Women business owners are on the rise with nearly half of all self-employed companies being led by females. According to the National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE), Boomers are taking the stage when it comes to business ownership, with the average age of owners at 50 years old.
“Women business owners are superb multi-taskers and know how to do more with less,” said NASE President Kristie L. Arslan. “We are proud to honor their yearlong contributions to the nation’s rebounding economy.”
This October, the NASE joins the Small Business Administration (SBA) to celebrate the role of women in small business. Be sure to watch our blog, Self Made, and our Facebook page for bios on outstanding females in business. Among those that will be featured include the following:
- Ellen Bruseau of Handy Human, LLC in Manassas, Va. – “I love clients that want to do creative things in their homes, whether it’s a cool paint and molding job on a ceiling, custom built-in solutions for storage, or a fancy tile job. [I also live for] happy clients who can't wait to tell their friends about me because I've kept them informed about their home, completed the job down to the last details, helped them find solutions to problems and left their home cleaner than I found it.”
- Nicole Pulley of Interior Affairs in San Antonio, Tx. - “It’s easy to enhance something that is already nice, but to create something out of nothing is truly a labor of love for me. Working with affordable housing properties and being involved in the community is important to me. I like to work with organizations that share my vision of providing quality housing to everyday working folks, while giving back to the communities which we serve.”
- Pat Bennett of Wicked Coursing in La Mesa, Calif. - Although lure coursing is a simple sport—dogs chase a plastic bag lure attached to a string—the machines require intricate design and assembly. Dissatisfied with the design issues of an existing manufacturer’s product, Bennett realized she could design and build a better machine herself. So in 2008, she launched her business with a version of the current Lure Baby machine.
- Paula Lin of The Definitive Enterprises in Rockville, Md. – “After graduating from Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., I experimented with various stints in radio news. Although I earned multiple national awards in the field, I decided to dive into my dream career of using my “pipes,” or natural voice talent, to help others achieve their goals.”