Women are taking the business world by storm.
It’s hard to imagine that “business” was once an entirely male-dominated world, with all of the amazing, inspiring and mega-successful business women of today.
In fact, women now make up over 40 percent of new entrepreneurs in the United States, according to the 2016 Kauffman Index of Startup Activity. And in the 40 economies participating in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) survey in 2011 and 2016, women’s entrepreneurship rates increased by 13%, while male rates increased by only 5%, according to lead author Donna Kelley, a professor of entrepreneurship at Babson College.
If you’re a woman running her own business, you’re a powerful beacon of inspiration for women and girls everywhere! And it’s important that we support each other, and model after inspiring women who are lighting the way and showing us that we can live our dreams. And these 4 women all have stories that we should celebrate and learn from ourselves.
1). Cynthia Jerry, Creator of the Designer Fragrance of the Caribbean, Tiv Perfume
Cynthia Jerry is an inspiring mother and the creator of Tiv Perfume, the one and only designer fragrance of the Caribbean. Cynthia fell in love with the tropics when she moved to Paradise Island in the 80’s, so much so that she decided to launch her own designer perfume; THE designer perfume of the Caribbean. Tiv Perfume was born, and although the company was small and located on an island, Cynthia had big dreams for her fragrance.
Tiv Perfume had a successful U.S. launch on Valentine’s Day, 1995, with Hecht’s Department Stores (now Macy’s). The Washington Post wrote, “It is the first perfume made by an entrepreneur that Hecht’s has carried, but the downtown store has given it a prime spot between Calvin Klein’s Escape and Karl Lagerfeld’s Sun Moon and Stars …”. And The Baltimore Sun wrote, “Ms. Jerry has managed to crack the highly competitive, big name, major bucks perfume business with a new fragrance line. It’s called Tiv. And Ms. Jerry’s convinced a major department store – Hecht’s – to sell it.”
After several very successful seasons at Hecht’s, Cynthia decided to make Tiv Perfume available online to customers all over the world. She launched TivPerfume.com, the fragrance’s brand new online store–so women all over the world can be transported to the Caribbean with her one-of-a-kind fragrance.
2). Alex Friedman and Jordana Kier, Creators of Organic Menstrual Product Empire, LOLA
Alex and Jordana are the founders of LOLA, a 100% organic menstrual product subscription service. With subscription services exploding in popularity over the past couple years, many entrepreneurs have been jumping on the subscription bandwagon. But LOLA is so much more than tampons and pads delivered to your door, which is a genius idea on its own–they are made with 100% organic cotton and none of the cancer-causing chemicals, synthetics, additives, irritants and BPA that commercial menstrual products are riddled with. And, the subscription boxes are completely customizable; rather than all super or all regular, etc.
LOLA received $1.2 million in seed funding, and launched with a huge Facebook advertising strategy–which quickly built LOLA a powerful online presence across social media, especially with millennials. Their mission was to inform women of the disturbing reality behind mainstream menstrual products and the dangers they posed to our bodies, and offer a 100% natural alternative from a transparent company run by women, for women. These two inspiring millennials are a large part of the global movement to revolutionize menstrual products, spread awareness and shape the future of period care for women.
3). Trina Felber, Creator of Non-Toxic Skincare Line, Primal Life Organics
Trina is a mother and retired nurse turned entrepreneur; and the founder of Primal Life Organics, the most natural skincare line I’ve ever come across in my lifetime. All of her products are made purely from oils, food, and clay, and are homemade fresh to order, non-GMO, organic, wildcrafted, vegan, paleo, gluten free, and contain no preservatives or additives of any sort.
The inspiration for her products came from a terribly traumatic event in her life; when she was pregnant with her first child, she was devastated by a miscarriage. Trina and her husband were shocked because they thought they were both so healthy, so Trina started to look into everything about her lifestyle to make sure this would never happen to her again. She happened to read the ingredients of her cosmetics, and as a nurse, saw that there were chemicals and toxins on the labels that could cause harm not only to her but to her baby. She immediately started looking for safe skincare products, and when she couldn’t find any, she decided to make her own. She loved her products so much she started to send them out to her friends, and when she got the same feedback, she launched Primal Life Organics.
PLO is now on the Inc 5000 Fasted Growing Companies list and generating millions in annual revenue. Trina has also written an international best-selling book called “Beauty’s Dirty Secret”, and she’s committed to educating the world about the toxic dangers of mainstream products. Now that’s an inspiring mama and power woman!
Now it’s your turn…
We have much to learn from these 4 amazing women entrepreneurs and their inspiring stories; whether it’s to follow your heart, shoot high, believe in yourself, break the mould, or don’t stop until you achieve your dreams. We as women are taking over the world of business, and we will continue to build empires, create success and build generational wealth, while bringing beauty and change to the world. No matter our age, our background, the families we come from, or what anyone else thinks we are capable of.
Live your passion, and never stop. You are a warrior… A power woman. And this is your time to shine; now and always.
You GO girl!