Historically, entrepreneurship has been a male-dominated pursuit, but many of today's most memorable and inspirational entrepreneurs are women. Come learn about some of the most influential entrepreneurial women past and present.
Mary Kay Ash - Most Outstanding Woman in Business in the 20th Century
The founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics created a business that has helped some half a million women fulfill their dreams of business ownership. A best-selling author and powerful motivational speaker, Lifetime Television named her the Most Outstanding Woman in Business in the 20th Century.
Jenna Jameson - From Porn Princess to Media Mogul
Entrepreneurship may not be the first thing on your mind when you hear her name, but this is one shrewd businesswoman. She turned the business model in her industry on its head before diversifying into a wide range of other products. Her story of powerful branding, tightly controlled distribution and multiple streams of passive income contains lessons for entrepreneurs in any industry.
Anita Roddick - Redefining Business As We Know It
Anita Roddick is the founder of The Body Shop, a store that purchases outstanding natural ingredients for a line of cosmetics, helping the disadvantaged communities generate income and providing women with superb cosmetics.
Oprah Winfrey - About.com Readers' Most Admired Entrepreneur
In our ongoing poll, About.com asked readers to select the entrepreneur they most admired. Was it Bill Gates? Richard Branson? Donald Trump? Nope -- Oprah Winfrey stood out head and shoulders above the rest. Read Oprah's story and some of the things that make her so admirable.
Madame C. J. Walker - First Female African-American Millionaire
The daughter of former slaves, orphaned at the age of seven, Walker built a thriving beauty products business in the early 20th century, eventually employing over 3,000 people. Her hard work, honest business dealings and quality products led her to become the first self-made female African-American millionaire.
Coco Chanel - As Bold and Distinctive as Her Signature Fragrance
Coco Chanel was one of the major innovators of 20th century fashion, introducing elements from menswear and sports apparel into women's fashion to create a distinctively simple, yet elegant style. Her signature fragrance, Chanel No. 5, was the first perfume to bear the designer's name. Launched in 1923, it is still one of the best-selling fragrances in the world.
Debbi Fields - Founder of Mrs. Fields Cookies
At age 20, Debbi Fields was a housewife with no business experience, but a great chocolate chip cookie recipe and a dream. Today, Mrs. Fields Cookies is one of the world's most recognizable dessert franchises, with over 600 stores in the U.S. and ten other countries.
Estée Lauder - Making Beauty Into Big Business
The daughter of immigrants, she is the embodiment of the American Dream. She started out selling skin creams created by her uncle, but with persistence and personality, she worked her way into the cosmetics counters of department stores. She developed a personalized selling style that put her brand at the top of the industry, with a 45% share of the cosmetics market in U.S. department stores.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
From Porn Princess to Media Mogul
I was taking a look at the Forbes Celebrity 100, a list of the 100 wealthiest people in sports and entertainment, and their story about Jenna Jameson caught my eye. In case you don't know her name (or at least won't admit to it), Jameson is the world's most famous pornstar. While she has done only about 50 movies (not really very many by porn industry standards), she has managed to successfully cross over from her hardcore background into mainstream media. She has appeared over 30 times on Howard Stern's radio and TV show, has made numerous guest appearances on a variety of E! TV shows, has just completed a pilot for a new reality series, and her autobiographical How to Make Love Like a Porn Star spent six weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.
Jameson's holding company, ClubJenna, expects revenues of $30 million this year, at nearly 50% profitability! They plan to expand into Jenna-branded strip clubs, cosmetics, and an apparel line, as well as some racier products you might expect. You can even download a "moan tone" for your mobile phone. 40% of the company's revenue comes from web site membership fees and site management fees for other porn stars' Web sites, which they run for 16 other actors, including Tera Patrick and Briana Banks.
Now here's the punch line... Jenna Jameson hasn't had sex on-camera with a male partner other than her husband in seven years. In fact, she plans to grow her business without ever again having sex on video with anyone--male, female or herself. She has shot enough footage with her husband to release two movies a year for the next decade. She has signed five new actresses to star in ClubJenna movies, offering them a rare deal that includes 3% residuals on any sales over 10,000 copies (most porn stars do not receive residuals on their films).
Jameson's story is full of lessons for entrepreneurs. Let's take her story out of context for a minute. This is a woman who was being underpaid in a dead-end job while other people made money off of her work. But she didn't just take it lying down -- she decided to leverage the exposure she received by branching out into other products and services, all while still keeping her "job". Her first contract with Wicked Pictures paid her barely $1,000 a picture, doing eight to ten a year. But as a headlining stripper, she was getting paid $5,000 a show. Add to that posing for pictures with fans, selling her latest movie, and tips, and she was making as much as $50,000 in a week while on tour.
In the Forbes interview, her husband, porn star/director/producer Jay G. Grdina, said, "This has developed from an individual star into a porn conglomerate. Her brand has been developed with the reputation of being the best, and now we are capitalizing on that and monetizing the name."
Not only that, they largely control the distribution channel. While their movies are distributed by Vivid Entertainment, much of their content is available exclusively through their web site.
This combination of a strong brand and a tightly controlled distribution allows them to diversify much more easily. When launching a new product, they already have both marketing and distribution channels in place, as well as a loyal established customer base who will buy the new products, helping with initial market penetration.
She has also made a successful leap to passive income. Shooting a feature film every month and then touring as a dancer makes for a pretty grueling schedule. Now the vast majority of her income comes from product sales, Web site subscriptions, and site management fees. If Jenna Jameson goes on vacation for a month, the money still keeps coming in.
Jameson's holding company, ClubJenna, expects revenues of $30 million this year, at nearly 50% profitability! They plan to expand into Jenna-branded strip clubs, cosmetics, and an apparel line, as well as some racier products you might expect. You can even download a "moan tone" for your mobile phone. 40% of the company's revenue comes from web site membership fees and site management fees for other porn stars' Web sites, which they run for 16 other actors, including Tera Patrick and Briana Banks.
Now here's the punch line... Jenna Jameson hasn't had sex on-camera with a male partner other than her husband in seven years. In fact, she plans to grow her business without ever again having sex on video with anyone--male, female or herself. She has shot enough footage with her husband to release two movies a year for the next decade. She has signed five new actresses to star in ClubJenna movies, offering them a rare deal that includes 3% residuals on any sales over 10,000 copies (most porn stars do not receive residuals on their films).
Jameson's story is full of lessons for entrepreneurs. Let's take her story out of context for a minute. This is a woman who was being underpaid in a dead-end job while other people made money off of her work. But she didn't just take it lying down -- she decided to leverage the exposure she received by branching out into other products and services, all while still keeping her "job". Her first contract with Wicked Pictures paid her barely $1,000 a picture, doing eight to ten a year. But as a headlining stripper, she was getting paid $5,000 a show. Add to that posing for pictures with fans, selling her latest movie, and tips, and she was making as much as $50,000 in a week while on tour.
In the Forbes interview, her husband, porn star/director/producer Jay G. Grdina, said, "This has developed from an individual star into a porn conglomerate. Her brand has been developed with the reputation of being the best, and now we are capitalizing on that and monetizing the name."
Not only that, they largely control the distribution channel. While their movies are distributed by Vivid Entertainment, much of their content is available exclusively through their web site.
This combination of a strong brand and a tightly controlled distribution allows them to diversify much more easily. When launching a new product, they already have both marketing and distribution channels in place, as well as a loyal established customer base who will buy the new products, helping with initial market penetration.
She has also made a successful leap to passive income. Shooting a feature film every month and then touring as a dancer makes for a pretty grueling schedule. Now the vast majority of her income comes from product sales, Web site subscriptions, and site management fees. If Jenna Jameson goes on vacation for a month, the money still keeps coming in.
Most Outstanding Woman in Business in the 20th Century
Upset with the way she had been treated in the male-dominated business world, Mary Kay Ash began to make a list of all the negative and positive things she’d seen working for previous employers. She discovered after writing this down that she had the perfect plan for a successful company.
Before Mary Kay Inc.:
Born Mary Kathlyn Wagner in 1918, at age 17 she married Ben Rogers and soon had three children. While he served in WWII, she sold books door-to-door, selling an amazing $25,000 in just six months. After her husband's return in 1938, they divorced and she decided to change careers, going to work for Stanley Home Products. Though one of the top sales directors, she was repeatedly refused promotions and pay raises that the men were getting. After 25 years of hard work, she retired in 1963.
Mary Kay Inc.:
With her life savings of $5,000 and the help of her 20-year-old son, Mary Kay opened her first 500 sq. ft. store in Dallas in 1963. Mary Kay Inc. started with just nine independent beauty consultants. She based the company’s philosophy strongly on her Christian faith. She told her people to prioritize their life with God first, family second, and work third. With this as her guiding practice she has encouraged women and given them new opportunities for their own personal and financial success.
Incentives:
One of Mary Kay’s most effective strategies was incentives. In 1969, pink Cadillacs were given to the top sales directors. Diamond bee pins were another incentive to keep the women striving to do their best. With thirty-seven markets world wide, and well over 350,000 consultants, Mary Kay Inc. now makes over $1 billion in sales in nineteen different countries.
Recognition and Awards:
Fortune magazine recognized Mary Kay Inc. with inclusion in “The 100 best companies to work for in America.” The company was also named one of the best 10 companies for women to work. Her most recent acknowledgements were the “Equal Justice Award” from Legal Services of North Texas in 2001, and “Most Outstanding Woman in Business in the 20th Century” from Lifetime Television in 1999.
Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation :
Mary Kay started the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation in 1996 after seeing her most recent husband’s suffering and death from cancer in 1980. The organization is a non-profit establishment that provides funding for the research of cancers affecting women and is dedicated to putting an end to violence against women by supporting women's shelters and educational programs.
Best-Selling Author:
Mary Kay is the author of three best-selling books. The first was her autobiography, Mary Kay, which sold over 1 million copies. Her second book, Mary Kay on People Management, was based on her business philosophy and has been included in business courses at Harvard University. Her third book, You Can Have it All, was a best-seller just a day after it was introduced.
Mary Kay Ash died in 2001. A Web site dedicated to her memory is located at MaryKayTribute.com.
Quotes:
"Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember you can achieve."
"Do you know that within your power lies every step you ever dreamed of stepping and within your power lies every joy you ever dreamed of seeing? Within yourself lies everything you ever dreamed of being. Become everything that God wants you to be. It is within your reach. Dare to grow into your dreams and claim this as your motto: Let it be me."
Before Mary Kay Inc.:
Born Mary Kathlyn Wagner in 1918, at age 17 she married Ben Rogers and soon had three children. While he served in WWII, she sold books door-to-door, selling an amazing $25,000 in just six months. After her husband's return in 1938, they divorced and she decided to change careers, going to work for Stanley Home Products. Though one of the top sales directors, she was repeatedly refused promotions and pay raises that the men were getting. After 25 years of hard work, she retired in 1963.
Mary Kay Inc.:
With her life savings of $5,000 and the help of her 20-year-old son, Mary Kay opened her first 500 sq. ft. store in Dallas in 1963. Mary Kay Inc. started with just nine independent beauty consultants. She based the company’s philosophy strongly on her Christian faith. She told her people to prioritize their life with God first, family second, and work third. With this as her guiding practice she has encouraged women and given them new opportunities for their own personal and financial success.
Incentives:
One of Mary Kay’s most effective strategies was incentives. In 1969, pink Cadillacs were given to the top sales directors. Diamond bee pins were another incentive to keep the women striving to do their best. With thirty-seven markets world wide, and well over 350,000 consultants, Mary Kay Inc. now makes over $1 billion in sales in nineteen different countries.
Recognition and Awards:
Fortune magazine recognized Mary Kay Inc. with inclusion in “The 100 best companies to work for in America.” The company was also named one of the best 10 companies for women to work. Her most recent acknowledgements were the “Equal Justice Award” from Legal Services of North Texas in 2001, and “Most Outstanding Woman in Business in the 20th Century” from Lifetime Television in 1999.
Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation :
Mary Kay started the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation in 1996 after seeing her most recent husband’s suffering and death from cancer in 1980. The organization is a non-profit establishment that provides funding for the research of cancers affecting women and is dedicated to putting an end to violence against women by supporting women's shelters and educational programs.
Best-Selling Author:
Mary Kay is the author of three best-selling books. The first was her autobiography, Mary Kay, which sold over 1 million copies. Her second book, Mary Kay on People Management, was based on her business philosophy and has been included in business courses at Harvard University. Her third book, You Can Have it All, was a best-seller just a day after it was introduced.
Mary Kay Ash died in 2001. A Web site dedicated to her memory is located at MaryKayTribute.com.
Quotes:
"Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember you can achieve."
"Do you know that within your power lies every step you ever dreamed of stepping and within your power lies every joy you ever dreamed of seeing? Within yourself lies everything you ever dreamed of being. Become everything that God wants you to be. It is within your reach. Dare to grow into your dreams and claim this as your motto: Let it be me."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)