In the midst of a snowstorm (Chicago), I just had to go out and have some fun. I made this snow(wo)man all on my own -- cucumber eyes, tootsie pop mouth and all!
Men are losing jobs at far greater rates than women as the industries they dominate, such as manufacturing, construction, and investment services, are hardest hit by the downturn.
Power girls, better known as women who have escaped corporate America to become entrepreneurs (like Oprah), have incredible instincts and go with their gut when making big decisions for their company. It goes like this: Find it. Trust it. Use it.Like many of the great moguls of our time, today's new modern women entrepreneurs follow their gut when it comes to their companies. I've heard stories of instincts driving everything from major business decisions to where or when to travel, hunches that turned out to be great ideas, and examples where "just having a feeling" turned out to be a key factor in shaping someone's work or life. It's something I can definitely attest to. Many of my biggest achievements started from a feeling that if I took a leap, I'd be right.Got a hunch or a great feeling? Then go for it. Don't let anything get in your way to make EXTRAORDINARY things happen in your life.
Considering the tumultuous times were in, we need this new initiative from Babson College more than ever right now. Social entrepreneurship will be all the rage in 2009, if it isn't already, because people are on a mission to change our world (yes we can!) and solve global problems.
Erica Douglass quit her job and started a business with $20,000 ($5,000 of her own money and $15,000 from her parents). Read about her tips for success and find out how you can start a business too without a lot of money here.
Rarely do I weigh in with my own two cents on what's happening in our global economy let alone provide ways in which to deal with it as a woman business owner. But there's always an exception to the rule and I thought you might like the article, 16 Ways To Dodge An Economic Crisis, I wrote for OPEN Forum by American Express.
We are honored to be featured on All Diva Media's 20 Women Bloggers to Watch in 2009. Our thanks to DJ Nelson who's the force behind All Diva Media.
Judith Dobrzynski, who I am a big fan of, writes a clever piece, "Maybe the Meltdown's a Guy Thing," for The New York Times which was published November 15th. Catch it here. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
According to a survey by Catalyst, a New York research group, women hold 15.4% of Fortune 500 corporate-officer jobs -- positions of vice president or higher that require board approval. That number has inched down from 16.4% in 2005. Women running Fortune 500 companies amount to just 2.4%, the survey showed, and 74 of those companies have no female corporate officers at all.Pictured: Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook is among the 50.
Young Women Social Entrepreneurs (YWSE) is a national organization with chapters in San Francisco, Portland, Los Angeles, and New York City. I hope to help them start a Chicago chapter.
Women business owners have more support from networking groups and organizations devoted to peer mentoring (e.g., Women Presidents' Organization), and there is improved access to capital for female business owners than in the past. At least we like to think so. More women are increasingly leading companies in a wide range of sectors traditionally dominated by men, such as construction, manufacturing and information technology.
American Express OPEN announced the launch of OPEN Forum’s Economy section, a new platform for small business owners to connect virtually to discuss the current state of the economy and how it affects their businesses. The Economy section is a component of the newly refreshed OPENForum.com, an education and networking resource designed to provide small business owners with practical, actionable information from business experts, celebrity business owners and best-in-class bloggers and news outlets.
The number of minority women-owned businesses grew twice as fast as the number of businesses created by male minority entrepreneurs and non-minority men and women, according to a new study released by the Minority Business Development Agency.
What do -- the former Colombian presidential candidate and hostage, Ingrid Betancourt; designer Diane von Furstenberg; the sailor Ellen MacArthur; the exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen; the venture capitalist Molly Ashby, the founder of Solera Capital; and the French ministers Fadela Amara, who is in charge of coordinating plans for the racially mixed and poor suburbs, and the foreign trade minister, Anne-Marie Idrac -- all have in common?
I want to make sure you are all familiar with this fantastic resource. It's called News On Women and published by Alice Krause. She reports on women moving up in the world and is looking for news! Check it out here.
At Chicago-based MAB Advertising, there are some great tips you can apply to running your business during turbulent times. See for yourself here.If I wasn't already running my own business, today is the day I'd start one. ~ Seth Godin (9/26/08)
In every difficult situation is potential value. Believe this, then begin looking for it. ~ Norman Vincent PealeCaveat: I know Mary Bahr, President and Creative Director of MAB Advertising through my work with the Women Presidents' Organization.
Did you know Americans aged 55-64 start small businesses at a higher rate than any other age group? 
The social revolution that liberated women has also presented us with even more demands. Most are still trying to map the line between freedom (escapism) and responsibility. 
Meet Ellen J. Kullman, the new chief executive and President of Dupont, making her one of the few women to rise to the top of the chemical industry and putting her among the handful of women running the nation's largest companies.
Even though this is happening in India, it's pretty similar to the United States. Women at the top are still rare. India should focus more on grooming women to own a business and less on helping them become managers within companies.Women leaders in India's corporate world, though still small in numbers, see the situation changing for the better as the gender divide narrows and the glass ceiling disintegrates.Read the article here.
"If women want they can reach the top in the corporate ladder. There is nothing like glass ceiling for women in corporate sector. Moreover, with the diminishing of gender divide, women with their ability are best suitable to head corporate businesses," asserts Kalpana Morparia, CEO of JP Morgan India.
"As a woman from the corporate world, I say all the aspiring women leaders and entrepreneurs have the ability to take a risk in their careers and come out of their comfort zones," says Shanti Ekambaram, group head, Wholesale Banking, Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited.
Women senators are watching out for us but good along with WIPP President Barbara Kasoff so let's put our hands together and applaud them for their efforts, on behalf of all women entrepreneurs, to get the money we so richly deserve under the SBA's women's procurement program rule.The letter also says that, despite comprising a third of the nation's small businesses, women entrepreneurs only received 3.4 percent of federal contracting dollars in 2006. It continues by stating Congress established the women's procurement program in 2000 to help address the underrepresentation of women entrepreneurs in the government marketplace. "Now, over seven years later, the SBA produced a fundamentally flawed proposed rule in its insufficient attempt to implement the women's program," says Barbara Kasoff, President, WIPP.They keep working it and we should too. Don't settle for less -- ever.
http://landrieu.senate.gov/news/08.09.22_Women_Senators_SBA_Letter.pdfLike the shirt? Buy it here (we have no affiliation).
Women entrepreneurs can be overwhelmed with all the social networking sites -- as well as the concept itself. Time and resources are tight but everyone's talking about "Web 2.0." The question you need to ask is: Who do you want to reach? If you find out it's a good fit -- go for it! 
Curious as to who are the highest paid women in Corporate America? As an entrepreneur, when it comes to pay, do you think you hold a candle to any of them? There's only one way to find out. Visit here. If you leave men out of the picture, they make fairly big bucks. We'll come back to that in a moment.If, as so many men have often said, money is just a way to keep score, the list is yet another indicator that women aren't achieving equality at work. U.S. Department of Labor statistics peg the salary gap between women and men at just over 21 cents on the dollar--but at the top, matters seem to be worse. Yes, at least 100 women pulled down $3 million last year, but the 100 best-paid men in corporate America--all chief executives--each pocketed at least $18 million. You don't need a calculator to figure out that pay divide.Read the entire piece here.
While the number of women-owned firms grows at a rate almost twice that of all businesses, women entrepreneurs lag behind in capital, contracting awards and their ability to access viable networks. Senator John Kerry, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, addressed these critical concerns at a roundtable on 9/9/08 - 20 years after the passage of the Women's Business Ownership Act.
There's a glass ceiling -- we know that for sure because that's what makes business ownership so appealing -- but did you know there is a glass door to go along with it? But it's not what you think.
Finally, a young woman is given a voice! No, not Palin but Tinker Bell who never spoke in Disney's 1953 classic "Peter Pan" yet is about to say a word or two or three. Disney hopes some pixie dust and the recasting of a classic favorite will lead to a soaring profit.
If you think the number of women starting businesses is exploding, you haven't seen anything yet.
Ideablob.com is a vital online community where tens of thousands of small business owners and entrepreneurs actively share business ideas, feedback, advice and support. Each month a $10,000 prize is awarded to the best new business idea, which is voted by the ideablob.com community.
Michigan-based Edward Lowe Foundation provides information and mentoring services to entrepreneurs. Its website boasts many resources for "second-stage" companies -- companies that have passed the start-up phase and are growing (typically between $1 million and $100 million in total revenues). 
Stressed? Sometimes you just need an escape break to appreciate all the wonderful, simple things life has to offer. 
In case you missed it, Enterprise Rent-A-Car Co. named Pamela M. Nicholson president, in a move that will most likely usher in a new era for the biggest car-rental company in the United States.
The key to marrying a billionaire, according to the media, is beauty. Grace, charm, intelligence, manners and a talent for flattery help, of course. So does being an entrepreneur. Okay, I had to toss that last one in.
There are two sexes in the race, and one of them does all the shopping. Women. When it comes to purchasing power, they are the moder lode.That's what the Chicago-based Female Factor Corporation claims. And founder/CEO Bridget Brennan (pictured above) goes on further to say:
Women buy 83% of all products in the United States. Yet many marketing strategies are based on age and demographic lines instead of the most obvious line of all – gender.
Men and women have been a mystery to one another since the beginning of time. And in marketing and sales, the situation is no different. Women have a distinct set of motivations and priorities that drive their purchasing decisions. Assuming otherwise limits the ability to compete in a marketplace that is absolutely dominated by female consumers.
Separately but related to women who have not escaped from corporate America yet have done a magnificent job, I want to make sure everyone caught that Shelly Lazarus is stepping down as CEO of Ogilvy & Mather. Another great woman departs (retires) from the top echelons of business.
Shell veteran Lynn Laverty Elsenhans (pictured) joins the tiny club of women leading major U.S. corporations by taking over the reins of Sunoco (their first woman CEO). Read more here.
SCORE launched a Women Entrepreneurs Web site which provides interactive tools, mentoring, workshops and articles that can help women entrepreneurs achieve their business dreams.
Surprises come in every shape, size and form but this was a real shock. I am honored -- Laurel Delaney here -- to have been nominated for the Irish Voice's 2008 50 Most Influential Women by The Irish Voice Newspaper. This is a celebration of Irish-American women success in corporate America, entrepreneurship, the local business world and the Irish community.
Celebrating No. 4 birthday for the official Escape From Corporate America website and this blog and No. 232 birthday for America.
Discover a world of opportunity when you get out of your comfort zone.
When you are an entrepreneur, you just can't do it all. Some try to, but in the end, stress gets the best of us and something breaks along the way. A relationship falls apart, a child has problems at school or a business falls short of its goals.
Adventure Divas: Searching the Globe for a New Kind of HeroineThis is not just about travel, although it's as adventurous as can be. More than that, it's Morris' account of leaving her deskbound publishing job and joining her broadcaster mother to form Adventure Divas to track down "unsung visionaries," women who changed the world in Cuba, India, New, Zealand, and Iran, for what became an award-winning PBS series.
(Between diva searches, to replenish company coffers, Morris takes jobs hunting headhunters in Borneo, climbing the Matterhorn, and crossing the Sahara.)
Morris' interviews--with, among others, Black Panther exile Assata Shakur in Cuba; top cop Kiran Bedi in India; author Keri Hulme, who wrote Morris' beloved The Bone People, in New Zealand; and blind folksinger Pari Zanganeh, who wears a hat instead of a veil, in Iran--are thoughtful and probing, revealing the differences between their lives and those of American women.
Her text adds context--and humor--to the project, warts and all (blank film in India, hotel fire in New Zealand). A good bet for feminists (or entrepreneurs adds Laurel!), fans of the PBS shows, adventure travelers, and anyone who wants a good read.
Three years ago, a new mother living in Indianapolis named Jane Ivanov seemed like an unlikely candidate to launch an international, Web-based retail business.
The folks at Swans Island Blankets were lawyers and finally decided to pursue their life passion: Establishing a small weaving operation off the coast in Maine using local wool.
An amazing article on how Bosnian businesswomen are rebuilding a nation. Why just look at this quote:The women running businesses in Bosnia are focusing on the future. According to Mirsada (pictured), “I am planning to increase my production by another 100 percent and hire another 120 to 130 workers. Very few things in life can deter me once I’ve set a goal for myself.”Women everywhere are making great strides in entrepreneurship. Be proud.
It's hot, hot, hot in Chicago -- finally! Caught this ad in the New York Times and reacted with, "How cool is this for Escape From Corporate America?" If you're reading this, you're a record-holder by running a business. So how about escaping a bit today, buying a new swimsuit and taking a nice, cool swim? You'll want to when you see these.
AYAYO shoes and bags are objects of desire aimed towards women appreciative of high end luxury and keen to add precious pieces to enhance their look. Clean and streamlined shapes together with unexpected details and textures very much make the pieces personal.
If you have never been President of anything, can you run for President of the United States? Do you think it's a more natural transition for a woman to go from CEO of a publicly-traded company to President of the United States versus leaping from founder of an entrepreneurial venture?Meg Whitman, for example, the former eBay chief executive who is a big fundraiser for Senator John McCain, is said to be interested in running for governor of California, which would make her a natural contender for president. (Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard chief executive advising Mr. McCain, is another name mentioned as a possible executive turned candidate, though she is not believed to want to run.)Read the article, "She Just Might Be President Someday."
But almost anybody — and particularly women — will discount the idea of a woman as dark horse.
VivaTerra, a fine artisan and earth-friendly goods place, is offering a 100% recycled and 100% cool, scrappy bag (pictured) that dances with color from sassy fringe to comfy 22" straps. (10"Lx19"W), called the "Yes Bag" for U.S. $64. But if you mention code NT805, get $10 off. Offer good until 6/7/08.
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