As International Women’s Day is the 8th of March it seems only fitting to write a blog piece this week all about WOMEN! For years men have been at the top of the leader board, dominating the world of business. But now, thanks to the hard work of many female entrepreneurs over the last couple of decades, they have paved the way for future generations of women trying to make it into the business world. I’ll be going through a couple of examples of some of the most successful women in business that I have come across.
Whitney Wolfe Herd
Unless you have been living under a rock for the last month, I’m sure you have heard of the incredible achievements of this woman. As well as how at 31, she became the youngest female CEO to take a company public in the United States. Whitney Wolfe Herd is the CEO of the female-focused dating app Bumble. Wolfe Herd is no stranger to adversity in her journey of success, she was a co-founder of the app Tinder in which she sued in 2018, alleging that her cofounders subjected her to sexual harassment. After this Wolfe Herd when out on her own to create a dating app for women. Alongside a female-driven management team, Wolfe Herd has focused the company on a female empowerment message since its inception. The dating app stands out for letting women "make the first move," one of the company's slogans. Bumble has become a massive success and has been pursued by women far and wide including Sharon Stone.
Wolfe Herd recently took the company public on the American stock exchange. The shares opened at $76 (£55) on the Nasdaq last month, well above the initial public offering price of $43. This then gave the company a $14bn (£10bn) valuation. Making Wolfe Herd, the youngest self-made female CEO to take a company public in the United States. Self-made women account for less than 5% of the world's 500 biggest fortunes, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Sophia Amoruso
In 2014, Amoruso released an autobiography #GIRLBOSS. Then in 2016, the book was adapted by Netflix into a television series called Girlboss. Without any fashion or business experience before starting Nasty Gal, Sophia credits much of her hard-earned success to her inability to accept failure as an option. “The people who told me no, were the people who eventually told me yes”. Although Sophia is no longer the CEO of Nasty Gal after it filed for Bankruptcy, her hard work and success is indisputable.
Huda Kattan
Huda left Dubai where she worked in finance to move to Los Angeles, where she studied makeup. Celebrities such as Eva Longoria and Nicole Richie where among her clients. Huda then returned to Dubai where she became employed by Revlon as a makeup artist. Her journey begins in 2010 when she started a beauty-related WordPress blog which she named "Huda Beauty" on which she would post makeup tutorials and tips.
In 2013, Huda then founded a cosmetics line which, called "Huda Beauty”. Her first product, was a series of false eyelashes, released through American retailer Sephora. The Huda Beauty label achieved success with the sales of the false eyelashes, which were famously worn by Kim Kardashian. Following her initial success Huda began to expand her product line, offering other beauty products, including eye shadow palettes, liquid lipsticks, lip liners, highlighter palettes, foundations, concealers, baking powders and liquid eyeshadows.
From this she has received massive success, this has awarded her with a net worth of $610 (£460) million today. Huda has also achieved immense popularity on Instagram, attaining more than 47 million followers as of 2020. She is ranked #1 on the "2017 Influencer Instagram Rich List", earning $18,000 for each post of sponsored content. Huda was declared one of the "ten most powerful influencers in the world of beauty" by Forbes magazine. She was chosen as one of "The 25 Most Influential People on the Internet" by Time magazine in 2017.
Tory Burch
After gaining work experience in some of the biggest fashion houses in the world, including Polo Ralph Lauren, Vera Wang and Loewe, Tory Burch decided in 2004 to spread out her wings and build her own label. The launch of their clothing brand Tory Burch has become a huge success with unique and on-trend designs, as well as earning her a net worth of £640 million.
As of 2018, it has grown to include 250 stores worldwide, and the fashion line is also carried out over 3,000 department and specialty stores worldwide. Tory was listed as the 88th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes in 2020. With her rise to fame, Tory wanted to get involved in philanthropy and founded the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, which supports women with cancer and provides awareness to young women about the disease.
Sara Blakley
With only as much as an idea and a drive to find her way, Sara Blakely went from selling fax machines door-to-door to becoming the world’s youngest, female self-made billionaire in 2012. The founder of Spanx an American intimate apparel company with pants and leggings. In 2012, Blakely was named in Time magazine's "Time 100"’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. She was listed as the 93rd most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.
Sara developed the business with just $5,000 savings and two years researching. She was turned away by every representative and investor that she attempted to do business with. In November 2000, Oprah Winfrey became aware of the product and publicly announced Spanx as a "Favourite Thing" of hers, this lead to a significant rise in popularity and sales, Spanx achieved US$4 million in sales in its first year and US$10 million in sales in its second year. In 2012, Blakely landed on the cover of Forbes magazine for being the youngest self-made female billionaire in the world. In 2006 Sara launched the Sara Blakely Foundation to help women through education and entrepreneurial training. Sara currently has a net worth of $1 billion.
I think that these examples prove that women no longer stand behind great men, they now achieve their own greatness.
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