. When you walk into her temple at Dendera, the first thing you see are massive columns crowned with her face. She has soft features, cow ears, and a sun disk framed by horns. 

Hathor, the goddess of love, beauty, music, joy, and motherhood, wasn’t a minor deity. She represented the very essence of what made life rich and meaningful.

The atmosphere is different from other temples. From the second I walked into the hippostyle hall, I felt something inside me light up and hum with energy. Standing in that space, I thought about how often women downplay the qualities that come most naturally to us… joy, creativity, collaboration, support, and nurturing. We’ve been told they’re “soft” or less important than strategy or a firmer hand, but Hathor’s temple tells a different story. These qualities were sacred. They were powerful. They were the very foundation of true leadership.

Queen Hatshepsut was one of the most successful rulers in Egyptian history. She reigned for 22 years, ushered in peace and prosperity, built magnificent temples, expanded trade routes, and left a mark that’s still visible today.

And yet… throughout Egypt and at Hatshepsut’s Temple at Deir el-Bahri her stepson and successor, Thutmose III, orchestrated a campaign to erase her from official records decades after came to power. Her images on monuments were defaced, her name was chiseled out of cartouches and inscriptions, and her statues were smashed. As I walked through her temple, I could literally see the scars, remnants where her likeness once was.

The reasons behind this level of destruction have evolved over the years, but I think Peter Dorman, an Egyptologist, said it best. “Hatshepsut’s unconventional reign may have been too successful, a dangerous precedent “best erased,” he suggests, “to prevent the possibility of another powerful female ever inserting herself into the long line of Egyptian male kings.”

It’s only through fragmented images that remained and modern forensic science that we know her story and what she looked like. It was a sobering reminder to me that brilliance and achievement alone don’t guarantee a legacy. 

For us an entrepreneurs and thought leaders, the lessons are clear:

Your success can be threatening to the status quo. The more visible your impact, the more it challenges existing norms.

Own your narrative. Hatshepsut ruled with authority, and she was relentless in depicting her story and claiming her place. But when her monuments were destroyed, her story nearly vanished. It’s only because she had spoken it, carved it, and claimed it that fragments survived. Enough that centuries later, her story has been recovered.

Lastly, Isis’s Temple at Philae sits on an island.  As you step off the boat and into the sanctuary, you’re surrounded by reliefs of birth, death, and renewal, the endless cycles of life. 

Isis represents a complete picture of feminine creative and destructive energy. She is a goddess who is devoted but resourceful, a loving and steadfast partner, while also a determined and powerful independent figure who uses her own wit to bend reality to her will. Her great love for her murdered husband, Osiris paints this picture beautifully. 

She is also nurturing and resilient. Isis embodies maternal compassion for her son, Horus, and her story requires her to display incredible tenacity and strength to overcome immense grief and adversity. 

Inside the holy of holies in the deepest part of the temple, I placed my hand on the slab of granite that held the boat meant to carry her into the afterlife. The granite was black, flecked with a deep red color, symbolizing blood and life, and like at Hathor’s temple, the energy was different, grounding and otherworldly at the same time. 

As I walked back into the main temple, I couldn’t help but think that my big idea–your big idea–is alive, not some static, unchanging thing. It requires devotion and resilience, fierce nurturing and belief and the courage to break apart what isn’t working so something stronger can emerge. If you steward it well, it becomes more than a business. 

It becomes your legacy.

The Takeaway

Standing in those temples, I felt the sacredness of women and their leadership, ideas, and power in my bones. Our ideas and voices are potent; they can shift culture, shape history, and ripple out for generations. 

So, what’s the big idea you need to claim?

What will you do to make sure it isn’t erased?

And if your idea and its impact were carved in stone, what would you want it to say?

These are some of the questions we’ll be exploring over the next year and in a massive way on the retreat next fall. If Egypt is calling to you, details about the retreat are almost ready. Jump on the waitlist to be the first to know and sign up for one of the spots on this intimate journey. 

Next week, I’ll be back with Part 2, not about the women carved in stone, but the modern female entrepreneurs I met along the Nile who are building Egypt’s future through entrepreneurship, artistry, and community.

And if you need support with your big idea or how to bring it to life in your business, let’s talk!