You’ve probably heard the song, “It’s a man’s world.” In the business world, that is simply not true anymore.
Quietly women have moved up the ranks. Fast Company reports over the past two decades the volume of female-owned companies has grown 114 percent. Compare this to the average growth of any business during that time period, which was 44 percent, and you start to see that women are finally gaining ground. While women still have inequalities related to pay equity, their ability to secure small business lending, and other challenges, they are breaking the corporate glass ceilings, both by smashing through and sometimes working around them.
Here are some of the women who are getting it right and succeeding in their efforts to launch and sustain a business venture.
#1 Female Entrepreneur Association Empowers the Right Mindset
Carrie Green went the traditional route at first, studying at a major university and graduating with a law degree. She says, “I always thought I’d end up doing my own thing—as opposed to working for someone else.” Greene started her own thing online, building a successful venture but also realizing how incredibly isolating entrepreneurship can be.
Greene learned that the entrepreneurial journey is usually bumpy and uphill. Physically and mentally draining, starting a small business is both risk-filled and lonely, particularly for women who have fewer role models and mentors than men in the business world. Carrie decided to form an organization devoted to empowering women entrepreneurs with the tools and resources they need to go from startup to success.
In 2011, Ms. Greene founded the Female Entrepreneur Association, which grew to more than 650,000 women around the world. The platform serves as a hub for training, inspiring, networking, and advice. Carrie went on to write her first book She Means Business, which was an international bestseller. Her best advice for women entrepreneurs is that having the right mindset is the best tool for shaping a new business. The right mindset can help you have the perseverance to overcome any adversity, no matter how hard.
#2 Good Women Doing Social Good(r)
Jasmine Crowe is the founder and CEO of Goodr, a tech company that reduces food waste and combats hunger. The organization uses blockchain technology to solve three seemingly untenable problems:
There are 72 billion pounds of wasted food annually in the U.S.
Simultaneously, there are 42 million people experiencing food insecurity.
Corporations fail to leverage $40 billion in estimated tax benefits each year.
Goodr solves this frustrating tripod with technology. Social entrepreneur Jasmine Crowe took a look at these numbers and realized there was a crucial sustainability link missing between the food we have and the food that’s needed. Her team used blockchain to bridge that gap.
When Ms. Crowe started Goodr she was working on community events to alleviate hunger and poverty. She learned about how restaurants were throwing fully cooked, perfectly edible food away, and it motivated her to find out more. She found out many restaurants are worried about liabilities with donating their food, despite the Good Samaritan Act of 1996 that allowed these companies to donate their food. Most companies don’t know that the law lets them help the needy, so Jasmine set out to change this.
Goodr, based in Atlanta, is a mobile app designed on the Uber model to use the sharing economy to take leftover foods from companies to the needy. Goodr users can order a “rescue” driver on the app to pick up surplus food (the average pickup time is 15 minutes). The app then sends the driver to the nearest participating social service organization to share the donation with those that need it most. The app then aggregates the data for the donating company for use as an additional tax write-off. The company is currently on a sustainable growth path to launch in new markets. While the COVID-19 virus will likely slow down this charted roadmap, we expect good things out of Goodr in the near future.
#3 Motivational Entrepreneur Creates Coaching Success
Gabrielle Bernstein, like Oprah, is a motivational powerhouse. She created a spiritual guide called A Course in Miracles designed to teach self-love and forgiveness with a holistic approach to spirituality that has resonated with women and men around the world.
Bernstein has written seven books and created a social networking site for women, touring the country offering advice and spiritual support. Her self-help practices are all about how to “take inspired action now,” according to The New York Times. Her goal is to lead people to their version of spirituality and a healthier lifestyle. For Bernstein, her version of the wellness movement is about connecting with whatever empowers you in the universe to be a better, happier person.
This is good advice for women entrepreneurs, who often feel stuck or at the bottom before launching their own successful venture. Gabrielle suggests the best thing that every entrepreneur can do is to, “Take one little right action toward your dream today.” Fortunately, for the millions of people reading her suggestions every day, she’s obviously good at taking her own advice.
