The face of entrepreneurship is changing in the United States. More and more women are taking the leap from employee to owner, and the number of women-owned businesses grew 74 percent between 1997 and 2015 – that’s one-and-a-half times the national average, according to the 2015 State of Women-Owned Business Report, commissioned by American Express OPEN.
During October, which is National Women’s Small Business Month, the small business sector was in the spotlight, leading many inspirational entrepreneurs and communities to ask, “What can we do to help you succeed?”
Interestingly enough, the answer hasn’t changed much over the years. Women, like the majority of small and medium business (SMB) owners, need a mix of three ingredients for success: community, capital and growth.
Community
When it comes to community, women have long been the gatekeepers. The same skills that organized neighborhood events and activities and led to the founding of women’s’ organizations in the 1970s continue to be crucial to the future of entrepreneurship.
Capital
No conversation about women entrepreneurs is complete without discussing the challenges and key developments pertaining to issues like women’s access to credit and cultural expectations that have, to a certain extent, limited many women’s ability to pursue entrepreneurial ventures. These uphill battles, which could, even today, become deterrents, have instead fostered new strengths and determination that are integral to business success.
Growth
In business, many would say if you’re not growing, you’re failing. When growth is the name of the game, it’s imperative to constantly seek new ways to succeed. Technology is now integral to enabling SMBs to grow; ever more accessible and sophisticated technology continues to democratize the means to leverage solutions once relegated to large companies. More than ever, technology now delivers a level of flexibility and mobility that enables every female entrepreneur to define her own workstyle and lifestyle.
Microsoft’s Windows10 Pro operating system and Windows10 Pro devices play a prominent role in the ongoing transformation of small businesses to do great things. We’d like to offer you a free copy of the Windows 10 for Business Onboarding Kit (click here) to learn more about how Windows 10 Pro and new devices can help empower your business.
Amanda Steinberg is the founder of 
Kesha Cash is a Partner and Director of Investments at 
Fran Hauser is an angel investor, digital media veteran and an advocate for women and kids. She is passionate about connecting people and inspiring change.
Vicki is a serial entrepreneur, passionate mentor and advisor to the next generation of change makers and leading advocate for entrepreneurship as a way of creating positive transformation in the world.
Combining talent and entrepreneurial spirit, Meryl quickly built a consulting firm providing writing, communications, strategic change management, and learning and development solutions with a focus on the people side of transformation. She believed in core founding principles of strong female leadership, being of service to each other and clients, passionate problem-solving, ethics, trust and relationship.
Jennifer Louden is both a personal coach and social commentator, who has taken the concept of “comfort” and self-care, and made these essential concepts irresistible and essential to women around the world. Jennifer is a cultural visionary, harnessing her extraordinary ability to recognize women’s comfort as both a fundamental need and an innate desire. Jennifer is an established media favorite, known for her humor, honesty, and ability to deliver tangible tips and heart-expanding insight with grace and passion. As a best-selling author of The Woman’s Comfort Book and 5 other titles, she draws on a wealth of stories and experience to regularly enliven blogs, radio, TV & magazines like Woman First, Self, Woman’s Day, Health, Yoga Journal, Whole Living, Good Housekeeping, Shape, and Ladies Home Journal. Jennifer’s media appearances have included Oprah, MSNBC, CNN, and close to a hundred news shows in most major markets. She’s hosted her own radio show on Sirius, been a monthly columnist for Body+Soul (now Whole Living), enjoyed numerous satellite radio and TV media tours, and has been a major presence on the web since 2000. She is a leading spokeswoman for finding your center and creating a healthy life in the midst of the busiest life, and then extending that healthy living to your world through social change. She believes: Self love+world love = wholeness for all. 
Shasta Nelson, a female friendship expert, is the Founder and C.E.O. of GirlFriendCircles.com–the female friendship matching site in 35 cities across the U.S. and Canada where women of all ages go to make local friends, and is the author of Friendships Don’t Just Happen! The Guide to Creating a Meaningful Circle of GirlFriends. She is regularly appearing in the media offering her expertise on such subjects as creating new friends, learning how to to forgive our friends, social media’s impact on our friendships, and the characteristics of healthy friendships. A few of the TV shows she’s been on include The Today Show, Katie Couric’s Show, The Early Show, and Fox Business. She’s relied upon by writers and reporters from such magazines as Cosmopolitan, Essence, Parents, More, Redbook, Good Housekeeping, and Glamour, and for such newspapers as The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, the San Francisco Chronicle. Her spirited and soulful voice can also be found at ShastasFriendshipBlog.com and in her Huffington Post column where she regularly contributes on relationship health. She also teaches, lectures, and hosts Friendship Accelerator events in her hometown of San Francisco and throughout the U.S. 
Jensine (Yen-See Nah) Larsen is an award-winning social media entrepreneur, international journalist, and speaker. At age 28 she founded World Pulse – a digital media network connecting women worldwide and bringing them a global voice – after working as a freelance journalist covering indigenous movements and ethnic cleansing in South America and Southeast Asia. Today World Pulse is powered by 60,000 women from 200 countries, many who are using internet cafes and cell phones from rural villages and conflict zones, collectively improving the lives of 2.2 million people. After successfully launching a print version of World Pulse magazine, in 2007 Larsen turned her eyes to the future of communications technology in the developing world. She pioneered an interactive global women’s newswire where women worldwide – including those using internet cafes and cell phones from rural villages and conflict zones– can speak for themselves to the world and solve global problems. Most recently, Larsen has launched a new program that is training women in digital empowerment and citizen journalism that is fostering a network of vocal women leaders from some of the most forgotten regions of the world. Today women from virtually every country in the world are connecting through World Pulse and producing a multiplier effect of change. Women previously unknown by the global public are having their stories picked up from World Pulse by the BBC, CNN, the UN, and the Huffington Post and beyond. 
Having coached and developed more than 3,500 leaders in six countries since 1998, Sara Harvey Yao specializes in the area of Executive Leadership and Ego. Sara’s clients refer to her as the “Ego Whisperer” and appreciate her precise ability to hone in on the root cause of leadership challenges and quickly resolve them.
Stacey is an inspiring, energetic and authentic facilitator, coach, speaker and author – and the CEO of Connect Growth and Development. She is an advocate of bringing humanity back into the workplace. She has held positions over the last 20 years in evolutionary industries performing leadership, strategic and design vision roles in business, accounting and finance, consulting, client relations, software design and development. Stacey paired her degree in Business with a Masters in Applied Behavioral Science to create the “work love of her life”.
About Kristine: Kristine Carlson is an international bestselling author and a leading expert on love, success, grief, happiness, and parenting. She’s the NY Times bestselling author and co-author of Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff, Heartbroken Openand An Hour to Live, An Hour to Love. Kristine has sold over 25 million copies of her books, and has been featured on national radio and television broadcasts, including The Today Show, Empowered Living Radio, The View, and The Oprah Winfrey Show 
Sonia Choquette is a globally celebrated and dynamic spiritual teacher, six-sensory consultant, enchanting storyteller, and transformational visionary guide, known for her delightful humor and skill in quickly shifting people out of difficulty and into flow. She is the author of 19 international bestselling books on intuitive awakening, personal growth, creativity, and transformational leadership, including the New York Times bestseller “The Answer is Simple.”
Christine Arylo is a transformational teacher, internationally recognized speaker and best-selling author of the official self-love guidebook, 
Sara Connell is an author, speaker and life coach with a private practice specializing in women’s health & empowerment in Chicago. She has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America, The View, Rickie Lake, FOX Chicago, NPR, and Katie Couric. Sara has also worked with companies and organizations such as: Avon, Origins-Estee Lauder, GE, The Leo Burnett Company, Unilever, Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Prentice Hospital for Women.
Betsy Sobiech is part of the global team that launched Tiara International LLC, a company that is redefining women’s leadership to include all women. As the Chief Operating Officer, her mission is to make the power and peace of true leadership accessible to everyone. She considers herself a practical philosopher and has a gift for simplifying the complex. Tiara’s integrated approach reminds us that leadership comes from within, from a unique sense of inspiration. The Tiara Model for True Leadership helps us continuously accept what is, clarify what’s next and stay connected to what’s most important. Betsy embodies this model, practicing every day, in every area of her life.
Julie Murphy Casserly is a 17-year veteran of the financial services industry and has often been referred to as a financial healer and visionary. She is turning the personal finance industry upside down by de-bunking standard financial planning processes and educating people about a new way of finding financial success… and it all starts from within.
While singing and visual arts were her earliest blooming talents, Dawn has continued to develop into an experienced Spoken Word Artist, Actress, and Playwright. Acting credits include: I Am Who I Am: The Teddy Pendergrass Story, Seussical the Musical, Don’t Make Me Over: A Tribute to Dionne Warwick, At Last: A Tribute to Etta James and many more.
I thought I would reach out while we are all in this power state of emergence, and let you know how very blessed I feel to have had the chance to share this experience with you all, whether you attended the event or joined us via livestream.
I have so much gratitude for the level of presence and authenticity that you each brought to the experience. From the beginning, there seemed to be an environment of trust and openness that set the stage for the entire event, and now this has become the foundation of our tribe.
