November 19th is coming up and we’re excited–why, you might ask? Because it’s Women’s Entrepreneurship Day (WED), of course! WED is a wonderful day for celebrating and recognizing the incredible progress and work of women in business. In fact, according to an article from CNBC, womens’ entrepreneurship rates have increased by 13% between 2015 and 2016, in the 51 economies that were surveyed. In honor of all women in business, we have put together a list of ten inspirational women entrepreneurs. These influential women from around that world have worked to established companies in many industries including beauty, media, and technology!
10 Influential Women in Business
Emily Weiss: Barely in her early thirties, Weiss is the founder of beauty blog Into the Gloss, which features interviews with women about careers and beauty products. Weiss is also the founder and CEO of skincare and beauty company Glossier, known for its revolutionary use of social media to build a huge following in only a few short years.
Photo: Into the Gloss
Linda Rodin: In her mid-sixties, Rodin is a model, beauty mogul, and founder of skincare company Rodin Olio Lusso, known for its face oils.
Photo: Winnie Au
Leandra Medine: At the mere age of twenty-eight, blogger Medine has already long-established Man Repeller, a website dedicated to humorous and intelligent writing about fashion for women.
Photo: Noam Galai/Tech Crunch
Arianna Huffington: Huffington is a Greek-American journalist and businesswoman best-known for co-founding the digital media news source, the Huffington Post. She later became the the editor-in-chief of this influential publication.
Photo: Charles William Pelletier
Oprah Winfrey: An iconic media personality, Oprah has established entertainment company Harpo Productions, the television network Oprah Winfrey Network, and her own magazine O, The Oprah Magazine. It makes sense why she’s known as “The Queen of All Media”!
Photo: The White House Archives
Yang Lan: Lan is a Chinese talk show hostess and journalist, known for co-founding Sun Media Group and Sun Culture Foundation, making her an enormously powerful and influential media personality.
Photo: World Economic Forum
Caterina Fake: Fake is an American entrepreneur best-known for co-founding the photo-sharing website, Flickr.
Photo: Joi
Cher Wang: Wang is the Taiwanese co-founder and chairperson for two huge technology companies: HTC Corporation and VIA Technologies. She is considered to be one of the most powerful women in the technology industry.
Photo: Robert Scoble
Diane von Furstenberg: This iconic Belgian-American fashion designer established her fashion house and brand, Diane von Furstenberg (DVF), where the first wrap-dress was designed in 1974.
Photo: David Shankbone
Tory Burch: Burch is an American fashion designer and CEO of her self-named designer brand, Tory Burch, where she sells lines of handbags, shoes, and clothing.
Photo: Alms 1119
Resources
If you’re looking for more interviews, articles, and profiles on inspiring women in business, check out the following resources:
The Cut’s “How I Get It Done”: The Cut is a website with articles for women about politics, fashion, the workplace, motherhood, health, and so on. Be sure to look into this series of interviews with women in business that discusses everything from their morning routines, their careers, to their style tastes!
Man Repeller’s “The Chatroom”: Man Repeller is a humorous fashion blog started by entrepreneur Leandra Medine. In this series of video interviews, watch Leandra sit down with influential women to talk about their lives, their interests, and advice they have for young women.
Vocabulary
To Build a Following: This phrase refers to increasing the numbers of one’s followers on social media platforms like Instagram or Twitter
Beauty Mogul: A powerful person in the beauty industry
Face Oil: A type of skin care product
Chairperson (or Chairman/Chairwoman): An individual elected to be in charge of a group or to run a meeting
Fashion House: A company that designs and sells high-fashion clothing
Wrap-Dress: A popular style of dress that is held together by wrapping one side around the other before tying a knot. This dress was first designed in 1974 by Diane von Furstenberg
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Anna Deen is a student at Washington University in St. Louis studying English Literature, American Culture Studies, and Communication Design. In her free time, she enjoys hiking in the mountains, going to art museums, and eating ice cream.