I'm often being sent links to various articles and websites on female entrepreneurship/leadership and most are excellent, but when AccountingDegree sent me this one, I thought it was fantastic! So inspirational and definately something our readers need to see!
Opening up your own company poses all sorts of obstacles, no matter your gender. But some women — in this country and overseas — encounter even more challenges depending on their community, education, competition and culture. Here are 15 female entrepreneurs from the past and present who are incredibly inspiring for their creativity, cleverness and courage.
- Oprah Winfrey: Oprah’s been the queen of TV for decades, and while she’s moved on from her iconic talk show on network television, her Harpo Productions Inc. empire is still evolving. An entire cable network devoted to shows and people she finds inspiring is one of Oprah’s latest projects as she continues to build up her website, magazine and radio show. Born in a poor community in Mississippi, Winfrey was sent to live with different relatives around the country and was sexually abused as a child. She credits her father with "turning [her] life around" and helping her recognize her potential and her natural gifts, a mission she has pursued on her talk show and in her many charitable endeavors, like her Angel Network. Forbes calculated Winfrey’s net worth for 2011 at $2.7 billion.
- Diane von Furstenberg: Fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg is known in the industry as a compassionate, modern mentor to young women, emerging talents, designers and Middle American fans. As a newlywed to the the German Prince Egon of Furstenberg, Diane vowed to start her own company and act as an independent woman instead of benefiting from her sudden luxurious lifestyle. Her wrap dresses became a major success among newly empowered American working women, and although she and her husband divorced — and she later suffered a major blow to business — von Furstenberg is again working and serving at the top of the fashion industry. As president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, von Furstenberg mentors new designers. She also sits on the board of a women’s leadership organization called Vital Voices and promotes the efforts of other young women entrepreneurs, as well as the preservation of her local neighborhood in New York. Click here to read more
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