Tis the Season to Be Grateful and Joyful

©2019 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

We trust you enjoyed your Thanksgiving and are looking forward to the magic the holiday season brings to each of us.

This time of year is a moment to reflect and be grateful for all the good in our lives, and that includes you dear reader.  Thank you for following us all these years and reading what we have to say.  We appreciate you, and your interest!  It makes us want to write like crazy for you in 2020.

Let's raise our glasses and toast to each other – wishing for a holiday season filled with love, joy, kindness, respect and gratefulness.

Oh, and one last thought for today:  Remember to smile because smiling makes you happier (there's that joy!) and it is contagious. You'll be happier and so will others.

An Iconic Cosmetic Brand Is Resurrected

Two former Chicago-based Johnson Publishing Co. execs, Desiree Rogers and Cheryl Macberry McKissack — who acquired the demised iconic firm’s Fashion Fair Cosmetics at auction less than two months after announcing a purchase of the global Black Opal line — talk about what they see on the horizon.

“We just could not let this incredible iconic brand get away from us, so we went in there, and we were so lucky, blessed, to be the winners,” said Rogers, 60, as the two sat down with the Chicago Sun-Times for an exclusive interview on their journey to a budding beauty empire.

To appreciate Desiree Rogers's background on all the different gigs she's had professionally, visit here.

Read the full article here.

First Woman Entrepreneur in the World?

Sarah Breedlove, known as Madam C. J. Walker, was an African-American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and a political and social activist. She was considered the wealthiest African-American businesseswoman and wealthiest self-made woman in America at the time of her death in 1919 [1867-1919].

Walker made her fortune by developing and marketing a line of cosmetics and African-American hair care products for black women through the business she founded, Madam C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company.  She was born, one of six children, in a village in Louisiana, and moved North to develop her business.

Read more about the history of Madam Walker.

Call to Action: Profiling Successful Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. Is That You?

Here's an opportunity you won't want to miss!  I will be profiling successful women entrepreneurs and business owners on GoDaddy's blog starting this month through early 2020. Think of this as a marketing agency representing you for a one-off moment.

GoDaddy doesn’t just have hundreds or thousands of readers at their blog — they have millions. So this is a very good opportunity for a business owner to get great media coverage and increase their SEO rank at the same time.

If you or someone else you know would like to be profiled on the GoDaddy Garage site (https://www.godaddy.com/garage/) -- send me an email.  This opportunity is on a first-come, first-serve basis on who gets featured and there is a nominal charge involved. No competing firms will be featured under my pen. The first profile is due November 25th and that has already been filled. Take a look at some of my past articles for GoDaddy. My approach will be to have these profiles be similar to the one you see on Lifeway Foods CEO Julie Smolyansky.

Look forward to hearing from you with your interest.

This Billion Dollar Business Was Born Due to the Founder's Cellulite Problem

The Fastest-Growing Sector of American Entrepreneurship: Women

Over the past 50 years women have gone from owning 4.6% of all businesses to 40%, according to the American Express 2018 Report on the State of Women-Owned Businesses.  We may own a lot of businesses but we still struggle to get a loan when we need one.  Take Lisa Michele Chretien, CEO of Laguna Beach-based EventMover, a transportation logistics company that moves corporate assets for trade and auto shows, domestically and internationally.

Lisa needed a line of credit to grow her $3.5 million in annual revenue business, was looking for a loan of about three-quarters of a million dollars in credit, but instead, hit a wall.  She went to 25 lenders in Orange County and every single one said no.

See what she did and how she overcame a roadblock, one that persists for the fastest-growing sector of American entrepreneurship:  women.

Hint:  She finally got her line of credit, but only after her accountant approached a lender he had done business with for years.  As she tells it:  "I felt like I had traveled back in time, before 1988 and the passage of the Women’s Business Ownership Act — when women were required to have a male relative sign a business loan."

Make Time in Your Schedule for Fun

Corcoran Group founder Barbara Corcoran has seen many a business rise and fall. Her own success story is one of scrappiness and eternal drive.

Since selling her eponymous business for $66 million back in 2001, the bestselling author and speaker has made helping other entrepreneurs achieve their dreams her mission, both as a Shark [the Shark Tank show] and with her own firm, Forefront Venture Partners. She also still has a foot in the world of real estate, connecting homeowners with the best agents.

Entrepreneur Magazine staff writer Nina Zipkin had the opportunity to ask Barbara 20 questions -- from how she starts her day, to what's the best advice she ever took, to how to make time for fun in your schedule.