Single. Women. Entrepreneurs. Second Edition. Erin Albert
Single.
Women.
Entrepreneurs.
Second Edition
A book by
ERIN ALBERT
ALSO BY ERIN ALBERT
The Medical Science Liaison: An A to Z Guide
(with Cathleen Sass)
1st and 2nd Editions
Indianapolis: A Young Professional’s Guide
1st and 2nd Editions
The Life Science Lawyer
Prescription to my Younger Self: What I Learned After Pharmacy School
(multiple authors)
© 2011 Yuspie, LLC. All rights reserved.
Published in eBook format by Yuspie, LLC
Converted by http://www.eBookIt.com
ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-0549-0
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Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages. The information contained herein is not necessarily the opinion of the author or publisher.
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First edition published by IBJ Media, Indianapolis, IN, ©2011 by Yuspie, LLC. All rights reserved.
First edition ISBN: 978-1934922408
To all the bold, daring, single, and smart women in the universe.
Acknowledgements
I would be remiss if I didn’t put the acknowledgements in the very front of this particular book project, simply because there is no way this project would have been completed without the following people in my life connecting, supporting and helping me grow this amazing collection of fantastic women. To the following, I want to sincerely thank you for helping me bring this project to life!
In particular, I would like to thank one of my mentors, Billie Dragoo, for connecting me to Lorin Beller-Blake of Big Fish Nation, who connected me to a LOT of the amazing women in this book. Thank you! Also, thank you to the following people, who connected me to others for this project as well: Kathleen McDonald, Keith Crawford, Claudia Brink, Denise Bonk, Sarah Sladek, Jen Dalton, Mandy Dalton, Vern Ludden, and Jerry Bonnet. Also, to my mom and sounding board, Dorothy Albert, thanks for reading and helping with this project. Also, to the guardian of all my crazy ideas, Chris Russell, I thank you. Also, to Dr. Elaine Voci, thank you as always for reminding me that writing a book is not a project, but a journey.
Last but certainly not least, I’d like to thank my publishers at IBJ Media: Mickey Maurer, Pat Keiffner, Jodi Belcher, and Scott Swain. Of course, thanks to all the amazing women in this book—thank you for the inspiration! As well, thanks to all the women who considered being part of this book, and of course, to my fearless leaders at Butler University who always support my research and ideas: Dr. Julie Koehler and Dean Mary Andritz.
Thank you to all!!!
Introduction
On January 28, 1813, the now world famous book, Pride and Prejudice, was officially published by Jane Austen. It is one of my favorite books. In her book, she states the following: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” Nearly 200 years later, and very close to the same publishing date of Ms. Austen, I’m going to submit to you, the reader, the following quote in this book: It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single woman in possession of a good fortune (or not), must be in want of…an enterprise. Perhaps it is not yet a universal truth, but I believe, after interviewing many single women entrepreneurs, that it is on its way to being true. I’m in hopes this book helps bring the idea of a universal truth closer to reality.
I promised myself I wouldn’t start my sixth book until I got back to the United States. But, it just sounds so much cooler to share with you that I’m sitting on a patio in a hotel in Beijing, China, writing to you my very first lines of a project that I hope will be a tremendous asset to the future of something I’m personally passionate about: entrepreneurship. It’s true! I really am in China, spending four weeks trying to understand how the law of China works, and comparatively—how law is similar and different between China and the United States.
Honestly, this study (a summer law program, of all things) lit the fire to start this book early for me. China is a developing country, and they are slowly but surely learning how to dominate the global business world. After seeing and appreciating how they live and work (the minimum wage here is around $1 an hour, and the college students get up at 6 a.m. each day to practice their English), I have to say, now is the best time ever for women who want to start a business not only in the U.S., but perhaps anywhere in the world. In China, they are eager and willing to work hard to become a super power. Are we as a country in the U.S.? I certainly hope so. We live in the greatest country on the planet, particularly for the innovative, creative, and entrepreneurial.
So you might be thinking, OK, I get it, but why are you only studying single women business owners? Well, that all comes back to home. I am divorced, and fell into my first business as the ‘accidental entrepreneur’ in 2005 as a single, and my second business a year later. As I’ve written in previous books, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing then, and honestly still don’t know if I fully understand what it is that I’m doing with my businesses now. However, I’m having a blast trying to figure things out! One of my current businesses (Yuspie, LLC) focuses primarily on the young urban single professional. Everywhere I look, there are single professionals paving their own way through life, but in my opinion, there is not enough support for their plight in the media, in books, and on television.
This, coupled with all the buzz about the lack of innovation in the world (be it back home in Indianapolis, Indiana, or even here in Beijing, China), and the report recently published by the Kauffman Foundation (a think tank that studies entrepreneurship) on gender and entrepreneurship, I was struck by a particular chart in the report, which (finally) explored the differences between men and women entrepreneurs. This table (Table 2, if you want to look it up, here: