Women Entrepreneurs Know How to Lead

Collaboration, team-building, leading by example and inclusiveness are becoming increasingly important as companies break down silos and remove layers of management.

There's still a huge gap that most organizations still face when it comes to putting women in senior leadership roles. Women head up fewer than 3% of the Fortune 1,000 companies. This has caused a lot of women to leave corporate America to start their own businesses.

Read more here at:

Women Leaders: The Hard Truth About Soft Skills

Snippet from the article:

"The outstanding women," Fontaine notes, "used a better blend of what we think of as traditional masculine styles—being directive, authoritative, and leading by example and as well as feminine ones. They also knew when to be more nurturing, inclusive, and collaborative."

More, More, More

"How you like it, how you like it!" More.com is currently featuring information that might be helpful to you and your existing or soon-to-be business during these tough economic times.

Whether you have a business, want to start a business, need help updating your job hunting skills, or want recommendations for job hunting websites, you will find all of this and More(.com) here.

Check out this creative sample piece here:

“I Launched My Business from the Ladies Room."

Shhhhhh ... I'm not sure if I caught this correctly but when I visited site I saw one year for $0! And, the "More, more, more" reference above comes from Andrea True Connection.

Eva Longoria Parker: Hardly Just An Actress

What do you think of when you see the name Eva Logoria Parker (pictured)? I immediately think of Gabrielle Solis on ABC’s Desperate Housewives, one of the craziest and sauciest characters in a show full of them.

But did you know?

Using Housewives as her foundation, Longoria Parker, 34, has leveraged her notoriety and growing wealth in areas well outside the acting realm, becoming a legitimate businesswoman and philanthropist and positioning herself to become the equivalent of the CEO of a multi-industry conglomerate. She’s started a production company, UnbeliEVAble Entertainment, to develop projects. She co-owns Beso, a 150-seat Hollywood restaurant that includes some of her own recipes on the menu (try the tortilla soup), and just opened a second lo-cation in Las Vegas along with a nightclub called Eve.

She is also part of The GreenVille Project, a real estate development initiative dedicated to building environ-mentally neutral retail spaces. She’s working on a fragrance. She’s a spokesperson for L’Oreal, Pepsi and Heineken Light. She has also founded Eva’s Heroes, a charity that provides an after-school program for children with developmental disabilities and support for their families. Longoria Parker is also national spokes-person for PADRES Contra El Cáncer, a charity dedicated to improving the lives of Latino children with cancer.

Enough said about her entrepreneurial drive. Read more here.

Women Business Owners Have the Edge

Women business owners are proving they are mighty force and one you don't mess with.

Not only are women-owned firms contributing $3 million annually to the U.S. economy and accounting for 16% of all jobs, but new research shows women entrepreneurs will create 5 to 5.5 million new jobs across the U.S. by 2018 – more than half of the total new small-business jobs expected to be created during that time, and about one-third of the total new jobs anticipated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Read the entire study here:
Women Rock As Small Business Owners

One more quick snippet:

Experts say hopeful male entrepreneurs should take notes on what has been giving women business leaders an edge.

To Win, Unleash Your Inner Entrepreneur

Should you restart your career as whatever it is that you have been doing for umpteen years (same thing but at a different place) or pursue your childhood dream of starting your own business?

Well this piece can most certainly help guide you. A quick snippet:

The economy looks bleak with unemployment climbing to 7.6 percent last month from 7.2 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Meanwhile, foreclosures mount while benefits, savings and pensions deteriorate.

As job security from corporate America fades, Jackson and others see the economic downturn as an unexpected chance to transform hobbies or youthful fantasies, once-dubbed impractical, into grown-up careers.

"I've spent most of my professional life making money for other people's companies," says Laura Waldusky, who opened her own jewelry shop this month in Houston, Texas, after being unable to find a job in 2008. "Why not invest my talents in, well, myself?" iReport.com: Surviving a tough economy.

Bad economy? Do what you love.

Starting a Business Is Not Always a Walk in the Dog Park

Amy Nichols (pictured with her doggie pals), a former telecommunications sales executive, is the founder of Dogtopia, a national chain of upscale day-care centers for dogs. Her blog can be found here.

Ms. Nichols always knew that she wanted to care for animals. But, after college, she thought she should get a "real job."

Following in her father's footsteps, she chose telecommunications. In the late 1990s, she built a career working for a number of the big players: Bell Atlantic (which later became Verizon), Cable & Wireless USA and XO Communications. She moved up the ladder, starting in sales support where her job was to find outside contractors to install the purchased phone systems.

But she says after a while, the thrill of the chase left her "feeling empty," and she was ready for something else. She decided her next act would take her back to her first love—something involving pets, something that she could develop herself, and something that would allow her to bring Griffin, her Boston terrier, to work.

Learn how Nichols's telecommunications background contributed to her success as a business owner here. Fascinating story.

Photo credit: Kevin Wolf, WSJ

Women Entrepreneurs Thrive In Our New Economy

Despite the tough economic times, these black women continue to thrive with their businesses.

• Jacqueline Ogutverenm Grace Realty
• Martha Price, Little People Day Care
• Laferia "Freda" Brown, Freda's
• Jennifer McLeod, Platinum Motors

Read more here.

Separately but related to women of color from diverse career paths, Black Enterprise has announced the 2010 Women of Power Legacy Award winners.

They are as follows:

B. Smith, Founder & Chief Creative Officer, B. Smith Enterprises; Hon. Shirley Jackson, Ph.D., President, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Audrey Smaltz (pictured): CEO and Founder, The Ground Crew Worldwide; Aulana L. Peters, Retired Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP; and former Secretary of Labor Alexis M. Herman, who now serves as Chair and CEO of New Ventures LLC.

Congratulations to all!

Learn more here.

Photo: Audrey, Smaltz, CEO and Founder, The Ground Crew Worldwide

O Sisters: Female CEOs, Top Execs and Entrepreneurs, Where Art Thou?

The numbers of female CEOs, high-level executives, and entrepreneurs in the U.S. today are surprisingly low. Why?

We will let Vivek Wadhwa (an entrepreneur, senior research associate at Harvard Law School, and executive in residence at Duke University) discuss his research (in an article for BusinessWeek) that shows that women entrepreneurs are very similar to their male counterparts in background and purpose ...

... which is why he thinks the lack of female entrepreneurship, especially in the tech industry, is a "societal failure" on our part.

Read all about it here.

A Guide Toward Bold Innovation

My latest contribution over at the American Express OPEN Forum.

Check it out and if you like it, say so via a Tweet + hit the Thumbs Up button (at the bottom)! Many thanks.

The Art of
BOLD
iNnOVatIoN

LOLASAB: Laugh Off Layoff and Start a Business

Not too many people care why you start a business. What matters most is that you do it and are excited about it! But in this case, a layoff and an innate passion were the tipping points for Kathy Standage (pictured) of Colorado who launched Exclusive Vail Rentals.

Read about her background, start up plan and hopes for the future with her business -- here.

What about you? Are you going to LOLASAB in 2010?

Photo credit: Chris Schneider for USA Today

Go, Gaga, Go!

If you are hanging out Sunday evening, be sure to catch the Grammys (some highlights here) to take in the new Digital Diva: Lady Gaga (pictured in typical form). Her debut album has generated four No. 1 songs.

Always a fan of both Madonna and Fergie, it appears that Lady Gaga will soar past them both with her ability to go beyond just selling records and CDs to encompass everything from merchandising, touring, clothing design and makeup deals. She's got big time global appeal. More important, she sure can sing and perform stunningly!

Watch her. Don't miss her opening act with Elton John which is rumored to be the Grammy highlight. Looking for inspiration and creativity? Lady Gaga will deliver. She can teach us a thing or two about boldness and expressing ourselves -- whether through entertainment or entrepreneurship.

More here. Song clip here. Video clip here (McDonalds is advertising on it -- I'm lovin' it).

Leap of Faith is Paying Off

Lauri Jo Bennett (pictured) recently quit her teaching job to open a canning business in Southwest Georgia that specializes in salsa, jellies, and green tomato pickles. In just a short time, she is selling product in 16 states. It's her dream job that's employing three others, and now she's preparing to meet with a national retail chain trying to sell her product.

Read more about Lauri Jo's journey here and visit her company website: Lauri Jo's Southern Style Canning, LLC.

Photo credit here.

How to Create a Winning Social Media Strategy For Your Business

Digital Deconstructed:
How to Create a Winning
Social Media Strategy

Here’s a primer on how to create a winning social media strategy that takes the world by storm.

It involves your ability to quickly cover the five W’s:

1. Who – who are you trying to reach (friends, clients, old school pals)?
2. What – what are you trying to accomplish?
3. When – when do you want to make this happen (this year, first quarter 2010, in your lifetime)?
4. Where – where will it occur (e.g., LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or all of the above)?
5. Why – what’s the purpose of doing this?

Read the entire article here and if you like it, pass it along.

(Full disclosure: Verio is a client.)

It's Never Too Late To Start a Business

JoAnn Cardin (pictured) is 75 years young and has opened a new consignment business in Leachville, Arkansas. She named her new shop Twice Around Treasures. Here's what she has to say about it:

"This is my first time in retail and it is the first time I have owned my own business," she said.

The is making plans for the future but now has mostly clothes and shoes for all members of the family and a large variety of purses.

Congrats to JoAnn! Read more about her business here.

Photo credit (Town Crier photo/Revis Blaylock)

Can't Get No Job Satisfaction. What About You?

Not just women, but Americans in general, continue to grow increasingly unhappy at work. This is a long-term trend that should be a red flag to employers, according to a report released January 5th by The Conference Board.

We've been on this trend for women since 2003 with our Escape From Corporate America article published by the very same, The Conference Board.

The report, based on a survey of 5,000 U.S. households, finds only 45 percent of those surveyed say they are satisfied with their jobs, down from 61.1 percent in 1987, the first year in which the survey was conducted.

"While one in 10 Americans is now unemployed, their working compatriots of all ages and incomes continue to grow increasingly unhappy," says Lynn Franco, director of the Consumer Research Center of The Conference Board. "Through both economic boom and bust during the past two decades, our job satisfaction numbers have shown a consistent downward trend."

Read more about it here.

What's a woman to do? Hmmmmm, ever thought about starting a business? You've come to the right place!

Chart credit: The Conference Board

Spontaneous Innovation

My latest post for the American Express OPEN Forum:

2010: Spontaneous Innovation

If you like, hit the thumbs up button at the bottom and the Tweet button at the top!

Many thanks.

P.S. Two posts in a row featuring adorable babies!

Age Is Never a Barrier In Fulfilling Your Dreams

Dara Torres (pictured), five-time Olympian, mother of a 2-year-old daughter (also pictured) and the oldest member of the U.S. Olympic Swimming Team, recently answered an 'age' question with simple confidence: “I’d be 41. When you hit the water, the water doesn’t know what age you are.”

Torres admits she returned home thrilled with her effort, and she also realizes what it means for middle aged America. “If it helps anyone else out there who is in their middle-aged years, and they put off something they thought they couldn’t do because they were too old or maybe thought that, because they have children, they can’t balance what they want to do and be a parent, then I’m absolutely thrilled,” she says.

Read more about Torres here and how she inspires people of all ages to strive toward their personal best.

It's never too late to fulfill your dream and start a business. Think of it this way, "When you strike out on your own, the world won't know what age you are!"

Clear Your Path in 2010

Sometimes all you need in life is a clear path to move ahead in the world.

The photo (click on to enlarge) is taken outside my home in the gangway. We have a table set up year round that holds all sorts of things such as potted plants, lakeside rocks and seasonal items like the little snowman on a bicycle (pictured). You can really appreciate just how much snow we received in Chicago this week. I unburied the cyclist and wiped out a path for her!

Clear your path in 2010.

Photo credit: Laurel J. Delaney, the official Escape From Corporate America blog

Someone Says No. Don't Let It Stop You

I am a huge fan of the Chicago Reader and traditionally the first Thursday of a new year they publish a magnificent photo collection better referred to as "1,000 Words: Our Annual Photo Issue." We were featured once -- remember? I made a point to pick up a complimentary copy at my local 7-Eleven so I could go through all the inspiring photos taken by ordinary people like myself who have an interest in capturing life at its best.

But this entry is not about that. It's about another equally inspiring story -- not photo -- by gifted writer Deanna Isaacs that I happened upon concerning entrepreneur Roberta Brown (pictured) and how she gets gigs (and food) for her piano business. Roberta is an octogenarian and a lifelong Chicagoan.

The title says it all:

How to Get Gigs

Roberta Brown not only plays the Walnut Room at Macy’s for free—she bought the piano.

My favorite part of the article which you absolutely, positively must read for the sake of truly understanding a "calling" or "passion" when it grabs hold of you and you can't shake it no matter how hard you try. That's Roberta with her piano playing.

Why just look at this comment from her. It's so gripping ... so compelling ...

Brown says she'd been playing at Sunday brunch before Macy's bought the store. After the purchase the brunches went the way of the Field's name, but she wasn't going to let that stop her. "My art is my life, and my life is my hobby," she says, "and whatever I want to do, I do."

Be inspired. Read the entire article here.

Photo credit: Lloyd Degrane (amazing photographer!)

Happy 2010: Ring in the New Year with a Splash of Entrepreneurship!

Happy New Year! It would not feel like a new year unless I headed over to my neighborhood Polar Bear Swim New Years Day at Pratt Avenue and the lake in Rogers Park, Illinois. And that I did with hubby along (after he finished a 5K race earlier in the day in Lincoln Park -- man it was cold -- but he finished in impressive record time).

Let me set the stage for these photos. I wrote about this tradition a year ago today here and today's weather was no less challenging than last year: 10 degrees with a wind chill of 3 degrees below zero (a little bit of a wind so if you look closely at the photos, you'll see the waves).

All I can say is no guts, no glory and that applies not only to these folks jumping into icy cold waters who want that glorious feeling but to all of you who keep thinking about starting a business but don't do it.

This year, muster up your guts so you can have your glory too in 2010! Start that business. Surprise yourself and everyone else around you. You can do it. We're counting on it.

As you review these photos,
smile :-),
DREAM big,
be bold,
TAKE THE SPLASH into entrepreneurship!

Wishing you a new year, a new YOU, a new decade -- all filled with promise and opportunity that includes a new business start up!








Photo credit: Laurel J. Delaney, the official Escape From Corporate America blog!