As we close out Women’s History Month, it’s fun to think about the legacy women today will leave behind for future generations. Which doors will we leave open? Which barriers will we break down? But, more importantly, what will we build?
If we look to the world of entrepreneurship, it would appear that women today are building networks of support for each other. They’re sharing the lessons they’ve learned through failure and the methods through which they’ve achieved success, empowering other women in the process.
Creating and growing a business is a monumental task, but with a sea of mentors at your disposal — women who have tread rough waters and learned to cut through the waves with confident strokes — diving in may not be so daunting. So, whether you’re just starting out, looking to kick things up a notch, trying to juggle family and your business or just seeking inspiration, these six books offer advice and encouragement that can benefit any woman entrepreneur.
In the Company of Women by Grace Bonney
In the Company of Women
by Grace Bonney
“Visibility is one of the most powerful tools we have in inspiring people to pursue their dreams and educating them about all the amazing options that exist,” writes Grace Bonney, whose New York Times bestselling book In the Company of Women: Inspiration and Advice from over 100 Makers, Artists, and Entrepreneurs aims to show women all the avenues open to them. Providing invaluable business advice from women of all ages, experience levels and backgrounds, this book highlights the diverse paths to success. And through profiles on over 100 talented women from young media titans to tattoo artists and television producers, Bonney offers examples of what women can accomplish “if we work hard and support one another.”
Million Dollar Women by Julia Pimsleur
Million Dollar Women
by Julia Pimsleur
Over the past two decades, “American woman started close to twice as many businesses as men,” and yet a mere “three percent of female business owners ever make north of $1 million in revenues.” Meanwhile, six percent of their male counterparts have done just that. Julia Pimsleur, the founder of Little Pim, an award-winning language learning program for children, believes “financial freedom is one of the last front lines of feminism” and aims to help women succeed in their entrepreneurial ventures with Million Dollar Women. Offering readers invaluable insight on everything they need to make it in the big leagues — from networking to delegation — and introducing them to another seven successful women entrepreneurs, Pimsleur shows women how they can scale up their businesses.
Mompreneur by Tanisha Jamison
Mompreneur
by Tanisha Jamison
Running a business isn’t easy. Neither is running a family. And doing both simultaneously is a whole other ball game. “You can be a wife, a mother, and an entrepreneur,” writes Tanisha Jamison, self-help business author and mother of four, but “to become a successful mompreneur, you need support.” In her book, Jamison uses her personal experience as an entrepreneur and a working mother to offer other “mompreneurs” the tools they need to succeed in business while juggling family responsibilities. Tackling everything from time management to home organization, Jamison aims to help working mothers maintain a satisfying work-life balance while accomplishing their entrepreneurial goals. With a shift in mentality, women can “have it all” without overdoing it and burning out.
Dear Female Founder
Dear Female Founder
edited by Lu Li
“One of the key things that hold women back is the lack of role models,” writes Lu Li of the challenges women entrepreneurs encounter on their journey to success. In other words, “you can’t be what you can’t see.” So, in this book, Li gathers insight from 66 highly successful women entrepreneurs in an effort to make mentors more accessible and, more importantly, visible to the next wave of business-minded women. Written as a series of advice letters, the book offers more than 100 years of collective business and entrepreneurial experience to its reader. Sharing the lessons they have found most impactful throughout their own journeys, the contributing entrepreneurs provide unique perspectives meant to inspire and guide women as they work to make their next big idea a big success.
Just Go With It by Mandy Gilbert
Just Go With It
by Mandy Gilbert
“These are the lessons we entrepreneurs don’t know we need to know when we’re first getting started,” writes Mandy Gilbert, who shares her personal journey to success in Just Go With It: How to Navigate the Ups and Downs of Entrepreneurship. That journey brought its fair share of loss and triumph, and Gilbert doesn’t shy away from the difficult parts of building a business. In fact, she highlights the ways in which living through those low points can make an entrepreneur stronger. Starting from her early steps toward building her first company to founding an international design and tech school, Gilbert provides practical advice and encouragement to readers while outlining her experiences. For her, “entrepreneurship is definitely an adventure worth taking — even if the path is rarely a straight line.”
I Know How She Does It by Laura Vanderkam
I Know How She Does It
by Laura Vanderkam
How do working women with families make the most of their time? Laura Vanderkam, acclaimed author of What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast, set out to answer just that. She’s coming to readers with hard data collected from real working women about how they spend each of the 168 hours in their week. Surprisingly, most of them worked less than they assumed they did. But how? It’s simple: they made time for the activities that bring them joy. And they share their creative time-making strategies here. It’s possible for work and life to fit together without tearing apart your sanity, and Vanderkam invites you “to study how you place the tiles of your time, energy, and attention” and consider how to make “an even more satisfying picture.”
