More Women Are Starting Their Own Companies

Three years ago, flight attendant Sandy Stein was so distraught about the prospects of her and her husband's jobs that she prayed to her deceased father for guidance.

"Dad, what am I going to do?"

That night, the 55-year-old Reseda woman said, she dreamed of a small metal flower with a curved stem that hooked onto the outside of her purse. A clip dangling on the inside kept her car keys quick at hand. When she awoke, a childhood taunt popped into her head: Finders keepers. But this time, Stein heard it as Finders Key Purse.

Like more and more women are doing these days, Stein found the courage to start her own business, Alexx Inc., a company that makes functional and fashionable key-finders.

Read the full story here.

SBA Could Help You Escape From Corporate America and Get Started Running a Business

Dear Professor Bruce: I feel stagnant in my current job. It's a road to nowhere. I am talented in my field and have some excellent background. Money is what I would need to really get going in my own business. Are there government programs available to help me?

SBA could help you escape form corporate America ...

He, Once a She, Talks About the Mysterious "Journey"

Because this article is so unbelievable, I read it four times to completely grasp its key points. The second time around I wanted to spot anything that contradicted "the Larry Summers Hypothesis" and it's there. The third and fourth time, I was just feeling good about myself, taking it in and wanting to personally thank Ben for sharing his/her experiences. There is a lot to learn from this piece. After all, here is a woman, now a man, telling us how she felt when she was a woman in the academic science and math areas. Fascinating stuff and -- now-- so transparent.

Ben Barres had just finished giving a seminar at the prestigious Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research 10 years ago, describing to scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard and other top institutions his discoveries about nerve cells called glia. As the applause died down, a friend later told him, one scientist turned to another and remarked what a great seminar it had been, adding, "Ben Barres's work is much better than his sister's."

There was only one problem. Prof. Barres, then as now a professor of neurobiology at Stanford University, doesn't have a sister in science. The Barbara Barres the man remembered was Ben.

Prof. Barres is transgendered, having completed the treatments that made him fully male 10 years ago. The Whitehead talk was his first as a man, so the research he was presenting was done as Barbara.

Being first a female scientist and then a male scientist has given Prof. Barres a unique perspective on the debate over why women are so rare at the highest levels of academic science and math: He has experienced personally how each is treated by colleagues, mentors and rivals.

I urge you to carefully read the entire article and weigh in with your comments. Not sure how long it's available for free through the WSJ -- better hurry up.

He, Once a She, Offers Own View On Science Spat

Escape From Marriage?

I scanned the following article and asked myself, what does it have to do with this blog and entrepreneurship? Plenty. All I had to do was catch the word "escape" and I knew you had to read it too. Is there a difference between escaping from a company and escaping from a bad marriage? Maybe not. Here's the passage that stood out for me:

"Laura has now "escaped", as she puts it, a 15-year marriage -- though cynics could well point out that she decided to flee the marriage only after the Enron scandal erupted and the man who had supported her for so long looked likely to be bankrupted."

What's the likelihood of Laura starting a business? You tell me.

Read the crazy article here: Ex-wife speaks out.

Accidental Entrepreneur

If you're at all dissatisfied with your job, you've got a long, hot summer ahead of you. Plenty of time to sit and daydream about telling the boss to take a hike and making money doing what you love.

Many of you have personal Web sites you work on in your spare time, either blogs or little e-businesses or software-as-a-service applications. Wouldn't it be great if you could just make a living on that stuff and leave the paycheck-to-paycheck grind behind?

The subjects of this article on accidental entrepreneurs did just that.

The Entrepreneurship Bug Done Bit Me

When I read the title of this article -- Entrepreneurial bug bites more college students -- I immediately thought of the lyrics from Diana Ross and The Supremes's song "Love Is Here and Now You're Gone." Here's why. All I did was substitute entrepreneurship for love:

The entrepreneurship bug done bit me
Didn't mean for him (her!) to get me
Woo, get up in the morning
And I'm filled with desire
No, no, I can't stop the fire
Entrepreneurship is a real life wire
Ooh, it's a burning sensation
Far behind imagination

Entrepreneurship is like an itching in my heart
Tearing it all apart
Just an itching in my heart
And baby, I can't scratch it
Keeps me sighing, ooh
Keeps me yearning

No, mama can't help me
No, daddy can't help me
I've been bitten by the entrepreneurship bug
And I need some information
To help me out this situation

Now, when you're ill
You take a pill
When your thirsty
Drink your fill
What you gonna do
When entrepreneurship gets a hold
A hold on you
Entrepreneurship is like an itching in my heart
And baby, I can't scratch it

Entrepreneurship is a nagging irritation
Causing my heart complication
Entrepreneurship is a growing infection
And I don't know the correction
Got me rockin' and areelin'
And I can't shake the feelin'

Entrepreneurship is like an itching in my heart
Tearing it all apart
Just an itching in my heart
And baby, I can't scratch it
Keeps me sighing, ooh
Keeps me yearning

Keeps me burning
Keeps me tossing
Keeps me turning
Keeps me yearning

I've been bitten by the entrepreneurship bug
And I need some information
To help me out this situation
Entrepreneurship is a nagging irritation
Causing my heart complication

I've been bitten by the entrepreneurship bug...

Sew ...

what do Sting, Elton John and Madonna all have in common besides being great entertainers? They each hired tech savvy female entrepreneur Megan Duckett who just earned her business -- Sew What? Inc. -- the 2006 Dell/National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Small-Business Excellance Award.

Read more about the program here and visit Sew What? Inc. here.

(Note: From backdrops for Sting, Elton John and Madonna to red velvet curtains for the cover of Rolling Stone, custom theatrical drape maker Sew What? marries new technology with a centuries-old craft. "I never dreamed that the tiny business I started on my kitchen table would grow into the global business we have today," said Megan.)

On behalf of women entrepreneurs across the planet, we congratulate Megan and wish her continued success!

Happy Birthday to America and Escape From Corporate America!

Happy Birthday America -- celebrating 230 years of FREEDOM -- and reminding us that the words engraved at the base of the Statue of Liberty bear witness to a noble truth: "For the tired, the poor, the world's huddled masses yearning to breathe free, America remains a powerful beacon of hope."


In addition to America's birthday, please join me in celebrating Escape From Corporate America's birthday No. 2. We started this blog on July 4, 2004 and had no idea that there would be such a proliferation of blogs created in blogosphere. It goes to show you that if you have passion, are tenacious and have something important to say, you can achieve great things.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your readership and support along the way because without it, this blog would not be possible. So I look forward to many more vibrant and insightful conversations with you in the future.

Now let me sprinkle some stardust of "hope" on you. Today, may you escape and start that business you've been dreaming about. Anything is possible!

Best wishes,
Laurel