Fasting Growing Group of Entrepreneurs: Black Woman-Owned Businesses

Although Black women make up less than 10% of the U.S. population, they’ve emerged as the fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs in the country. 

According to the Brookings Institution, between 2017 and 2020, the number of Black women-owned small businesses increased by nearly 20%, far exceeding the growth of women-owned businesses and Black-owned businesses overall. 

In this interview, Jean Chatzky is joined by Tiffany Dufu, President of the Tory Burch Foundation and author of Drop the Ball: Achieving More By Doing Less. Tiffany shares the best ways to support Black women-owned businesses right now.

This Female Entrepreneur's Got It: From a Background in Engineering to a Multi-Million Dollar Apparel Business

Learn how Audrey McLoghlin, founder and CEO of Frank & Eileen revamped a men's product for women. The bootstrapped business was a hit — and pledged $20 Million to support women entrepreneurs.

Audrey wanted to reinvent the button-up shirt for women using unbelievable menswear fabrics. 

Visit Frank & Eileen.  The name?  Audrey's grandparents, Frank and Eileen. "They were married in Ireland in 1947, and they lived a beautiful, romantic, old-fashioned life — I don't know if they would describe it that way, but they lived in a little stone cottage, never owned a car, just had a really charming life," says Audrey.

Audrey goes on to say, "The world would be a completely different place if at least 50% of the entrepreneurs and business owners out there were women. We'd live in a very different place."

The Presence of Women in Business Is Growing

Women today are continuously breaking barriers in the workplace, rising to positions of power, and running their own businesses.

Women in leadership, and ownership roles have revolutionized certain aspects of business. According to a report from Women’s Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub (Canada), the majority of women-run businesses were more proactive in addressing employees’ skills gaps, as 15.6 per cent of all businesses had no plans to do so compared to only 11.7 per cent of majority women-owned businesses. 

For a look at the state of women in business (2024) in USA, visit here and their impact (2025), visit here.

It is important to lean on the other women in business, such as the members of the Women Presidents Organization or Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global®.

Stay true to your values and keep growing.

Two Illinois-Based Women Business Owners Are Rocking It for Mother's Day

Thanks to the Illinois Made Program, these two women entrepreneurs are expanding their unique businesses.  The Illinois Made Program exposes them to a broader, more diverse customer base, boosting sales and introducing their mouth-watering products to thousands of the state’s visitors.

Who are the lucky business owners?  Jana Farmer, owner of Ms. Jana’s Candy located at 1649 Montgomery Road, Unit #10, in Aurora, Illinois, and Dominique Leach, owner of Lexington Betty Smokehouse restaurant, located at 756 E. 111th St., in the historic Pullman community.

The Illinois Made Program celebrates small businesses and includes them in the state’s Traveler’s Guide and other tourism information. The program helps drive more customers to the highlighted businesses.

Learn more about Jana's and Dominique's businesses here.

Who Are the Most Courageous People and Leaders on the Planet?

©2025 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

Ryan Berman spent three years shadowing the most courageous people and leaders on the planet to find out what they have done to accomplish astounding personal or business feats.

I look forward to reading his book, "Return on Courage – A Playbook for Courageous Change."