Successful Women CEOs

In recent years, we have seen an increase in the number of women entrepreneurs and CEOs, breaking through the glass ceiling and paving the way for others to follow. 

In this article, we celebrate the achievements of women in business – those who have shattered gender stereotypes in business – highlighting some of the most successful female entrepreneurs and CEOs.

One In Four Women Plan to Launch a New Business in 2026

According to QuickBooks, one in four women plan to launch a new business this year (2026). Another 58 percent say they would consider it. 

What's driving this momentum?  

The author of the article, More Women Are Starting Businesses Than Ever, but Many Are Doing It Alone, says "If I had to distill the most important things the data says women founders need to understand before they start, it would come down to the following principles."

Find out what those principles are. 

A Less-Explored Dimension of the Gender Gap in Entrepreneurship

New research suggests women entrepreneurs may have a harder time getting that second chance.

A working paper by researchers at the University of Delaware and Rutgers University found women-owned businesses were significantly more likely than comparable male-owned firms to liquidate through Chapter 7 bankruptcy rather than attempt to reorganize under Chapter 11. And when women-owned companies did pursue reorganization, they were less likely to emerge successfully from the process.

I've always felt that failure is not an option but that's one reason bankruptcy laws exist, not simply to close struggling businesses but to determine which companies can restructure, recover and keep operating.

The findings point to a less-explored dimension of the gender gap in entrepreneurship.

Black Women Are Starting Businesses in Droves

Black women are becoming entrepreneurs at a faster clip than any other demographic – and a chillier corporate world has a lot to do with it.

Take Erin Giddens.  She had long dreamed of becoming an entrepreneur—but not while she earned a steady paycheck in the corporate world.

Then came the layoff from her communications-associate role and a months long job search that went nowhere. By the time she decided to focus full time on her own video-production company last fall, she says, the move came down to this:

“Do I want to get back working in corporate, where they’re still going to have my career in their hands, or am I going to bet on myself?” she says. 

Guess what she did?  Read on about how she and many others like her are tired of the anxiety in corporate America and are creating their own destiny.

After all, that is why we started Escape From Corporate America July 7, 2004!  Check out that post. 

Happy 250th America: To Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness!

©2026 Laurel J. Delaney (7/4/26).  All rights reserved.

The history of The Declaration of Independence (transcription). Sign the declaration.

Whatever Your Pride Plans Are, enJOY!

To All Dads

"To all Dads, thank you for everything." – Laurel J. Delaney