This is the second in a series on women and entrepreneurship.
America is experiencing a remarkable surge in entrepreneurship, and women are driving much of that momentum. As more women launch businesses, they are expanding the definition of entrepreneurship itself, building organizations that create financial value while also developing people, strengthening communities and solving meaningful problems.
For generations, entrepreneurial success has been measured by familiar metrics such as revenue, valuation, market share and growth. Those measures remain indispensable. Yet an increasing number of women entrepreneurs are demonstrating that building a business can also go beyond traditional financial measures of success.
The growth itself is remarkable. According to Empower’s article, Leading the Way, women now account for 49% of all new business formations, representing a 69% increase since 2019. The report also found that 46% of women consider financial independence essential to happiness, while 68% say living debt free is among their highest priorities. Entrepreneurship is becoming not only a pathway to wealth creation, but also to greater autonomy and opportunity.
The numbers, however, tell only part of the story. Perhaps the more interesting question is what happens after the business is launched. What kind of company does an entrepreneur choose to create? What values shape its culture? How are employees developed? What role does the business play in the broader community? Those choices often define an organization’s legacy long after the startup phase has passed.
Leadership research offers some insight. In “What 60 Years of Data Reveals About How Men and Women Experience Leadership,” researchers writing in Harvard Business Review found that 83% of women believe they must be more exceptional than men to succeed, compared with 28% of men. Although perceptions of women leaders have improved dramatically over the past six decades, the authors conclude that sponsorship, visibility and opportunity continue to influence career advancement.
For many women, entrepreneurship offers the opportunity to build the kind of organization they wish had existed during their own careers. Rather than adapting to an established culture, founders have the opportunity to create one. They determine how decisions are made, how people are developed, how flexibility is viewed, how success is recognized and how purpose is woven into the organization’s mission.
This broader view of entrepreneurship is not a rejection of financial performance. Quite the opposite. Sustainable businesses require sound strategy, disciplined execution, healthy margins and long-term growth. Purpose alone is not a business model. But increasingly, women entrepreneurs are demonstrating that financial success and human impact are not competing priorities. They can reinforce one another.
Research supports that idea. A study by Boston Consulting Group and MassChallenge, highlighted by Forbes, found that startups founded or co-founded by women generated 10% more cumulative revenue over five years than companies founded by men. The study also found that women-led startups generated 78 cents in revenue for every dollar invested, compared with 31 cents for male-founded companies. Despite those outcomes, women entrepreneurs continue to receive a disproportionately small share of investment capital, suggesting that access to resources, rather than capability, remains one of the greatest barriers to growth.
The evolution of women’s entrepreneurship is ultimately about more than ownership. It is about leadership. Entrepreneurs shape not only products and services, but also workplace cultures, opportunities for employees, relationships with customers and the long-term impact their organizations have on society. Every founder makes choices about what success will look like. Increasingly, many women are choosing definitions that extend beyond the balance sheet.
The economic data tell us women are starting businesses at historic rates. What those numbers cannot fully capture is the kind of organizations many of these entrepreneurs are choosing to build. Their vision expands entrepreneurship beyond creating profitable companies. It includes creating places where people can grow, communities can flourish and leadership is measured not only by financial performance, but by the opportunities created and the lasting impact left behind.
I reached out to leading entrepreneurs and asked what motivated them to start their businesses and the biggest lesson they have learned so far.
Miriam De Dios Woodward, president and CEO, De Dios Consulting
I’ve always wanted to own my own business, but for many years I wasn’t sure what that business would be. As my career progressed, the right experiences, skills and opportunities came together, and I realized I had the foundation to pursue that goal. Leading consulting businesses, developing expertise in strategy and coaching leaders gave me the confidence to build a business where I could help both organizations and individuals grow.
The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that entrepreneurship is built on the trust you earn and the relationships you build over time. Much of my success today is rooted in the relationships, results and experience I gained throughout my career. Those connections continue to open doors to new opportunities. I’ve also come to appreciate the flexibility entrepreneurship provides, allowing me to do meaningful work while being intentional with my time and creating a positive impact for my clients, my community and my family.
Christina Moffatt, Motivation by Moffatt LLC; former owner, Creme Cupcake + Dessert
I became an entrepreneur because I wanted to create something Des Moines didn’t have. My dream was to build a destination where people could gather over incredible desserts and handcrafted cocktails — a true dessert lounge.
The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that the support of your family, friends, employees and community will carry you through the moments when you’re not sure you can keep going. During my years as a business owner, I navigated my mother’s stroke, a high-risk pregnancy, COVID, the downtown riots and the derecho. So much is outside an entrepreneur’s control, and those moments can truly bring you to your knees. Many people don’t realize entrepreneurs often put everything on the line — including leveraging their homes as collateral on their loans to build a dream.
What kept me going was people. My employees believed in the vision, customers showed up and my family reminded me why I started. Hiring the right team is everything — they help carry the vision when life gets hard.
Ying Sa, CEO, Community CPA
To become an entrepreneur was never a personal goal or ambition for me. But, to be able to help others so they can rise above situations and gain financial freedom, that was my inspiration to work at Iowa State University as business manager, at Wells Fargo as VP of Controllers, and finally, I have been working for my own company, Community CPA, for the past 28 years.
The biggest lesson along the way has been learning to embrace uncertainty and failure as part of the entrepreneurial journey. Those hardships teach me resilience, adaptability and perspective. Over time, I’ve learned that success is less about avoiding mistakes and more about responding to them with clarity and persistence. Staying focused on long-term vision while being flexible in execution has been one of the most valuable lessons I carry forward.
China Wong, entrepreneur, artist, motivator, Salon Spa W
I became an entrepreneur because I wanted my work to have a more direct impact on people’s lives. After earning my undergraduate degree, I began my career in finance at an investment research firm in Chicago. While I found the work intellectually engaging, I wanted to build something with a deeper connection to the people it served. To me, great businesses create value in three ways: They deliver exceptional experiences for customers, create meaningful careers for their teams and build healthy, sustainable organizations that serve as the engine for both.
The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that growth compounds. We often overestimate what we can accomplish in three years and underestimate what is possible in seven. Many of the best business books point to the power of compounding, but I’ve found the principle comes to life through people. One of the greatest privileges of entrepreneurship has been creating environments where individuals, teams and organizations discover what they’re capable of and continue to grow beyond what anyone thought possible.
