Family businesses play a crucial role in economies across the world. It is estimated that they account for more than half of global GDP – but few family firms are led by women. Kim Chakanetsa meets two women who’ve become the first females in their family to take over at the top.

Caroline Fattal Fakhoury is on the Board of Directors of the Fattal Group in Lebanon. The firm started as a small company in Syria in 1897, and it went on to become one of the leading distributors in the Middle East, delivering food, beauty and pharmaceutical products across eight countries. She was the first woman to join the family business in 100 years and was named one of the region’s most powerful women by Forbes Middle East. She’s also the founder of Stand for Women, an NGO supporting women’s economic empowerment.

Priyanka Gupta Zielinski is the executive director of MPIL Steel Structures, a steel manufacturing company with headquarters in India and the UAE. Priyanka joined her father’s company in 2008, when she was in her 20s – one of the very few women working in this sector. Under her lead, the company was completely transformed, grew and branched out in other countries. Priyanka wrote a book – The Ultimate Family Business Survival Guide – and is a member of Women in Family Business, an initiative providing support and networking opportunities to women around the world.