This is not my only regular writing assignment. Now that I’ve been writing this and other columns for several months I am getting pitched by public relations companies and business owners to write about their clients or companies. The interesting part is for this column, I get lots of what I call “soft” pitches. “Here’s an interesting woman business owner…” or “have you heard about our new skin-care product…?” or something similar.

On the other hand for the column I write for a general SMB Web site, I get pitched about breakthrough management strategies, the latest technologies or sales-boosting secrets. I didn’t even notice this until the other day when I actually had a few moments to page through my email inbox to sort through the pitches.

I may be jumping to conclusions, but the evidence seems to indicate that writers for women’s business sites care only about women’s issues while if you write for a general small business site, you’re concerned about business issues. It’s as if people out there think women aren’t serious about being business owners. Read the rest of this entry »

Cheryl Howe loves challenges.

She is executive vice president of operations for BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York and recently began a new challenge as chairman of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra’s board of trustees. Howe is the first woman to chair the board since 1935.

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No matter how you feel about Hillary Clinton as a politician, you’ve probably got an equally strong opinion about her trademark pantsuits—which got lots of ribbing during her primary campaign.

But did you know that a woman entrepreneur was behind many of Clinton’s pantsuits? Susanna Chung Forest, this Los Angeles Times article reports, has built a successful business by designing clothes for female executives. Read the rest of this entry »

Last February, Shannon Schmoyer and Christine Reinhard left established positions with the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP to start their own law firm, Schmoyer Reinhard LLP.

The pair started their firm less than a year after seeing two female colleagues, Jan King and Eileen Sommer, leave another national law firm to strike out on their own, according to a report in the San Antonio Business Journal.

“Ten years ago, this never would have happened,” says Judge Lori Massey, who is resigning from the 288th District Court Oct. 3 to form Ford & Massey with partner Bill Ford. “Right now is an absolutely wonderful time for (women) to (start their own firms).”

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I love sharing success stores—and this is one of my favorites. Any mom of young girls has likely felt the frustration of trying to raise confident women in a society where girls are told they need to look like Britney Spears, dress like Bratz dolls and act like ditzes if they want to be popular. But Addie Swartz did something about it—and created a thriving business in the process.

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All 16 female U.S. senators signed a letter asking the Small Business Administration to either improve or withdraw a proposed regulation establishing a new federal contracting program for women-owned businesses.

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Are you happy? Are you scared? Do you hate your job? Are you loving running your business? These are emotional times so it’s no wonder that so many of us are running through a gamut of feelings, sometimes in the space of an hour. I don’t know if this is the silly season and it’s destined to pass soon, or if this is what we’re in for, for a while.

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Although it’s not a great time for luggage, Sharon Laudenbach’s baggage business, Robinson Luggage, is thriving.

While revenue from the company’s six retail stores has held relatively steady, online sales have swelled from $10.5 million to $16.2 million in the same period.

As president of the family-owned business, and working alongside her sister Nancy Center, Laudenbach finds herself in a uniquely 21st century managerial moment. She wants to keep the physical stores alive, yet growth lies in the virtual enterprise.

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What’s on your list? You know what I’m talking about. If you’re like the women I know, you’ve got an endless list in your head of things you should be doing, plan to do, know you need to do—from business stuff like updating your email contact list or revising your marketing plan, to personal stuff like starting a fitness program or writing your will. How long has that stuff been on your list? And why haven’t you done it?

Leadership and management expert Marshall Goldsmith knows. In his Ask the Coach blog, Goldsmith investigated why so many smart businesspeople simply don’t follow through on the things they need to do.

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Five years to the day from launching their FURminator pet products business at a trade show, Angie and David Porter sold the company after building it into an international marvel.Angie Porter, who owned Groomingdale’s, a pet grooming salon in South St. Louis, came up with the idea for a deshedding tool for dogs a decade ago. She and her husband, David, secured patents and came up with a business plan to start FURminator. The product removes loose undercoat hair on dogs and cats and retails for between $34 and $59.

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