Mandatory Reading for Anyone Considering Starting a Business

That's according to 800 CEO Read and based on Carol Roth's new book, The Entrepreneur Equation:  Evaluating the Realities, Risks, and Rewards of Having Your Own Business.

Find out if entrepreneurship is right for you!

She Wants Freedom; She Got it Through Business Ownership

For those who don't already know this:  The number of women-owned businesses is on the rise!  Learn more about this trend and about women business owners who have found success (including Tina Fey, pictured, who seems to do her own thing and do it exceptionally well).

First though:

The latest U.S. Census data shows that women start businesses at one-and-a-half times the national rate and are estimated to own just over 8.1 million enterprises. Those businesses generate nearly $1.3 trillion in revenue and employ 7.7 million Americans, according to the recently released American Express OPEN State of Women-Owned Business Report.

"She's the boss:  More women are starting their own businesses"

Snowboarder to Entrepreneur

Take a Deep Breath and Follow Your Dreams

Three women follow their dreams ...  are you?

1.  Nora Jewett
From lawyer to fashion designer

2.  Becky Bartsch
From Radio City Rockette to fourth-grade teacher (yes, you read that right!)

3.  Dr. Laura Michaelis
From reporter for Congressional Weekly and City News Bureau to hermatologist/oncologist

Find out how they mustered up the courage to follow their dreams -- here.

Photography shots for article by Saverio Truglia.

Creating New Opportunities Means Taking the Route of Entrepreneurship

Today (4/11/11), The Wall Street Journal has a special feature:  Women in the Economy

Here are the links to some of the articles which focus on what's holding women back in the workplace:

Where Are All the Senior Level Women?

Tales From the Frontline

The Global View

It's Partly Your Head

You can talk until you drop about women in the workplace -- what's holding them back or how to create an action plan to support new opportunities -- but the real route to freedom, flexibility and being who you are is through entrepreneurship.

Photo credit here (L-R:  Robert Zoellick, Sandra Day O'Connor and Wei Sun Christianson)

Posted by:  The Official Escape From Corporate America Blog, chronicling why more and more women are abandoning big companies to strike out on their own.

Flexibility Matters to Women in the Workforce

And that includes women entrepreneurs.  In fact, when companies do not offer flexible work hours to women who need it for family reasons, the women leave and oftentimes start their own businesses.

Read: 'Mommy Track' Without Shame by Virginia Postrel for The Wall Street Journal

Snippet:

Many strike out on their own, establishing consulting practices that permit flexible, project-based work. "MBA mothers," the economists write, "seem to actively choose jobs that are family-friendly, and avoid jobs with long hours and greater career-advancement possibilities."

Brings back a lot of very old and dated memories. Thank goodness women have wised up and have taken control of their professional destinies!

Posted by: The Official Escape From Corporate America Blog

For the Love of Making Things, Meet Alicia Paulson

I've been following Alicia Paulson's blog, "Posie Gets Cozy," for years.  It's one of my best kept secrets.  She (visit her site here) loves to make things, shows you how to do it with great passion and takes fabulous pictures in the process.  Her readers comment like crazy which is wonderful.

Pour yourself a cup of tea and explore her site. You have to wonder how she does it.  Check out her books too.

Photo credit:  Posie Gets Cozy