More from the Institute for Women's Entrepreneurship at Cornell

Women Entrepreneurs You Should Be Following

cartoon with word "follow" and an index finger about to press it.

This piece from the Motley Fool highlights ten female entrepreneurs to follow as we head into 2021. The piece has links to different podcasts hosted by these women as well as links to resources and their twitter feeds. These leaders include:

Arlan Hamilton – Backstage Capital
Barbara Weltman – lawyer and founder of Big Ideas for Small Business, Inc
Lizelle van Vuuren – Undock
Amanda Boleyn – She Did It Her Way
Sonia Thompson – Thompson Media Group
Sallie Krawcheck – Ellevest
Emily Thompson – Almanac Supply Co
Kathleen Shannon – Braid Creative and Consulting
Beth Buelow – author and podcaster
Ahyiana Angel – Mayzie Media

Advice From Walgreens’ New CEO

At the end of February, Rosalind Brewer, who is currently COO at Starbucks, will leave that position to become CEO of drugstore chain Walgreens. Once in this post, she will be the only Black woman currently serving as a Fortune 500 CEO, and just the third Black woman to lead a Fortune 500 firm in history. (There are currently only 37 women in CEO positions at Fortune 500 companies)

According to this CNBC article, during a recent speech, Brewer commented on the reality that many women experience bias and gender discrimination in the workplace. She said that her most critical message to women in business is to “stay steadfast” and know that “your voice matters.”

Pandemic Results in More Women Launching Businesses

black business woman at laptop writing a note

According to this article from Time, in December 2020, America lost over 140,000 jobs – and all those jobs belonged to women. It’s no surprise, that the Washington Post just reported that this has likely been partially responsible for the “pandemic-fueled rise in female entrepreneurship”. This Post piece highlights stories of women who either saw changes in the economic landscape that encouraged them to launch their ventures or were forced to pivot and turn to entrepreneurship because of job losses and stay-at-home orders.

Radical Candor Explained in Six Minutes

“Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity” is a New York Times best-selling book published in 2017 by Kim Scott. The term “radical candor” is defined by Scott as the ability to challenge directly and show that you care personally at the same time. While that seems like it should be every leader’s goal, the reality is that being radically candid is challenging – often because it is counterintuitive to how we have been raised.

radical candor framework - x and y axis with four labeled quadrants.

Scott breaks down the concept of radical candor and outlines the other quadrants where we can find ourselves in this six-minute video. If you want to dig a little deeper, she has a podcast and a blog as well.

Link to Webinar – Starting a PPE Company During A Pandemic: Lessons Learned

In Spring of 2020, Dr. Gabrielle Page-Wilson, Dr. Samira Brown and business executive Alexandra Stanton, launched Little Lives PPE, a Black and woman-led company changing the personal protective equipment (PPE) landscape for American families and communities.

In this webinar, Dr. Page-Wilson and Ms. Stanton discuss the challenges of launching a PPE company during the COVID pandemic and how the business and product lessons they learned can apply to any aspiring entrepreneur who is thinking about launching, managing, or scaling a business during this unprecedented time.

SBA Launches Largest Expansion of Women’s Business Centers in 30 Years

According to this recent post, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recently announced grant funding along with the launch of 20 new Women’s Business Centers (WBC) that will be opened across America. These new centers will serve rural, urban, and underserved communities. The move to open 20 new WBCs is the largest single expansion of the program since it began 30 years ago. Check out the post to read more about where the centers will be located as well as to access other resources from the SBA.

Thinking Back and Looking Forward

Caroline Kim Oh

Caroline Kim Oh is an executive and leadership coach and has also been a course facilitator in the Women’s Entrepreneurship Certificate program. She just sent out a “year end review” newsletter that contained a link to a expert interview she had with WID (Women In Development). While the article is usually only available to members of WID, it was reprinted with permission here. While reflection is a common practice as we near the end of a calendar year, Caroline’s interview shares examples of important questions that we should all be asking ourselves at any time of the year to help reflect, reset, and refocus.

Link to Webinar – Codeswitching: Navigating the Dynamics of Workplace Norms

In this webinar from December 15, 2020, Professor Deborah Streeter had a conversation with Professor Courtney McCluney about the concept of codeswitching and how it affects the everyday realities of marginalized, devalued, and underrepresented employees at work. To view the recording, click this link

Resources mentioned during the discussion included:

Book: “White Fragility” by Robin DiAngelo
Book: “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” by Isabel Wilkerson
Book: “The Souls of White Folk” by W.E.B. Du Bois (link to NPR piece discussing book with Ibram X. Kendi)
Essay: “The Souls of White Folk” by W.E.B. Du Bois (link)
Publication: From Harvard Business Review – “Advancing Black Leaders” – (available for purchase via this link)
More information about Professor McCluney and her research can be found on her website or you can follow her on Twitter at @CL_McCluney

Encouragement From An App!

desk with laptop and lighted sign that says "You Got This"

Sonja Sulcer is a ’96 Cornell University graduate who is an entrepreneur who owns a coworking space in the US Virgin Islands.

She recently developed a free app called “Encourage Her” which showcases quotes authored by Women Entrepreneurs of Color. It is optimized for an iPhone, but it can also be accessed on an iPad.

To read more about the app, check out this blog post.

Podcast Featuring Melanie Hart

“If your life is your currency, decide how you want to invest and spend it.”
Melanie Hart

In the W.O.C @ Work podcast, Rai King and Dr. Blanca Ruiz explore what it means to be a woman of color in the workplace by elevating the voices of female-identifying leaders of color in order to shed light on their common experiences as they push for transformational change in organizations across the country.

In this episode, Rai and Blanca talk with Melanie Hart ( Chief Diversity Officer and Sr. VP for Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice at The New School in New York City) about traversing white-dominant education spaces as a confident woman of color. Melanie also reveals what it looks like to take off that cape and rest to help heal from a traumatic event. This podcast is a must listen for all women.