DISQUS

Sophia · 1 year ago

Gloria von Thurn und Taxis!
The way she grew after her husband´s death, from party-girl into seriuous business-woman, to secure her son´s inheritance was amazing. And I love how she simply doesn´t care what people say about her; how she shamelessly states her often strong and provocative opinions; how down-to-earth and at the same time grand she is. And what a fun and swell woman she is!

Jess · 1 year ago

Anita Roddick definitely. I'm not sure if you'd consider these women entrepreneurs - but Coco Chanel and Diane von Furstenberg are amazing to me.
Successful and feminine and quirky :)

DanielleLaPorte · 1 year ago

DVF is most definitely a rocking entrepreneur. She is a master at seizing the moment - her "comeback" is one of the most successful in design history.

CristinaCC · 1 year ago

My latest favorite is, Katrina Markoff. Founder & Owner of Vosges Haut-Chocolat. I love the way she funneled her passions into a a great business all the while staying socially responsible. Love her!

Linda Borland-Fitzgerald · 1 year ago

Laura Jennekins www.echoesintheattic.com. This tiny, dynamic woman epitomizes the entrepreneurial spirit with energy to burn and a generous spirit to match. She used to run 10 km a day, before falling to advanced, breast cancer. During recovery, she was inspired to 'give back' to the planet and founded Echoes In The Attic. She rescues textile scraps like Robert Allen and Brunswick Fils, from landfills and has the pieces made into decorator pillows and tote bags - now in stores across Canada. Her vintage chenille Christmas stockings are featured in Canadian House and Home as an 'Eco-Green' product. She just passed the significant 5 year mark and is running again. Go Laura!!

Gillian Rees · 1 year ago

Mary Baker Eddy. Over 100 years ago she challenged the publishing, business, newspaper, and theological world by self-publishing, (as a 45 year old woman in the 1800's-the typical life-span for people of that era) a world-changing book on metaphysics and healing. In the second half of her life she founded a Pulitzer-prize winning newspaper (the Christian Science Monitor), a world-wide church, her book has been a best seller each year since then, founded a college for metaphysics! WOW...all before 1910....when women couldn't even vote! She freed slaves before the civil war, was divorced, widowed, had her son taken from her because she had no rights! But she fought on, and accomplished amazing works. She is constantly an inspiration to me that gender limits NOTHING and we owe so much to the business women of the past and present! read more at http://www.spirituality.com/ thanks for the great question, look forward to meeting more wonderful women through al the responses!

textimage · 1 year ago

Love Li! But I will add to the list Actress/Director Ida Lupino. SO, maybe not a entrepreneur, since back in the 1940's that wasn't de rigeur, but if she were alive today she'd most definately be pushing boundaries. Read about her here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ida_Lupino

weezie · 1 year ago

Oprah, of course. One could hardly come from more humble beginnings than those of a poor Black female growing up in Mississippi during the 50s and 60s. To rise to her status as arguably the most influential female in America is nothing short of astonishing. Her business acumen is spot on, but I most admire her creative philanthropy and the way she inspires and enables others to give as well.

Katasha · 1 year ago

Me. I have to be my favorite female entrepreneur if I want to continue to make my business work.

Rick_Juliusson · 1 year ago

Yay, great answer Katasha!

Ellen · 1 year ago

You guys. Martha Stewart impresses me with the way she handles misfortune. Anita Roddick. Candy West, founder of Jumpsuit Stuff.

CarrieM · 1 year ago

Thank you Ellen.

Rebecca Gaffney · 1 year ago

My absolute favorite female entrepreneur is my business partner, Mia Saling.

I also admire Betsey Johnson, Martha Stewart (I'm an event producer so of course!) and my dear friend, Roxanne Reed. Rox is the founder of both All Fired Up Candle Company and Jane Wayne Gear, and is an inspiration for not only the military spouse community but for all women.

kerrymac · 1 year ago

Martha Stewart has a pretty amazing story and seems to really love all aspects of her business. Ms Oprah has also done huge things with print etc, spinning off her TV presence.
www.snickerdoodles.typepad.com

I am also enjoying watching some craft cats like moi who are gaining huge success following their bilss like Amy Butler, and Portabello Pixie, and My Name is Heather...all their blogs can be found under my Inspirations sidebar.

Uncle Beefy · 1 year ago

This is an easy one for me as I find a number of women, in general, very inspiring. Anita Roddick...absolutely. (And gone TOO soon!) Amy Butler. Tracy Porter...who wrote me a lovely and encouraging email when she was on her ascent. Margaret Kilgallen (also gone too soon) an artist of rising success whose work I loved. And Ida Applebroog another artist. I could go on and on!

This question has really boosted my spirits today, Ladies! Thank you! :)

Shannon · 1 year ago

While there are some celebrity entrepreneurs to admire, for sure I have to say that my choice is someone closer to home. I met Liz Crocker in the 1980's at a forum I was involved in organizing to encourage women to enter the political arena. At the time she was an MLA, and the owner of Woozles, an innovative children's book and toy store in Halifax, NS. Liz's second business P'Lovers is brilliant and a head of it's time. A few years ago she indulged my questions about environmentally responsible marketing and packaging for clients. Liz Crocker is a businesswoman, writer, teacher and environmentalist. She is a highly regarded and successful entrepreneur (Woozles, P'Lovers). She is a volunteer with longtime leadership in environmental, educational, children/youth and cultural causes within Nova Scotia and nationally. Add to that, the Boards of the Sierra Legal Defence Fund, IWK, Neptune Theatre, and Shakespeare by the Sea. She is committed to issues of sustainable development and served on the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy and was the Chair of its Education Committee. She has just published a book called: Privileged Presence: Personal Stories of Connections in Health Care.

Rick_Juliusson · 1 year ago

Sarah Juliusson - DancingStarBirth.ca and MamaRenew.ca
OK, she is my wife, but the way she and her partner turned the simple idea of holistic childbirth classes and mothering support circles into a growing, creative business that supports families throughout the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island - all while being the main stay-at-home parents - is truly inspiring.

Daniel Gibbons · 1 year ago

Caterina Fake is definitely high up on the list. She founded Flickr, right here in Vancouver, and subsequently sold it to Yahoo! In turn she was at least partly responsible for igniting the web 2.0 frenzy that produced so many of the current generation of social / sharing websites.

The Flickr story is also a great testament to entrepreneurs who are willing to make big jumps away from their original plan. Ludicorp, the corporate entity behind Flickr, originally set out to create a MMORPG (massively multi-player online role-playing game, in case you're interested...) called Game Neverending, and Flickr was built as a component of this game. It subsequently turned into the actual business, and if you navigate around Flickr you will still see the ".gne" file extension, a sly reference to game never-ending...

Chynna · 1 year ago

Danielle, what's so funny is that I also worked at the Body Shop for many years. Anita Roddick, to me, was such a hugely inspirational woman on every level. She changed how we all look at the world and the people in it; she taught us to really look at the products we use every day and to pay attention to what's in them; and she showed how women can make a powerful difference in the business world if she has the drive, motivation and ambition. I was so sad to hear of her death but hope her legacy remains strong. (I recently wrote a tribute to her! =o) )

Lori_from_Texas · 1 year ago

My favorite is San Antonio artist, Cristina Sosa Noriega, www.cristinasosanoriega.com. Her "My Loteria" tableware is festive & vibrant. I love that she has re-created the tradional and been savvy enough to share it.

Cobby · 1 year ago

My favorite female entrepreneur is Renee Rouleau. She owns a Skin Spa (www.reneerouleau.com) that has one location in Dallas and one in Plano. She is the best of the best. She's brave and bold, smart and savvy, she's a master at connecting with people and connecting them to one another and I've never seen her without a smile on her gorgeous face. If you're ever in the Dallas area, be sure to stop to see her. I met her through volunteering with the Junior League and am so glad to have had the opportunity to run into her and get to know her better through the years we've volunteered.