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Success Stories

Learn from the successes and failures of some of the most accomplished women in business. Read stories and interviews about women who are changing the way we do business.

Pepsi and Healthy Snacks: Smart or Stupid?
October 09, 2006, 9:18 AM
In the Wall Street Journal's October 5, 2006 issue, the front page contained a headline noting that Pepsi is trying to "push" healthy snacks in what the WSJ termed "inner city" locations. At issue: those Baked Doritos and Baked Lay's potato chips, now increasingly found side by side with Cheetos and other not-so-healthy snacks. While Pepsi continues to sell and promote its sugar-laden sodas and high-fat, high-calorie snack foods, it simultaneously is using advertising dollars to promote its healthier snacks, such as the Baked Cheestos. So the question is: is it smart...or stupid? Should a company, regardless of its size, ...

Making Business Objectives Part of the Process
September 18, 2006, 10:00 AM
Adrienne Cregar Jandler, President of Atlantic Webworks in Greensboro, NC, says that she had "always planned to run my own company. As a child, I was constantly considering "business opportunities´ — one of the first of which was contracting with my parents to "teach´ my younger sister the things I learned in Kindergarten (for a "reasonable´ fee!)." Through her work and education, Adrienne has learned to focus on the fact that "high performance websites have to address both the marketing and functional needs of the business to deliver results. My educational background in not only the technical subjects, but also ...

But What If You're Sick?
August 27, 2006, 5:44 PM
Recently, I received an email from a reader who described herself as a "would-be entrepreneur." Her worry: handling sick days when you're a one-woman business. This goal getter - let's call her Clara - admits that she's the type of person who frequently gets colds, the flu, and other ailments. "And I'm not one of those stay-on-your-feet-and-keep-going types," she explained in her message. "So when I try to imagine having my own business, especially just starting out, I can't figure out how I would handle it if I were sick and had appointments with clients scheduled." This is an excellent ...

Whose Success Is It Anyway?
August 09, 2006, 11:00 AM
Let's get touchy-feely for a moment (hey, I live in California, it's part of the corporate culture!), and look at something that can't be measured in dollars earned or press clips. Sure, fame and fortune are important, but...how much do you want to sacrifice for either of those items? Let's look at fame, first. Let's suppose you create a business based on the premise that you have created a new, improved, bigger, better peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Your name is Pauline, so of course you dub your creation PPBJ. Suddenly movie stars are clamoring for PPBJ to be shipped ...

"If You Don't Try, You Will Never Know..."
July 25, 2006, 10:09 AM
Cathleen Faerber is the Managing Director of her own executive search firm in Buffalo Grove, IL. In business for more than 18 years, she provides "retainer based executive search services to companies on a national basis." Her staff includes two Directors and two contract researchers. "Previously, I was in the field of Human Resources where I led the HR initiatve for firms in financial services and manufacturing. I have a BA Degree from DePaul University." Cathleen says she always "knew that I wanted to be in my own business. I started my business when I was 33 years old. I ...

Does Weight Influence Success?
July 07, 2006, 11:18 AM
Non-discrimination clauses and notices are standard in most companies. But studies and statistics indicate that there is one group that is still often discriminated against: those who are overweight. There was a situation, for example, where an overweight dance exercise instructor had to struggle to prove that she was just a capable a teacher as others. A few such cases are clearcut: the battles become public, and the courts typically weigh in (no pun intended!) on the side of the individual rather than the company. But how often does a woman (and researchers have shown that it happens more often ...

How Do You Define Success?
June 30, 2006, 11:31 AM
After interviewing numerous successful women in business, it's become clear that the definition of success depends on a number of factors. For some women, it means being able to balance time with their children with office time. For others, it's all about the money, honey. Many women view "success" as having a fulfilling, rewarding job that allows them to enjoy both their personal and professional lives. When I first started at TriActiveamerica.com , I worked only 10 hours a week. And I juggled my time there with many other freelance gigs, from research to public relations to journalism to newsletters ...

Fitness Expert Succeeds in Creating Her Own Brand
June 19, 2006, 9:24 AM
Although the fitness arena is already crowded, Mindy Mylrea (www.mindymylrea.com) has succeeded in creating her own niche. This busy professional has a long list of credentials, including 2004 Can Fit Pro Presenter of the Year, 1999 IDEA International Fitness Instructor of the Year, World Aerobic Champion, Creator of Gliding (www.glidingpro.com and www.glidingdiscs.com), and a PowerBar Sponsored Athlete. She's also the proud mother of three boys. "I have always been a "think out of the box" kind of person, finding opportunities by offering services and programs that no one had thought of before," says Mindy. When she was only 17 ...

Matches Made in Heaven (er, Make That New York)
June 07, 2006, 9:21 AM
Shoshanna Rikon is the founder and CEO of Shoshanna's Matches (http://www.shoshannasmatches.com/), located in "fabulous New York City." She grew up with "a strong desire to own a business. A lot of it stems from my parents; they've always encouraged to me to be extremely ambitious and to follow my dreams. I set goals and I achieve them." She majored in advertising at NYIT, because she has "always been fascinated by how the public receives and reviews information. Everyone is influenced by something and that is what drives me. I'm a very visual person and my business requires having a keen ...

From Social Network to Computer Software: All in a Day's Work
May 23, 2006, 10:28 AM
Boston resident Diane K. Danielson is the CEO of DowntownWomensClub.com, which she describes as "a career website and social network for businesswomen." Diane received her BA from Colgate University and her JD from Boston College Law School. "The legal degree helps as I understand and can spot legal issues," says Diane. In addition, it saves her money because she can create first drafts of legal documents herself. The Downtown Women's Club started "as a networking organization on the side," explains Diane. Last year, she was thinking about closing it. Instead, Diane "worked with some friends on a feasible business plan ...



Latest Comments in Success Stories posts

I spoke with Shoshana on the phone and was not particularly impressed. She did not strike me as a mature business professional. Even when we ended our call, I received a call from another person in the office saying that it wasn't really Shoshana's company- that she was essentially a figure-head, and then they tried to sell me to come in and promised me I would never have to deal with Shoshana.... Long and the short -- I didn't join, and after reading these comments I think I may have made the right decision.
By: appreciate the last three posts on Matches Made in Heaven (er, Make That New York)
I just finished my "contract" with Shoshanna. It took her two and half years to set me up on 8 horrible and pathetic dates with men that had none of the criteria I was looking for nor who had anything in common with me. After she signes you up, she REFUSES to ever speak to you again. You can only deal with her client services assistant - even if you are insistent and say that it is absolutely imperative that you speak with the person who you gave a ton of money to. She is basically a theif and her services are fraudulent. Her father is a lawyer which is the only reason why she doesn't get sued left and right.
By: Extremely Dissatisfied Customer on Matches Made in Heaven (er, Make That New York)
Shoshanna's Matches is a huge waste of money. I joined several months ago, filled out her detailed questionnaire,and had only one unsuccessful date. The person was did not even fit the profile I asked for at all. For that matter, they never even asked how it went. Now that happened 6 months ago. That was my first and last date through this company. She charges a fortune, and has no professional courtesy to even keep in touch with you. DO NOT USE HER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE!!!
By: unsatisfied customer on Matches Made in Heaven (er, Make That New York)
BEWARE/HOAX I joined Shoshanna's Matches over a year ago and I am completely unsatisfied and disgusted with her lack of service and lack of judgment in creating matches. Find another service!
By: A customer of Shoshanna on Matches Made in Heaven (er, Make That New York)
Pepsi's campaign is part of a bigger trend, kicked off, perhaps, by the responses of Philip Morris and other big tobacco companies to the lawsuits of the 1990s. The tobacco companies started sponsoring health-promoting messages after the legal battles; the next target of such litigation was fast-food companies, and now we have McDonald's promoting salads and using the blogging mothers to clean up its image. Megacorporations may always be in the business of contradictory marketing.
By: Joanna on Pepsi and Healthy Snacks: Smart or Stupid?
The measure of my success has been whether or not I can runn a successful business venture while putting the needs of my four daughters first. I would say that 90% of the time, I am able to be there for my girls. The other 10% of the time, they need to respect my need to work. I think that's a healthy balance. The world is not going to put their needs first 100% of the time and it's a good thing to learn that other people have needs and that we work together as a family to be sure that everyone's needs are met.
By: Renee Wood on Whose Success Is It Anyway?
Hello: Your article is very interesting. Yes, a person's weight has impact on how much success he/she can achieve. And despite all the laws in the books, overweight people will continue to suffer discriminations of various types. The best thing to do if you are overweight is to lose the excess weight and get healthy. Computer program http://www.mscsrrr.com ...
By: computer program on Does Weight Influence Success?
Whatever makes a positive contribution to your self esteem and allows you to pass that good feeling on to another is one of my definitions of success. I don't mean a selfishness but that feeling of comfort and good where your own accomplishment without reference to size or quantity provides sufficient emotional energy to help someone else feel successful.
By: Don Osborne on How Do You Define Success?
great success story! :) love is a tricky thing though. very tricky indeed.
By: nikki on Matches Made in Heaven (er, Make That New York)
This brings to mind how subjective success can be. So often people make the mistake of following society's markers for success that, in the end, they are left unfulfilled and wanting more. I think the post imparts an important point in our attainment of goals - that we should never forget that success, far from being absolutely defined, is uniquely personal.
By: nikki on How Do You Define Success?
There is no specific definition of success. In conclusion you said, "You don't necessarily need to have a major mission, acquire an enormous amount of money, or create a world-recognized business in order to achieve success. Define it yourself -- and then own it when you have it!" I think most people define success from their own point of view, what they want and what they have achieved so far. Different people have different wants and necessities.
By: Razib Ahmed on How Do You Define Success?
Actually I agree. For me success is when you set a goal and achieve it within a certain period of time. Of course we should set higher goals to get what we really need. As for me I always try to get some results, may be little but they make me feel successful and help me working over global aims.
By: Julia Dorofeeva on How Do You Define Success?
Hi, I really love this post. It's really inspiring and outlines everything I teach. My book "Funky to Fabulous: Less Stress and More Success for the Savvy, Sassy, and Swamped Working Woman," addresses all of these topics. Check out my blog: http://www.funkytofabulous.blogspot.com Thanks for the inspiration! -Eli ...
By: Eli Davidson on Fitness Expert Succeeds in Creating Her Own Brand
well, the bolgs are very interesting and heart-centric. Love hurts. Love lives when it touches some body. Love hooks. Love lasts. We, hated each other just after the marriage because it is an arranged marriage. But, it is my wife's love that hurts my animosity and the more I started to be far off, the closer her love brings us together. She has lost her amazing 30 pounds of weight within 3 months and she started looking younger and younger day by day, to impress me again because of her love, we started last in love. We, live every day with those amazing life changing nutritional products that helped my wife to lose weight, looking younger and energetic. Cynthia raju visit: www. healthnwealthcare.com ref. code:9999 ...
By: cynthia raju on Matches Made in Heaven (er, Make That New York)
"Her biggest challenge? "Understanding the emotional needs of my clients. I'm in the business of love and sometimes love hurts." But she knew she was successful "when I received my first wedding invitation in the mail. I'll never forget the first couple I got married. It's the most incredible feeling knowing that you gave these two people the greatest gift of all; true love."" Thanks for writing about this success story. I really enjoyed your post. Well, stories like this inspire us to try more for our own life.
By: Razib Ahmed on Matches Made in Heaven (er, Make That New York)
i agree as a male that there is a certain prejudice which i dont think will ever completely change. my wife just had our third child and is looking to quit and start doing something on her own hours. thanks for the story.
By: yitzg on Can a Woman Do the Same Jobs as a Man?
what a nice, inspiring post! :) i do believe that women could do the same jobs as men (except for, of course, jobs that require someone to be anatomically male. :P)...question is though -- can men do the same jobs as women? harhar :D ...
By: nikki on Can a Woman Do the Same Jobs as a Man?
Please: I live on São Paulo - Brazil. I have One Radio Arvin model 5401 (117 AC 30 WATTS) Using Valves: 35S5 GT , 50L6 or 50A5 GT , 12SQ7 GT and 12SA7. box: METAL - color: GREEN. i WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IN WHAT YEAR IS YOUR CONSTRUTION ? ( I SUPOSE MORE OF 50 YEARS AGO). tHANK YOU (829025) ...
By: DJALMA DE OLIVEIRA JUNIOR on Creating a springboard for female entrepreneurs
True, startups can be successful, but unfortunately more often than not they fail and people give up completely on their dream of freedom.
By: Brandon Hopkins on Can You Make Money Pursuing Your Passion?
Yes, there is a Santa Claus. And why not? As long as the basics to business development and customer management are in place dreams can happen. Identify a market niche, know who your competitors are and what your your market sturation ratio is. Identify your weaknesses and strengths and improve on both. Understand the financial commitment the requirements to start and sustain your business through its initial start up. Plan to succeed with a business plan and Know who your customers are. Identify them understand their needs and stay customer centric in your business approach. Customers are the life blood of your business without them it's just a shell.
By: tim on Can You Make Money Pursuing Your Passion?
hi i'm a student at briarcliffe college. i was just wondering if being on this website with a blog has helped you in anyway. any good or bad experience you have had with it. thanks.
By: Jennifer on Inspire Me...
I usually seek inspiration in a passive manner. Provided that I have more than a few minutes or hours to consider the issue, I often write down the problem in my planner, then continue with my day to day work and recreation. Often, I will discuss these issues with the people involved in the same recreation, either archery, competition pistol, or online games. (Imagine attacking Molten Core in the World of Warcraft, linked with Ventrilo to 39 other people across the world for voice communications, and discussing the best way to solve a problem in a private text chat channel with a person in Australia while supporting their character...) I find that this allows my subconcious to work at the task unhindered by my preset ideas or training.
By: Niko on Inspire Me...
Hi Joanne,

I'd love to briefly run a business story by you, if I could, to seee if it is of any interest to you.

We're a team of Canadian, Brits, Irish, and Chinese based in Shanghai, China. Some months ago we launched www.Chinesepod.com using podcasting, blogging and other new toys to teach Mandarin Chinese. It went to the top positions on the Yahoo podcast directory www.podcasts.yahoo.com - it's still there. We're getting over 200,000 lesson downloads per month and growing. The podcast themselves are free but we also offer a subscription-based premium service - US$240 per year. People seem happy to pay this - our subscriptions are going really well.

I think we may have launched something quite revolutionary without realizing it. We followed up ChinesePod with and EnglishPod. This has become the 3rd most popular podcast in China http://zh.englishpod.com/ It offers English instruction to Chinese people. http://www.podlook.com/discover.aspx

These results inspired us to bet the ranch on podcasting as a teaching tool. We set up a holding company, OnDemand Training www.suixuan.com (we've translated 'on-demand' into 'sui xuan'.) and we're busy setting up a number of brands within it. I write about why I think this approach announces 'Training 2.0' on this blog: www.suixuan.com/blog

I think our model has real possibilities. Here's why:

From the users's perspective: The lessons are automatic downloads, so they are on-demand, and portable. You study when and where you choose. The podcasts are supported by a series of blogs, and other interacticve tools to allow them to ineract at any time online. But most of all, the approach gives learner access to the best teachers through these a series of warm, daily, bonding podcast sessions. And during every lesson you them the chance to sell to the users - "Don't forget to sign up for the full service, today".

From the perspective of the industry: It could wreak havoc on the language training industry. It collapses the economics of delivery. With one teacher and no school infrastructure you can podcast oto an audience of thousands or even millions of learners (We're in China, so we hope it will be millions.) The combination of podcasting/blogging can produce a far more responsive product than anything the audio-book industry could hope to achieve, and do it at a fraction of the cost. (No printing presses, no distribution costs.)
The programs are also generated through user feedback, so it makes the content relevant by definition. (Something that language textbooks have never been accused of.)

I'd love to hear your feedback/comments on this or any ideas on how to get the news out there.

...
By: Ken Carroll on Blah Blah Blah: Cutting Out the Excess
You are so right. Keeping your employees doesn't have to be expensive, but it does have to meaningful. Employees are customers just like the ones that walk through the door. They buy and use and have needs as well. Learn to listen to them just like you would to outside customers. Provide direct and indirect avenues of feedback to listen to their needs and input. Building customer Loyalty is and should be a mainstay of every company. Through customer experience management this becomes a company focus. Without customer advocates companies especially small ones get lost. Building an employee/customer who becomes an advocate for the company usually relates through to the over all delivery of your products and services in much more meaningful ways to your external customer. I have had letters from people who have related stories about deals being closed because of the enthusiasm of an employee toward their company. Get to know them where are their needs based? Be fair with them and treat them with respect. Even a floor clerk treated with respect and fairness will double their output. http://cdccustomerservice.blogspot.com http://customerdevelopmentcenter.com ...
By: tim on The Care and Feeding of Your Staff
hello, can you give me some information about some important websites like craigslist.
By: jagan on A Refreshing Look at Web Sites for Start-Ups
It certainly is important to have a Website presence when starting up your own business. Nowadays, a Website is just about as important to have as a business card. A Website is your business card for the entire Internet and you can certainly get a lot of information across on that online business card. If you're selling products online, then you'll need shopping cart software, however, it's important to find shopping cart software that's easy-to-use and easy-to-manage. The CartWIZ shopping cart software suite allows individuals with no knowledge of complex programming languages and no design skills to create a high-end looking Website to sell their own products online.
By: Shopping Cart Software on A Refreshing Look at Web Sites for Start-Ups
To have an easy to use cart and support to help you get through the set up process for your online store is smart for any user, new or old. CartWIZ is a great place to look for starting an online business. There you can get hosting, email, all the phone support you will need by a knowledgable staff to learn all about selling on the internet. If you sign up for a year they include a free website design for your entire website. Research whats out there before you know what you're getting involved in. Find out what you want to sell, find your customers, and figure out the model before you make the exciting plunge. These are the steps. Find a unique domain name for your website maybe related to your merchandise, get hosting with shopping cart software to sell your merchandise, and figure out how you will accept credit cards. Ask for help, you'll get it.
By: EcommerceExpert on A Refreshing Look at Web Sites for Start-Ups

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