Get It Straight In 2007: Four Myths Of Women Entrepreneurs

What does it take to be a successful women entrepreneur? If the first things that pop into your head are money, the willingness to take risks or even the right genes, Marnie Walker wants to set you straight. Walker, who founded Student Express Inc. in 1989 to provide bus transportation for special needs and French-speaking students in Ontario, says there are a number of misconceptions about successfully running your own company. She should know.

From a standing start in 1989, Walker grew her firm to 250 buses and revenue of $10 million before selling the company in 2004 to Toronto-based Stock Transportation. Speaking recently at the Rotman School of Management in Toronto, Walker dispelled some popular entrepreneurial myths.

From America to Ireland to Canada ... women are getting it straight in 2007: Entrepreneurship is the way to go.

Read the full story here.

Separately and from the book "Women Who Changed The World:"

Chapter 17
Mary Cassatt

She has succeeded in expressing, as none of our own painters have managed to do, the joyful peace, the tranquil friendliness of the domestic interior. ~ Joris-Karl Huysmans

Season's Greetings

With all good wishes for the holidays and a year of health and prosperity. And don't forget to take a visit to the North Pole to get some entrepreneurial ideas!

"We wish you a Merry Holiday, we wish you a Merry Holiday, we wish you a Merry Holiday and a Happy Entrepreneurial Year!"

Happy Holidays. You're Fired! Love, HarperCollins

In case you have been living in a cave and haven't heard, Judith Regan (pictured), the controversial editor under the ReganBook imprint of publishing company HarperCollins, was fired Friday over her plans for an interview and book with O.J. Simpson.

What a shame that News Corporation, the giant media company which owns HarperCollins (run by Rupert Murdoch), thinks this move will make them look good, or better I should say, by sacrificing Regan.

Read more about it here.

And here.

Separately and from the book "Women Who Changed The World:"

Chapter 16
Susan B. Anthony

There will never be complete equality until women themselves help to make laws and elect lawmakers. ~ Susan B. Anthony

Start A Business For Someone To Steal?

Debra Killian thought she was having a bad day when a backache forced her to stay home from work. Eager to see what was happening at Charter Oak Lending Group, the mortgage company she had started with her husband, Don DeRespinis, Killian logged on to her computer and checked the status of loans in the pipeline.

Within seconds it became clear that her back pain would pale in comparison to what was about to hit. Loan after loan popped up as "suspended." While that had occasionally happened in the past - a deal could fall through, or a client might not get approved for financing - it was highly unusual to see a large number of lost loans at the same time. Killian called DeRespinis. "Have you checked the system?" she asked. "What the hell is going on?"

Find out more here and learn how to protect your business to ensure it doesn't happen to you.

Separately and from the book "Women Who Changed The World:"

Chapter 15
Florence Nightingale

And so is the world put back by the death of every one who has to sacrifice the development of his or her peculiar gifts to conventionality. ~ Florence Nightingale

She Is Thinking Of Starting Her Own Marketing Company

I love stories like this one, How a Highflier in Marketing Fell At Wal-Mart, because it is so close to home. Julie Roehm studied marketing at the University of Chicago's business school and was recently written up in their impressive alum catalog about how she is a person to watch or most likely to succeed. Hands down, she is an exceptionally bright and bold businesswoman.

And while I was reading the story about her last night in the WSJ, I was eager to get to the end knowing that this woman needs to get out from under, or better stated, exit corporate America now. She has way too much firepower and talent to let the big guys push her around.

Why did Wal-Mart fire her? Take a deep breath. Two reasons:

1. They accused her of having an affair with her protege, Sean Womack.
2. They accused her of accepting gifts from customers.

True or false? Hard to say but if No. 1 is false, she has a strong lawsuit case against either Wal-Mart or the WSJ for publishing that statement. By the way, she is married with kids. We will find out the facts soon enough or we can only hope.

Moving right along, here's what the final paragraph says:

"Ms. Roehm says she believes Wal-Mart decided it no longer wanted to pursue the approach embodied by the new advertising agency. "They had a change from a strategic point of view. That's their prerogative," she says. She adds that she is thinking of starting her own marketing company, perhaps with Mr. Womack."

And that my friends is what this blog is all about.

You can bet I will be calling her to see what she can do for my business once she is up and running.

Separately and from the book "Women Who Changed The World:"

Chapter 14
Queen Victoria

She was a part of the establishment -- an essential part as it seemed -- a fixture -- a magnificent, immovable sideboard in the huge saloon of state. ~ Lytton Strachey, Queen Victoria

Focus.

Practice makes perfect. And that's what this book is all about. Authored by management consultant and business blogger Lisa Haneberg, it offers business leaders a new way to direct their focus. For example, say you want to start a business. How do you do it fast, direct and on track? This book will help you find a way.

Focus Like a Laser Beam

Separately and from the book "Women Who Changed The World:"

Chapter 13
Harriet Beecher Stowe

Does not every American Christian owe to the African race some effort at reparation for the wrongs that the American nation has brought upon them? ~ Uncle Tom's Cabin

Does Your State Make An Impact With Woman-Owned Businesses?

Majority women-owned firms are growing at a rate nearly twice the U.S. average, contribute $1.1 trillion in revenues to the economy and create jobs for 7.2 million Americans.

The Center for Women’s Business Research today announced its biennial update of state and metro area figures for women-owned businesses. Drawing on the most recently available U.S. Census data, the research provides the most comprehensive statistical snapshot of today’s 7.7 million majority women-owned firms (firms at least 51% owned by a woman or women). The data released by the Center looks at the impact of these firms in individual states, regions and metropolitan areas.

Read more here.

Separately and from the book "Women Who Changed The World:"

Chapter 12
Jane Austen

That young lady has a talent for describing the involvements of feelings and characters or ordinary life which is to me the most wonderful I ever met with. ~ Sir Walter Scott

Women Start Solo Businesses At Midcareer

A mentor's advice can be an asset to those starting their own business. V. Cheryl Womack, chairperson of the nonprofit organization Leading Women Entrepreneurs of the World, encourages women business owners to provide guidance to others aspiring to entrepreneurial goals. Ms. Womack, who founded and sold five businesses in the trucking industry, joined the Kansas City, Mo., organization in 2002.

CareerJournal.com asked Ms. Womack, a former school teacher, to share some tips -- one is to 'be' noticed -- for women seeking to start a solo business at midcareer.

Becoming Your Own Boss As a Woman at Mid-Career

Separately and from the book "Women Who Changed The World:"

Chapter 11
Mary Wollstonecraft

"If the abstract rights of man will bear discussion and explanation, those of women, by a parity of reasoning, will not shrink from the same test: though a different opinion prevails in this country." ~ Mary Wollstonecraft