Bo Derek ... Eat Your Heart Out

We love being a part of a Top anything list and in this case, we are delighted to have made the EmpowerWomenNow.com's Top 10 Women Entrepreneur Blogs. A BIG thanks to Ponn for including us! It's terrific to be mentioned alongside so many awesome women entrepreneurs. Many thanks and congratulations to all.

Women take over the leadership of our important institutions

I know, I know ... I'm late getting to this so for those who are living in a cave larger than mine, this is such a joyous moment for all women, whether mothers, sisters, entrepreneurs, executives, academics and the like ... Harvard has hired Drew Gilpin Faust, 59, the first female president in the university's 371-year history.

So glad Summers is out for he was hellbent on taking (putting) women down.

If you haven't already, go out and celebrate!

Millionaire Moms

Are there really secrets to becoming a millionaire mom (woman entrepreneur) or is it just a case of persevering in the face of obstacles?

First, I identified a number of key business concepts that I believe are important and which, based on my frequent communication with women entrepreneurs, present the greatest challenges. Next, I identified 17 extraordinary women who, based on their own success and experience, could help explain these core concepts and offer inspiration.

They are some of the most successful entrepreneurs of our day, with businesses ranging from retail to manufacturing and public relations. These are not women who have ascended the corporate ladder to reach the CEO level (a significant but very different kind of achievement). Rather, each of them had an idea that they developed -- some quite literally from their kitchen tables -- and grew into multimillion dollar companies.

Author Tamara Monosoff, a wonderful colleague of mine, has a new book out. Find out more here.

Off-Ramps and On-Ramps

We mentioned "Off-Ramps and On-Ramps: Keeping Talented Women on the Road to Success" in April but thought you'd find Jack Covert's review much more interesting.

Finally, Women's Wear for the Hard-Hat Set

Wouldn't you think that means us? Well sort of. In case you missed this article in the WSJ May 17th by Christina Binkley, check it out for yourself. It's about women in blue-color trades who can't get enough pink. I find that hard to believe but well, what do I know? Besides, it's not a sexy pink, it's a masculine pink (see crewneck shirt pictured from Carhartt's) ... basically clothes I wear as a woman entrepreneur when I'm not in front of clients -- sans hard hats.

If you want to skip the piece, jump to these Women's Work Wear sites:

Carhartt

Tomboy Tools

Charm and Hammer

Wolverine

Dickies

Do You Vacation While On Vacation?

Remember riding hip to hip with your brothers and sisters in the back of the family van, eating the snacks too soon, fighting over the music selection, losing tiny, indispensable pieces of travel games?

Or maybe your family was not of the road trip ilk. Perhaps you remember exciting trips on airplanes, a special pin from the stewardess, watching the clouds take shape out of your own oval window, your grandparents waiting feverishly for your arrival in the sprawling Portland or Poughkeepsie or even Paris airport.

I remember the hip to hip bit quite well and it never failed that within about a block of leaving our house, I would start balling my eyes out because my siblings were putting the squeeze on me for car space.

But the point of this article isn't about that. It's about taking a vacation -- a real vacation -- and carving out time for your friends, family and your own well-being.

Take a break to read this article and see if you find yourself in it. If you do, plan to get away to relax, rejuvenate and explore what the world has to offer outside of work.

2007 Survey of Women Business Owners: Read All About It!

I am always thrilled when someone at a BIG company gives me advance notice on important information. And that's exactly the case here. Patricia Ewert, who is Director of RSM McGladrey in Chicago, passed along a recently released survey of women business owners indicating that female entrepreneurs are not only working to have it all, but risk it all as well.

The message that resonated the most with me in the survey is to start early with your entrepreneurial desires!

Take a good look at some of the survey findings:

• Of the business owners of companies with revenue of $6 million or more, almost 40 percent were between the ages of 20 and 29 when they started their companies. Regardless of the size of the company, most women started their businesses between the ages of 30 and 39. When respondents were asked what they would do differently, a clear majority said they would have started their businesses earlier.

• It is often assumed that women are more risk adverse than men. But when asked “How much risk would you take or have you taken to start or expand your business?,” more than 60 percent said they had used or would use up to 95 percent of their personal savings or put up their home as collateral for a loan to start or expand their businesses.

• Also, nearly 85 percent of the respondents somewhat or strongly agreed with the statement that “compared to other people, they were confident in their abilities to succeed,” and according to the survey, they are. About 50 percent of respondents reported revenue growth of more than 10 percent in the previous year, while an impressive 32 percent had revenue growth of more than 20 percent.

The far-reaching 36-page survey, which polled 650 women business owners from 35 states, was sponsored by RSM McGladrey Inc., the University of Chicago, the Committee of 200 (C200) and the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO).

For more information about this survey, please contact Pat at patriciadotewertatrsmi.com or call 312-634-3064 (Ext. 43064).

Blessed With a Genius for Publicity

In case you didn't catch the book review in this weekend's Pursuit section of the WSJ on "Aimee Semple McPherson and the Resurrection of Christian America," pickup a copy (not available online yet). The reason is because it talks about someone you may never have heard of (I hadn't!) yet quite possibly she was responsible for starting the women's movement: Aimee Semple McPherson (1890-1944). Here's what was so striking about her:

She was a brave transgressor of gender norms.

True, 50 years before Betty Friedan published "The Feminine Mystique," McPherson cast aside her apron (and rid herself of a pesky second husband) to pursue her calling. "God, she believed, wanted her to exchange domestic life for the pulpit," Mr. Sutton writes. But she also deployed traditional feminine wiles, exploiting personal details to win public approval. Broadcasting live from her nuptial boudoir just a day after marrying her third husband, for example, she treated radio listeners to the sound of their enthusiastic kisses. When the marriage failed, she churned out "sacred operas" whose lyrics read like lachrymose sympathy cards: "Do you live in a castle of broken dreams, / Where Giant despair and his dark horde teems?"

McPherson's life story tells us less about flouting gender norms than about navigating celebrity's treacherous terrain.

She was way ahead of her time and talk about pure entrepreneurship in its highest form. More can be found about Aimee here, here and here. Photo gallery is here. Fascinating person. By the way, that's her pictured at 51 years old.

When You Work For Yourself, Anything Is Possible

Great blog post by author Laura Vanderkam on what's it's like to expect her first child and still be passionate about running her business. Read more here.