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Mahjong Creates Business and Networking Opportunities for Women Entrepreneurs

By one estimate, mahjong is a $2.57 billion global industry and is expected to increase to $4.08 billion by 2032.  It's also becoming a major business and networking opportunity for women entrepreneurs.

From 2024 to 2025, mahjong events on digital event platform Evite spiked 46 percent year-over-year. “What started as a niche hobby has really become a full-on trend,” says Olivia Pollock, senior director of brand marketing and party data analyst at Evite. “It’s really started to pick up steam in a networking setting.”

Find out why here.

Women Are Turning Visions Into Ventures

The Center for Women Entrepreneurs at Texas Woman’s University, which provides a variety of financial programs, training and advising services for women-owned businesses, offered both virtually and in person – celebrated its 10-year anniversary with a Visions into Ventures milestone event, highlighting the successes of women business owners who have utilized its resources.  

Since 2018, the CWE has awarded over $2.3 million in grants to women entrepreneurs, Irby said. Grant-funded opportunities include the Veteran Woman Entrepreneur grant, the StartHER and Texas Rural Woman Entrepreneur grants, which are available to women-owned startups or small businesses. 

As one woman business owner says, "In the world in which we live right now, being a woman can be hard and finding community with women makes it worth it."

Enough said.

The Foundation of the Future: Artificial Intelligence

In a resurfaced video from his talk at SXSW, Mark Cuban made it clear that for Gen Z and aspiring entrepreneurs, AI is not just the future – it is the foundation. “If I were 16, 18, 20, or 21 starting today, I would spend every waking minute learning about AI,” he told the crowd. “Even while I’m sleeping, I would have podcasts playing about AI.”

Cuban sees AI as the most powerful opportunity to reshape business, creativity, and innovation. Simply understanding how to use AI, he said, can open the door to countless ventures from launching your own startup to consulting for others. 

Happy 21st Birthday Escape From Corporate America Blog!

Thank you for your readership all these years.  Here's one of the first posts I [Laurel Delaney] I did. We now have between 20,000-75,000 readers a month.  When I first started, I was lucky to have one.

Keep reading and keep engaging!  

Young, Gifted and Black

©2025 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

Found this wonderful book, Young, Gifted and Black, in the Free Library Box and read through every page.  The graphics and the inspiring stories are irresistible.  It's a launching post for more discoveries featuring 52 black heroes from past and present.

These extraordinary men and women's achievements will inspire a new generation to chase their dream ... whatever it may be.  

Founder and Celebrity Hair Stylist Jen Atkin’s Brand Eyes Expansion

Founder and celebrity hair stylist Jen Atkin’s brand eyes expansion beyond store shelves into non-retail spaces.

The Los Angeles-based company Ouai didn’t become a household name in its own right until around 2019 when the team made a gamble on a novel means of distribution. Ouai sampled one million units of its leave-in conditioner in FabFitFun subscription boxes. It was the company’s biggest sampling program ever.

Find out what happened.  It's better than you think.