The Moms Have It! 5 Remarkable Female Entrepreneurs

Women have always impressed and inspired me. As the son of a dynamic mother, the husband of a superstar wife and the father of two glorious daughters, my fortune is to be surrounded by phenomenal females. My
appreciation for what makes women special is longstanding and
deep-seated.

In business, too, the best hires I ever made were women. The most
perceptive minds I ever worked for belonged to women. This is not to be
interpreted as a knock on guys. My own father is a rock solid role
model of what a man should be and, having reported directly to four
male CEO's, I've also worked with brilliant and extraordinary men. But
as an entrepreneur, this is to praise five businesswomen I know who
impress and inspire me.

It is significant to note that women now outnumber men in the workforce
for the first time in history. Together with the more than 8 million
(and growing) businesses owned by women, the recovery of the U.S. economy will be, to a great degree, driven by women.

Meet five female entrepreneurs whose healthy disregard for the status
quo coupled with their bias for action is making a difference in the
world. I asked them about their pursuits, about men and about what they
know for sure. Indeed, each is living proof of one thing I know for
sure: that in the end, all that matters is what you've done. And that
good fortune favors the bold.

The"Mompreneur": Missy Chase Lapine

The mompreneur seamlessly blends motherhood with
commerce. That's no easy feat as looking after children is itself a
full time proposition. But if it can be done it comes with the built-in
advantage that the mompreneur is her own "walking demo" -- she really knows her audience.

While chasing her daughter around the kitchen trying to get her to take
medicine, it occurred to Missy that she "could outsmart my little rebel
by simply hiding it in the chocolate pudding that she loves so much."
With the realization that she could hide all kinds of nutritious things
in her kids' favorite foods, this former publisher of Eating Well magazine created a brand with her NY Times bestselling book, The Sneaky Chef. She has written three more books since then and has become a featured speaker, corporate spokesperson and business advisor.

RR: What drives you?
MCL: Our kids are the innocent targets of the media age. They are
constantly pitched an endless variety of junk foods and sedentary video
games. As if this weren't enough, societal changes have resulted in
their spending less time outside playing-at home or at school-than ever
before. It is my personal mission to counter these trends with easy,
practical solutions that work for both kids and parents. No less than
the health and well being of our children is at stake!

RR: The greatest advantage of being a woman?
MCL: Women have the ability to nurture at the deepest levels and we're uniquely equipped to pick up on feelings and connect with our loved
ones in a way that bypasses all other forms of communication. We live
in the heart of the matter, whether we're at home or in business.

RR: The quality you most admire in a man?
MCL: The ability to show love, emotion and vulnerability.

RR: Your current state of mind?
MCL: In spite of the hard economic times and the current global
landscape, I have become increasingly optimistic. Parents and children
send me incredibly touching emails telling me that their lives are
changing because of the Sneaky Chef. Nothing feels better to me,
everyday, than enabling people to make positive changes that directly
affect their quality of life.

RR: Your greatest hope?
MCL: That the Sneaky Chef and Fitness techniques will touch every
family in our country, to turn around our current health problems. Why
settle for less?

RR: Your favorite food/beverage?
MCL: I love to relax with a hot tea "latte" - black tea with steamed
milk, vanilla powder and dash of cinnamon and sugar. And nothing beats
a great pizza. I make mine with a thin crust, tangy sauce (with lots of
hidden veggies, including pureed sweet potatoes to sweeten it up and
cut the acidity), fresh basil and just the right amount of cheese.

RR: What do you know for sure?
MCL: I know that my children are my greatest gift and challenge. I know
that I can help people. And I know that the best recipe for success
always includes love.

The "Transformer": Jacqueline Corbelli

The transformer is turned on by altering the landscape. The bigger the change and the bigger the platform, the better. To do that, however, she must also recognize the critical
importance of process, without which there is no progress.

A Columbia MBA and former president of a management consulting firm, Jacquie is an operational whiz with a financial background who founded an interactive TV advertising company without a single day's experience
in the media business. She is a pioneer who envisioned an opportunity
very early on for digital technology to fundamentally change TV
advertising. Now in its sixth year, Brightline works for clients such
as Unilever, Burger King and JP Morgan Chase and has won numerous
accolades (including an Emmy) in the process.

RR: What drives you?
JC: Finding and maintaining my one, authentic self and bringing it to everything I do.

RR: The greatest advantage of being a woman?
JC: The ability to inspire is what counts most, but as a woman I feel I
can add a sense of passion and COMpassion that makes the potential to
inspire even more compelling

RR: The quality you most admire in a man?
JC: Clear communication and a quiet confidence.

RR: Your greatest hope?
JC: That my three daughters will see in my efforts and approach to life, that you can have it all and that at the end of the day - if you
do what you love, work very hard at it, the rest will come.

RR: Your favorite food/beverage?
I'm Italian, which automatically means, first and foremost, that I LOVE food, but at the same time I have pretty simple needs. I'd have to say
a great loaf of crusty Italian bread dipped in some premium olive oil
goes a very long way.

RR: What do you know for sure?
As ambitious as I am, my feet will remain firmly planted on the ground.

The "Actioneer": Cindy Gallop

The actioneer is in perpetual motion. She operates
unafraid, but on some deeper level likely fears that if something isn't
always happening, then nothing must be happening. That is anathema to
Cindy Gallop, whose entire business is literally built on taking
action. "You are what you do," she says.

Cindy "Why Walk When You Can" Gallop is a naturally theatrical Eurasian
from Brunei with an Oxford degree. The former ad world star turned her
attention to intention by launching two web-based businesses: If We Ran The World and Make Love Not Porn. If We Ran The World aligns companies and individuals with similar goals. Make Love Not Porn
aims to improve attitudes about sexuality. Cindy's penchant for the
provocative was openly displayed at the famed TED conference when her
talk to launch Make Love Not Porn became one of the event's most talked about. (Link below.)

RR: What are you trying to change?
CG: I want to turn more good intentions into action and I want more
people to have more thoroughly mutually enjoyable and fulfilling sex. I
think both of those things would make the world a much better place, in
many, extremely interesting ways.

RR: Your "aha" moment ?
CG: Turning 45 on February 1, 2005.

RR: What drives you?
CG: When I encounter something I feel strongly about, I do something about it.

RR: The greatest advantage of being a woman?
CG: Confounding expectations.

RR: The quality you most admire in a man?
CG: Integrity.

RR: Your greatest hope?
CG: That IfWeRanTheWorld and MakeLoveNotPorn are effective at making the things that people would like to happen,
happen, in their two very different but not unrelated spheres.

RR: Your favorite food/beverage?
Steak so rare a really good vet could get it back on its feet in five
minutes. A martini so dry it involves just a glance in the direction of
the vermouth bottle.

The "Mobilizer": Julie Gilbert

The mobilizer is a born leader. A role model. And a
motivator. As such, loyal followers will flock to her side. In turn,
she gives her energy and taps into theirs to create a powerful, surging
synergy.

As a Senior VP at male-dominated Best Buy, Julie Gilbert designed a
program for female employees, from top executives to cashiers, to get
more deeply involved in core business issues. She has turned that
success into a global consulting and business incubating firm (Wolf
Means Business) which boasts an impressive track record for harnessing
the purchasing power of the largest, fastest growing market in the
world - women. There are now 40,000 women in her WOLF network.

RR: Your "aha" moment?
JG: Personal experiences pushed me to search for data on the purchasing
power of women and develop and execute plans to reinvent organizational
growth in non-traditional ways - from the bottom-up and outside-in,
enabling all voices to be utilized in innovation and growth at scale.

RR: What drives you?
JG: Proof that Wolf works to help grow businesses and industries and inspires social change. Making a difference for each person I
encounter, even if it is just for a moment, by believing in them and
inspiring them to take their personal passion to the next level.
Building entrepreneurs en masse. Curiosity, new ideas and partnering
with values-driven big impact people who want to build business and
create social change.

RR: The greatest advantage of being a woman?
JG: The empathy and instincts of women naturally enable us to create
holistic visions and outcomes that make everything better for everyone.
And the ability to bring life into the world.

RR: The quality you most admire in a man?
JG: Kindness, generosity of spirit and humor! There's nothing like a great belly laugh!

RR: Your greatest hope?
JG: Businesses of all sizes awaken to the power of the female market and begin to work productively with women, both inside and outside the
company. My greatest hope is that each person will feel respected, have
a voice and believe in their ability to mobilize and change their
situations and the environments around them for the better. Ultimately,
peace, freedom and safety for each woman to speak up and make change in
her industry.

RR: Your favorite food/beverage?
JG: Homemade kabobs and salad... along with a chocolate shake or ice cream sundae!

RR: What do you know for sure?
JG: I know the power of what happens when you engage employees and customers to build business through innovation. It is a system of
transformation built on the core fundamental truth that every person on
the planet just wants to be respected and the best way to enable that
is to acknowledge each person you pass by or meet and really listen to
what they have to say. That's when great transformation takes root and
grows peacefully and powerfully - in for-profit, non-profit, or
governmental agencies.

The "Fascinator": Sally Hogshead

The fascinator realizes that attention is the one true
remaining scarcity in our culture of abundance. In business, more than
ever, attention is currency. And to get it requires more than
creativity alone; it takes a deep understanding of what people will
find fascinating enough to turn their limited attention to. And it
takes skill.

"Growing up with the last name Hogshead would give anyone an
unconventional point of view," says Sally, who turned her talent as a
highly award-winning copywriter into a business to help companies
develop captivating ideas and persuasive messages. She is now a
nationally-recognized speaker and author of the recently published FASCINATE: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation.

RR: Your preoccupation?
SH: I'm preoccupied with fascination--why we become captivated by certain people, trends and ideas.

RR: Your "aha" moment?
SH: I spent three years studying decision-making. Turns out, every
single choice we make--from the brands we buy to the person we marry to
the songs we remember-- all stem from seven instinctive triggers.

RR: What are the triggers?
SH: Power, lust, mystique, prestige, alarm, vice and trust. Whether you realize it or not, you're already using the seven triggers every single
day. The question is: are you using the right triggers, in the right
way, to get your desired result?

RR: What drives you?
SH: Fear of mediocrity.

RR: The greatest advantage of being a woman?
SH: Free drinks at ladies night.

RR: The quality you most admire in a man?
SH: His ability to keep me on my toes. (Clean fingernails help, too.)

RR: What is your current state of mind?
SH: Highly caffeinated!

RR: Your greatest hope?
SH: Right now? To spend more time with my kids... doing absolutely nothing.

RR: Your favorite food/beverage?
SH: Hot Krispy Kreme donuts. With milk. By the dozen.

RR: What do you know for sure?
SH: Pop rocks & Coke & Trampolines = Uh-oh