I feel it’s important that from the outset, I highlight that this is an article about Arianna Huffington and NOT Ariana Grande.

This distinctive first name is known by young girls and teenagers today as an uber slim and overly glamorous pop-star, Ariana Grande. You would have heard her catchy tunes on Spotify playlists, the radio and whenever you're out and about in shops and cafes.

Is this Ariana a role model for the next generation of empowered females…? Hmm probably not. Especially not when you catch a glimpse of her overly sexual and suggestive lyrics. But I’ll stop myself before I go down the path of critiquing the state of female pop culture.

There is, however, another Arian(n)a who is an incredible role model! You've probably heard of her...

Huffington Post is one of the world’s most visited website for news, politics, sport, entertainment and wellness information. Launching online in 2005, the site sold to AOL in 2011 for a reported $300million.

For those of us who love reading Huffington Post, well, we’ve discovered even more reasons to love it’s inspirational co-founder Arianna Huffington.

Here are some of our favourite Huffington highlights:

1. She’s super smart. Moving away from her hometown Athens, Greece, Huffington moved to the UK in her late teens to study an M.A. in Economics at Cambridge University. When she arrived at Cambridge, she struggled with English and subsequently joined the debating society to improve her accent and speaking skills. Whoever said debating wasn’t cool?!

2. She’s all for more girls in STEAM pathways. Huffington highlights a number of important points in the current STEM discussion. She suggests that STEM should include Arts (to become STEAM) as arts (particularly for children) promotes creative thinking and problem solving. Without arts, we’re drowning in data and are starved of vision and wisdom. To read more from Huffington on this topic, click here.

3. She’s all about sleep. In Huffington’s latest book, The Sleep Revolution: Changing Your Life, One Night at a Time, she’s preaching sleep and rest. Huffington claims that we are in a sleep deprivation crisis which has profound consequences – on our health, our job performance, our relationships and our happiness. A timely reminder to sleep and get some rest this silly season.

4. She’s a Pulitzer Prize winner. In 2012, Huffington won a Pulitzer Prizes for National Reporting and has written 15 books to date.

5. She bucks the trend. Tech and media companies are still dominated by male owners and executives. Huffington is a shining example that it is possible for women to succeed in these industries. However, stories of female success, like Huffington are still too few and far between.

At girledworld, we champion female role models from all backgrounds. We want to ensure that female role models are visible to our younger generation. If you have any feature suggestions, we’d LOVE to hear from you. Drop us an email: hello@girledworld.com

girledworld - building the next generation of female leaders, founders and STEM champions.