Guest post: 15 female entrepreneurs who are incredibly inspiring

Greetings everyone,
Earlier today, I received an email from Liz Nutt, http://www.accountingdegree.com/. Liz, inspired by this blog, asked if the following article could be posted here.
With pleasure Liz!

Melissa Martin

Opening up your own company poses all sorts of obstacles, no matter your gender. But some women — in this country and overseas — encounter even more challenges depending on their community, education, competition and culture. Here are 15 female entrepreneurs from the past and present who are incredibly inspiring for their creativity, cleverness and courage.



1.Oprah Winfrey: Oprah’s been the queen of TV for decades, and while she’s moved on from her iconic talk show on network television, her Harpo Productions Inc. empire is still evolving. An entire cable network devoted to shows and people she finds inspiring is one of Oprah’s latest projects as she continues to build up her website, magazine and radio show. Born in a poor community in Mississippi, Winfrey was sent to live with different relatives around the country and was sexually abused as a child. She credits her father with "turning [her] life around" and helping her recognize her potential and her natural gifts, a mission she has pursued on her talk show and in her many charitable endeavors, like her Angel Network. Forbes calculated Winfrey’s net worth for 2011 at $2.7 billion.

2.Diane von Furstenberg: Fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg is known in the industry as a compassionate, modern mentor to young women, emerging talents, designers and Middle American fans. As a newlywed to the the German Prince Egon of Furstenberg, Diane vowed to start her own company and act as an independent woman instead of benefiting from her sudden luxurious lifestyle. Her wrap dresses became a major success among newly empowered American working women, and although she and her husband divorced — and she later suffered a major blow to business — von Furstenberg is again working and serving at the top of the fashion industry. As president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, von Furstenberg mentors new designers. She also sits on the board of a women’s leadership organization called Vital Voices and promotes the efforts of other young women entrepreneurs, as well as the preservation of her local neighborhood in New York.

3.Madame C.J. Walker: In a speech given to the audience at the National Negro Business League Convention in 1912, inventor Madame C.J. Walker summarized her rise to business success by saying she was promoted from the cotton fields to the washtub to the cook kitchen — until she took her career and livelihood into her own hands by starting a manufacturing business. Born in Louisiana to former slaves, Walker was an orphan at six, a wife at 14, and a mother soon after. Inspired by a dream she’d had to start a cosmetics and hair-care line for African American women, Walker used the $1.25 she had saved to fund her new business. After selling her products door-to-door, Walker’s company eventually grew to serve customers around the world, making her the first self-made woman millionaire in the country.

4.Ashley Qualls: Qualls was just 14 when she started her own company, a website called Whateverlife.com that helped teens design their own MySpace pages and learn graphic design. Motivated to help other young people express their feelings and follow their own path in life, Qualls borrowed money from her mother to buy the domain name, but quickly recruited millions of visitors and earning tens of thousands of dollars per month. On her About page, Ashley reminds users that "no matter what your age is, never limit yourself!" and that when you find something you’re passionate about, you can take your "ideas to even higher heights."

5.Estee Lauder: One of the most famous female entrepreneurs in American history, Estee Lauder built an extremely successful business that’s still earning big profits today, despite the recession. Lauder was born in New York City to immigrant parents, but with the help of a chemist uncle, quickly began developing skin creams that were sold in clubs and resorts. Lauder eventually fought for her own counter space at Saks Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, gave samples to all of her friends and acquaintances, and expanded to fragrances in the next several years. Lauder became a billionaire before dying in 2004, and the Estee Lauder Companies shares are at this moment selling for $95.36 on the NYSE.

6.Mary Kay Ash: Another inspirational American entrepreneur is Mary Kay Ash, the woman who created Mary Kay cosmetics. The Texas native began her own business pursuits after resigning from a company that continued to promote male employees ahead of her, despite her seniority and higher skill set. She used her $5,000 in savings and the help of her son to start Beauty by Mary Kay — a company that now relies on 2 million beauty consultants to sell her products around the country.

7.Nellie Cashman: Cashman earned many nicknames during her life as a frontier woman, traveling between Western mining camps — Miner’s Angel, The Angel of Tombstone and Saint of the Sourdoughs are just a few. Irish-born Cashman moved to San Francisco from Boston with her sister in 1869 and first worked as a cook in mining camps until she could afford to open her own boarding house in Nevada, just three years later. For the next phase of her life, Cashman traveled around the North American West, opening restaurants and boarding houses while supporting the local communities through charitable projects with churches and the Salvation Army and giving out free cigars to her mining customers.

8.Caterina Fake: Modern-day entrepreneur Caterina Fake is the co-founder of Hunch and Flickr, but her influence reaches well beyond those two social sites. Fake has invested in many sites like Etsy, Maya’s Mom and Daily Booth, and serves on the board of Creative Commons. Through Hunch and Flickr, Fake is hoping to make the Internet a more personal and personally significant tool for broadening users’ perspectives and connecting us to the hobbies, people and causes important to them.

9.Kamila Sidiqi: In a country where women entrepreneurs aren’t just scarce, but extremely controversial and sometimes in danger of practicing their business, Kamila Sidiqi isn’t just quietly setting up her own shop. Instead, the dressmaker is helping other Afghan women develop their own companies, too. Left alone by a father and brother who fled the Taliban, Sidiqi helped her siblings, who in turn helped her start her business by teaching her to sew and taking her on potentially violent expeditions to buy supplies. Now, Sidiqi runs a consultancy firm supporting women entrepreneurs in her area.

10.Judi Henderson-Townsend: Henderson-Townsend recognized an opportunity for business and seized it — and her risk paid off. She bought up the entire inventory from a closing mannequin store and started a part-time business, called Mannequin Madness, which sells, rents, recycles, repairs and blogs about mannequins. The company has since become respected or its green and socially responsible business plan, helping other retailers recycle their mannequins instead of throwing them away.

11.Sara Blakely: Celebrities and everyday women often slip on a pair of SPANX products before a night out — or important meeting — to help them feel more comfortable and confident in their clothing. Started by Sara Blakeley, the SPANX line of slimming apparel and undergarments is a relatively new company but has beam an indispensable product for women around the country. Blakeley worked hard to maximize her savings to start her company, reading books on getting trademarked, driving around to convince manufactures to make her products, and even using inspiration from her background in stand-up comedy for branding purpose, and inviting sales reps from distinguished department stores into the fitting room to prove how well her SPANX worked. Oprah came calling soon after.

12.Ishita Khanna: This young entrepreneur is dedicated to helping remote Himalayan villages go green in an effort to boost their economy and become more sustainable. She has educated and motivated the community in environmental management through her company Spitiecosphere, which focuses on eco-travel, organic crops and conservation as its principle projects.

13.Lauren Bush: Although she’s former President George W. Bush’s niece and fiance to Ralph Lauren heir and executive David Lauren (yes, she will be Lauren Lauren), and once worked as a model, Lauren Bush was motivated enough to start her own sustainable company just after graduating college. As the co-founder of FEED, and Chairman of the Board of the FEED Foundation, Bush worked with the UN to start a company that facilitates the creation of bags and accessories that are sold to raise donations to help feed underserved populations around the world. Each FEED product is made from environmentally sound materials, using fair-labor production and artisan-made materials.

14.Ama Pomaa Andoh: Ama Pomaa Andoh is the founder of Ghana Young Women Social Entrepreneurs, a resource center for women who want to learn how to start their own business. Women are encouraged to implement "innovative grassroots change" that is sustainable and mutually beneficial to their communities. After a meeting at the FORTUNE/U.S. State Department Global Women’s Mentoring Partnership organized by Diane von Furstenberg-supported Vital Voices, Ama Pomaa Andoh returned home to start GYWSE.

15.Deborah Meaden: Meaden dropped out of high school to take business classes at a technical school, and moved to Italy after graduation. She quickly developed her own glass and ceramics import company, which was successful at first but ended up cheating her out of business. Meaden moved on to other projects before buying out an existing business and taking over. Today, Meaden is a successful investor and marketer in the UK.

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Guest post: 10 netiquette rules every job seeker should know

10 Netiquette Rules Every Job Seeker Should Know

I am pleased to have Tina from http://www.bestuniversities.com/ submit this post.

As our lives become more and more involved with the internet, we have to become more aware of our web presence. Netiquette, the etiquette of the internet, is of more importance now than it ever has been before. With online classes, online job profiles, and online dating, the way we conduct ourselves online impacts every aspect of our lives. In the online world, our communication skills are tested. The only means of communication we have on the web is through the written word, which can cause several complications. For this reason, it is imperative to communicate clearly and professionally in all online arenas. The following netiquette rules will guide a job seeker in the world of professional internet use.



1.Be Professional: While this notion encompasses almost all of what we will discuss, being professional in email correspondence means more than the words you use and the tone you convey. Something as simple as the email address you use can mar even the most well written message. When sending an email on a serious matter it is important that you appear serious on all fronts. If the email address you are sending from sounds silly or joking, it will reflect poorly upon you and can demean your professional credibility. Now, we realize that this advice may sound dated. After all, who uses the email address surferchick22@something.com anymore? But, we believe that this notion is important enough to repeat, even if it is archaic. As a tip for today's users, sending an email to a potential employer from a dot edu or a dot org email address can give you more credibility. For one thing, using a school or organization email address proves that the educational or professional information on your resume is true.

2.Evaluate Your Tone: Deciding on an appropriate tone of voice to use in internet communication can be difficult. Because emailing can be so impersonal, people can sometimes come off in a manner that is more informal or harsh than they intend. When writing an email from the comfort of your own home, it can be easy to slip into an overly conversational tone or a tone that sounds too direct when in writing. Because email correspondence is so quick and easy, people often send off their thoughts without properly reviewing them. Often times, people will send an email without reading it over and evaluating the way the language sounds when read by the recipient. For this reason, it is important to judge what tone is appropriate for that particular correspondence before you begin and read over the message when you are done to make sure that it accurately conveys the desired tone. When communicating with an employer about an open position or an interest in the company, it is always important to sound positive and friendly. Thank the individual you are emailing for their time and express that you look forward to hearing back from them.

3.Use Proper Language and Titles: Another essential aspect of professional emailing etiquette is a writing a proper greeting. Be sure to include a greeting that is both courteous and official when conversing with any individual in any professional setting. Always address the individual you are speaking to with the appropriate level of formality and (though it may sound silly) be sure you have spelled their name correctly. Do not address them as you would a friend. For example, it is not appropriate to simply right "hi" or "hey" at the beginning of an email. Always address whomever you are speaking to with their official title (whether it is Dr., Mr., or Mrs.). If you are unsure of what the individual's official title is default to Mr. or Mrs. to be safe. If the individual replies to you and has used his or her first name only, then it is safe to assume you can call them by their first name. However, to be safe and remain professional, it may be wise to refer to that person as Mr. or Mrs. through all email correspondence.

4.Use Effective Communication: This tip is key to all aspects of writing and (of course) takes some practice. Writing effective, clear messages can be difficult at first. You must be thoughtful and careful with your language. Try to be as clear and concise in your email correspondence as possible. Once you have completed your message read (and reread) it before you click send. Be sure to define and restate your words when you think necessary. Keep in mind that if something sounds unclear to you it will certainly be unclear to your reader. Within the same notion, be mindful of the words you use and the phrases that you write. As discussed earlier, it can be difficult to determine tone in writing, so if you use a phrase that is dependent upon inflection when spoken it is probably not the best choice for written correspondence.

5.Ask for Clarification: Never assume you know the intention of an email if you are unsure. It is important to ask the sender to clarify anything that confuses you. As discussed earlier, it is easy to misinterpret emails because tone can sometimes be difficult to determine. If you think that you are misunderstanding something the other individual is saying or that you have misinterpreted their tone, just ask. It is always safer to send a quick email asking for clarification then it is to email a reply that you are not completely confident about. A potential employer will appreciate your responsiveness and maturity when dealing with confusion. Be sure to place the reason for confusion on yourself and not the sender. You do not want to come off as accusatory or blaming. A simple way to do this is to write, "I did not understand�", keeping the burden for the misunderstanding on yourself. Accepting blame also displays a level of maturity and confidence that is important within the professional world.

6.Do Not Over-Send: While sending emails asking for clarification is important, it is also important that you use restraint when emailing. Do not clog an individual's inbox with messages that are not completely necessary. Be sure to reread the message you are having trouble understanding and make sure that you have no way of answering the question on your own. Although it can be difficult at times, you must consider that emailing is the same as having a face-to-face conversation. Every message you send is taking time from someone's day. You do not want to waste anyone's time or suggest to them that you do not consider their time valuable by over-sending emails.

7.Write Appropriate Subject Lines: The subject line of an email, next to your name, is the first thing the recipient sees. For this reason, it is one of the most important (and most difficult) aspects of writing an email. It is important to convey a message in this line that is clear, concise, and informative. Give the recipient the bottom line of the message they are about to read without giving a complete summary of the entire email. Be precise and include details that allow the recipient to identify what you are talking about quickly and unambiguously. As a job seeker who is emailing a potential employer, never leave the subject line of an email blank. It is important to standout to the employer you are corresponding with. You want to grab their attention (in a professional manner) without looking too showy. Employers seeking new employees likely receive dozens and dozens of emails a day. Many will completely disregard an email sent without a subject.

8.Use Proper Grammar and Spelling: It is endlessly important to use proper grammar and spelling in emails. Slipping into an overly conversational tone can be easy when communicating through email. While informal emails are fine when conversing with friends and family, you should always speak with potential employers in a professional manner. Messages that utilize poor grammar and have several misspelled words, demonstrate carelessness. If you do not take the time to edit your emails before you send them it will imply that you do not value the recipient's time. Quite simply, an email with poor grammar and bad spelling will not be taken seriously.

9.Sell Yourself: Going hand-in-hand with using proper grammar and spelling, it is important to look good when seeking a job online. In today's techno-savvy world, many companies require job seekers to create an account or profile in order to apply for a position. In this profile, individuals should "sell" themselves to their potential employer. Your writing is the main thing that you will be judged by online (because, for the most part, it is the only thing available). Make yourself look good online by demonstrating professional writing etiquette. Be sure to display your strengths in these profiles. Also, it is important that any profiles that already exist online reflect you in a positive and professional manner. If you have a Facebook (or MySpace) account, be sure to make it display you in a positive and professional light or make it completely private and hidden from potential employers.

10.Be Honest: While "selling yourself" in an online job profile is important to landing the position you desire, you must also be careful to remain completely honest. Because the world of the internet is faceless, it can be easy to fabricate information and think that you will get away with it. For many reasons, lying online can get you into more trouble than admitting your weaknesses (true in all aspects of life). Demonstrating your strengths and acknowledging your weaknesses shows a potential employer that you are willing and able to grow.

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