Influential Women Entrepreneurs of the Past Decade

WBDC on 01.15.10 at 5:30 PM | 1 comment |

The dawn of the new decade has everyone looking back over the past ten years. Inc. Magazine recently published a list of the entrepreneurs of the past decade, yet out of their list of 17, only two (Martha Stewart and Leslie Blodgett) were women! Below is a list of eight other influential women entrepreneurs of the past decade. Who would you add to the list?

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It’s hard to talk about influential women without including Oprah. I was tempted to leave her off the list, because she is always included on these types of lists. But, the reality is that Oprah does have an amazing amount of influence. And it crosses all ‘lines’-- gender, race, age, economics, and interests. Additionally, just think about the economic impact she has – book sales generated by her book club selections; philanthropic contributions via her angel network; propelling her guests’ careers to new heights (think, Dr. Phil). An article in Time Magazine summed up Oprah's influence in American society: "When Winfrey talks, her viewers -- an estimated 14 million daily in the US and millions more in 132 other countries – listen!
I agree with USA Today’s description of Suze Orman as a “one woman financial powerhouse.” In an environment with a wealth of accomplished and impressive financial experts, Suze stands out. Like Oprah, she is able to connect with her primary audience of women in a way that makes them feel like she understands them, empathizes with them…and yet, is tough on how she challenges them to take charge of their finances. Her mission is to help individuals to live prosperous (financially and emotionally) lives.
It’s always fascinating to read about the success of the (usually) young men who have had such an impact on our society with their online and technology creations (think Twitter, Facebook, Google, etc.). So, it was so refreshing to read about Caterina Fake. She is the co-founder of Hunch (6/09), a collective intelligence decision-making system that uses decision trees to make decisions based on users' interests. Prior to Hunch, Fake co-founded Flickr, the popular photo-sharing service developed by Ludicorp in Vancouver; acquired by Yahoo! in 2005. Flickr ushered in the so-called Web 2.0 integrating features such as social networking, community open APIs, tagging, and algorithms that surfaced the best, or more interesting content. Without a doubt, Caterina has been a major influencer!
Since the release of her first solo album in 2003, Beyonce has released more than 20 hit songs. However, the one that might go down in history as the ‘most remembered’ is “Put a Ring on It”. It has become the anthem for many women to make sure that they treat themselves with high regard and self respect – and demand that their men do the same! Beyonce’s influence goes beyond just her peers – and spreads the message about self love and self-value to women of all ages. In a new list created by Forbes Magazine that ranks Hollywood earners under 35, Beyoncé came in at #1. The rankings listed Beyoncé as earning $85 million between June 1 2008 and June 1 2009.
Despite that fact that we all know Maria as First Lady Michelle Obama’s designer, she has quietly been making her place in the fashion world since 1991 when she first opened the doors to her label. Over the years, the company’s brand awareness has soared! In addition to First Lady Obama, Maria’s clients include Oprah Winfrey and actress Marcia Gay Harden. Pinto has her eyes on the $10 million revenue mark, and has claimed 2010 as the ‘tipping point’ year for the company.
Nely has definitely been a big influence in broadcast entertainment targeted to the Latina market. Her star has been shining brightly, beginning with her role as the former President of Entertainment for Telemundo. She is an independent producer whose credits include the FOX reality series, The Swan. Nely is also a great friend of the WBDC! She was an exciting and motivational speaker at our 2008 annual Entrepreneurial Woman’s Conference.
I think that Ellen is the ‘poster child’ for inspiring anyone to courageously resurrect a career that once soared to impressive heights, then, plummeted. After Ellen announced her homosexuality on her popular television show, she saw a decline in her ratings and her career. She acknowledges it was scary and tough to start over, tough, but she re-branded and re-created her image and popularity. Her current talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show is a huge success.
Terry is a great friend of the WBDC, and shares her extensive knowledge of all-things-financial every year at our annual Entrepreneurial Woman's Conference. She is a nationally known expert on personal finance and a regular television commentator on issues related to investing and financial markets. Her syndicated personal finance column for the Chicago Sun-Times is read in newspapers across the country, and her columns appear regularly on TheStreet.com, the popular investing website. Her previous best-seller, The Savage Truth on Money, was named one of the ten best money books of the year by Amazon.com.

Oprah Winfrey

It’s hard to talk about influential women without including Oprah. I was tempted to leave her off the list, because she is always included on these types of lists. But, the reality is that Oprah does have an amazing amount of influence. And it crosses all ‘lines’-- gender, race, age, economics, and interests. Additionally, just think about the economic impact she has – book sales generated by her book club selections; philanthropic contributions via her angel network; propelling her guests’ careers to new heights (think, Dr. Phil). An article in Time Magazine summed up Oprah's influence in American society: "When Winfrey talks, her viewers -- an estimated 14 million daily in the US and millions more in 132 other countries – listen!

1 Comment

Veronica said:

Love the women you chose, but any chance you can do a list of top women of Chicago?

Posted on January 18, 2010 9:35 AM

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