Women Mean Business
November 19th is Women’s Entrepreneurship Day, so I’ve gathered up a selection of books from and about well-known women entrepreneurs for you to add to your personal and professional libraries. Each one is filled with the inspiring story behind the brand, as well as strategies and tactics you can consider for growing and sustaining your business endeavors.
But I’ll start with a new (related) fiction release!
They could have been allies: two self-made millionaires who invented a global industry, in an era when wife and mother were supposed to be the highest goals for their sex. Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein each founded empires built on grit and determination…and yet they became locked in a feud spanning three continents, two world wars, and the Great Depression. Brought up in poverty, Canadian-born Elizabeth Arden changed popular opinion, persuading women from all walks of life to buy skincare products that promised them youth and beauty. Helena Rubinstein left her native Poland and launched her company with scientific claims about her miracle creams made with anti-ageing herbs. And when it came to business, nothing was off-limits: poaching each other’s employees, copying each other’s products, planting spies, hiring ex-husbands, and one-upping each other every chance they had. This was a rivalry from which there was no surrender. And through it all were two women, bold, brazen, and determined to succeed—no matter the personal cost. You can read more and get your copy here.
This new release is getting a lot of buzz!
Called “one of the most disruptive brands in beauty” by Forbes, Glossier revolutionized the beauty industry with its sophisticated branding and unique approach to influencer marketing, almost-instantly making the company a juggernaut with rabid fans lining up for a chance to buy its coveted products. It also taught a generation of business leaders how to talk to Millennial and Gen Z customers and build a cult following online. At the center of the story lies Emily Weiss, the elusive former Teen Vogue “superintern” on the reality show The Hills turned Into the Gloss beauty blogger who had the vision, guts, and searing ambition needed to launch Glossier. In Glossy, journalist and author Marisa Meltzer combines in-depth interviews with former Glossier employees, investors, and Weiss herself to bring you inside the walls of this fascinating and secretive company. From fundraising to product launches and unconventional hiring practices, Meltzer exposes the inner workings of Glossier’s culture, culminating in the story of Weiss herself. The Devil Wears Prada for the Bad Blood generation, Glossy is a gripping portrait of not just one of the most important business leaders of her generation, but also a chronicle of an era. You can read more and get your copy here.
For twenty years, Kendra Scott built her eponymous jewelry company from a hobby and an idea into a company worth more than a billion dollars, creating beautiful and affordable pieces with signature-cut natural gemstones packaged in a sunny yellow box. In this vulnerable, wise, and laugh-out-loud book, Kendra takes us on a journey of personal stories and hard-earned life lessons, from her humble beginnings as an awkward, bullied young girl in small-town Wisconsin to launching a business in her spare bedroom with $500. With every pitfall, misstep, and failure, Kendra builds a life—and a career—rooted in joy, purpose, and doing good, a life she wants for every reader. With heart and humor, Kendra reminds us that not all that glitters is gold, and that there is no level of success that can insulate you from what it means to be a human being: that life is as messy as it is magical, that bad things happen to good people for no good reason, and that a good life does not mean a perfect one. You can read more and get your copy here.
When Lynsi Snyder's grandparents founded In-N-Out Burger in 1948, they built it with a passion for quality and service that Lynsi embraced at a young age. After starting as a store associate at age seventeen, she then worked in other departments, gaining first-hand experience with almost every aspect of the family business until she became president in 2010. She has led the company through explosive growth––today, there are three-hundred and eighty stores and counting––and is deeply committed to the well-being of the In-N-Out Burger family. You can read more and get your copy here.
For the first time ever, founder of Sprinkles cupcakes, Candace Nelson, is sharing the recipe for success. She will walk you through the steps she took to build a globally beloved brand, so you can do it too. Although she deals in frosting, there’s no sugarcoating here. Candace pushes back the kitchen door to reveal mistakes, misses, and lessons learned the hard way. You can read more and get your copy here.
CEO of Hint, Inc and author Kara Goldin turned her unsweetened flavored water into one of the most successful beverage businesses of our time. As she started to achieve her goals, Kara found herself being called “fearless”, “confident” and even “unstoppable,” but nothing could be further from the truth. In Undaunted, she shares real stories about her own fears and doubts, the challenges she encountered and what she did to overcome them to eventually build a great business and a life she loves. Part autobiography, part business memoir and lots of insights on self-development, Undaunted offers inspiring stories that impart lessons that any reader can apply to their own path. You can read more and get your copy here.
In just seven years, Jaime Schmidt went from making natural products in her Portland, Oregon kitchen to turning her brand into a household name and selling her company in a nine-figure acquisition. Supermaker is her guide to business and career development on your own terms. Through unfiltered storytelling and instructive takeaways, the acclaimed entrepreneur, founder of Schmidt's Naturals, and icon of the Maker Movement shares how you too can start or grow your own business with her secrets on marketing, sales growth, product development, customer engagement, scaling operations, and partnerships. You can read more and get your copy here.