Thanks to their passion and determination, these outstanding women have made and continue to make a difference in our daily lives.
Women Entrepreneur:
They may not be celebrated in history books, but their contributions to the world have greatly impacted our society. The legendary women entrepreneurs on our list have constantly pushed the standards of their fields to leave the world a better place.
These women are all different, yet they share similar stories of triumph in the face of hardship. Some were selected because their invention changed the way we live, while others were chosen for carving out a better path for women. Debbi Fields, founder of Mrs. Fields Cookies, explains entrepreneurial motivation: “Entrepreneurship has no age or time limits…it thrives on hope and inspiration. Those who choose to participate can only make the world a better place.”
And that’s exactly what these entrepreneurs have done. Thanks to the accomplishments of the women on our list, today’s women-owned firms are among the fastest-growing firms in the nation–women start businesses at twice the rate of all companies.
About 7.7 million firms are majority-owned by women (51 percent or more), employing about 7.1 million people and generating $1.1 trillion in sales, according to the Center for Women’s Business Research.
1739 Eliza Lucas Pinckney - ‘Dying’ to Make a Difference
She’s known as America’s first important agriculturalist for introducing blue indigo dye into continental North America. Eliza Lucas was born in Antigua, an island in the West Indies, in 1722. She attended a finishing school in London, where she developed a love for botany. When she was still young, her family moved to the U.S., and her father acquired three plantations. At the age of 16, Pinckney took over the plantations near Charles Town, in the Province of South Carolina, after her mother died and her father, a British military officer, returned to the West Indies. After realizing that the growing textile industry was creating a need for new dyes, Pinckney began making a high-quality blue indigo dye in 1739. Her creation was a success: Indigo soon ranked second to rice as a South Carolina export crop. She went on to produce flax, hemp, silk and figs. Pinckney died in 1793, but her legend lives on. She became the first woman inducted into the South Carolina Business Hall of Fame in 1989.
1766 Mary Katherine Goddard… see it here.
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