Women's entrepreneurship

Dos cabezas son mejores que una, y Mar Y Sol Alvarado y su esposo Alfred son un claro ejemplo de esta adagio. Como propietarios de Alro Window Coverings—una empresa de servicios de instalación en Mountain View, Calif.—Alfred trae su conocimiento empresarial a la mesa, en armonía con la experiencia en desarrollo empresarial de Mar al trabajar en organizaciones sin fines de lucro durante más de 10 años. 

Siendo una inmigrante de primera generación, Anahi Rojas sabe una que otra cosa sobre cómo buscar oportunidades.

Anahi, propietaria de Professional Eco Cleaning en Oakland, Calif., se mudó a los Estados Unidos hace trece años para buscar nuevas oportunidades económicas que le mejoraran su vida y la de su familia en México. En un principio, Anahi trabajó como mesera pero pronto se dió cuenta que la barrera del lenguaje sería un problema. Un tiempo después, se involucró en cooperativas de limpieza de casas en la que se convirtió en socia y en donde aprendió sobre administración de negocios y desarrolló sus estrategias de resolución de conflictos.

After a 30-year career as a litigation paralegal, Cassandra Allen-Brown decided on a less conventional retirement, opting not for a sunny beach in Florida—but for a little yarn shop in downtown Denver instead.

In 2010, when the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was enacted, Sadie Tuescher’s office at her county job in Milwaukee, Wisc. was flooded with people looking for help enrolling in coverage through the new marketplaces created by the law. She was overwhelmed by the influx of clients but quickly adapted and learned everything she could about the new healthcare law. It wasn’t long before her insurance agent husband was calling her daily with questions about the ACA.

Biome, headquartered in Riverside, Calif., encourages its clients to root their beauty routines in nature with plant-based organic beauty products including soap, shampoo, essential oils and more.

Owner Jaqueline Melissa Vrba explains “Without Mother Earth we are nothing. I want to remind people that all we need is what comes from her.”

Fran Bonner is not your average small business owner: She has been a caregiver for more than 67 years. When she was just 11 years old, her grandmother and great aunt both suffered from strokes, and Fran would spend her days going back and forth from school to home in order to make sure her loved ones were fed and taken care of.

In celebration of National Women’s Small Business Month, we co-hosted a Twitter chat with Women's Business Development Center (WBDC), Community Reinvestment Fund, USA (CRF) and CDC Small Business Finance to share resources and advice with women small business owners. 

When you think of a harpy, you may picture a mythological half-bird, half-human creature. However, Harpy Information Technology Solutions in St. Louis is named for a very real bird—an eagle—found in South and Central America. Co-owner Laurie Calkins describes the harpy eagle as an incredibly majestic bird and says she was drawn to it because of its unapologetic hunting techniques. 

“They go for what they want and they get what they need, no questions asked,” she says. 

In October we celebrate National Women’s Small Business Month by sharing resources for small business owners and women’s stories of entrepreneurship. This year, we asked a panel of experts about their personal and professional experiences with women’s entrepreneurship. 

While many of us are heading to pumpkin patches and apple orchards this month, Deb Ramirez Rock, owner of Sonoma Hot Sauce in Sonoma County, Calif., is encouraging her community to go pepper picking instead at her fourth annual harvest party.

“I’m an advocate for peppers over pumpkins,” Deb proclaims.

Harvest parties are a popular tradition in Sonoma County at this time of year and are one of the many reasons why Deb decided to base her business in Sonoma five years ago.