The Top Self-Made Women CEOs and Business Owners

The Top Self-Made Women CEOs and Business Owners

Women in the business face numerous challenges that their male counterparts do not typically encounter, including unequal pay, discrimination, and harassment. However, the tide seems to be shifting as more women are in leadership positions in companies. About 22 women occupy the posts of the prime minister and president of various countries. At the same time, 6.6% of fortune 500 companies have female CEOs. They are setting a path for other women to follow suit; aspiring leaders and entrepreneurs should learn from their hard work. Some of the female CEOs and business owners of the world include:

Sarah Nahm

Sarah Nahm attended Standford University and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in product design and engineering. She started her career in Google writing speeches for Marissa Mayer. She later joined the team that was responsible for the launch of Google Chrome. She founded Lever in 2012 together with Randal Truong and Nate Smith. Lever is a San Fransisco based company that majors in modernizing recruitment software. The talent Acquisition suite helps Lever’s clients to manage their hiring processes and track the progress of their goals recruitment.

Sarah Nahm is a firm believer in diversity at work; Lever has a 50-50 gender ratio in its employee composition. The company’s board comprises of 40% women, 53% of women hold management positions in the company, and 40% of the women are non-white. Lever is present in more than 40 countries with more than 2000 clients.

Simone Spence

Simone Spence founded her company Don’t Get Mad Get Paid in 2017 out of necessity and experience in her attempts to fetch unpaid child support. She spent two years creating a platform that automates the difficult and complicated process of collecting child support. Her company is a mission-driven in nature.

Having gone through the complex process of collecting child support, Simone Spence would spend time assisting other moms in receiving the money. With time, she realized that she had developed a mission and interest. Women would often come to her house to learn from her, and she would then be called to speak on the topic. She wrote a book on how mothers can collect child support by themselves and received a book deal from a publishing company. She then opened an office and ran a company that helped several women. Her goal to automate her expertise is the reason for the existence of Don’t Get Mad Get Paid.

Cindy Mi

The CEO and founder of VIPkid, Cindy Mi, is an accomplished business owner. Cindy Mi learned English through cassette tapes and magazines. While working as an English teacher, she knew there was a gap in the market for English tutors. Cindy Mi had a dream to come up with an easily accessible tool that would help students learn English through the resources available on the platform. VIPKid was established in 2013, and it connects tutors in North America with K-8 learners in China. It offers fee-based lessons in English for Science, Social Studies, Math, among other core lessons.

Learners can also learn science, social studies, coding, art, and music for free through group seminars. VIPKid aims to inspire students to be critical thinkers in preparation for the future. Students also get to interact with students and tutors from other cultures and a personalized way of learning.

Anne Wojcicki

The Yale University graduate with a degree in Biology is a self-made entrepreneur. She is the co-creator and CEO of 23andMe, a company that majors in biotechnology and genomics. The company is well-known for offering genetic testing directly to the consumer. Before establishing 23andME together with Linda Avey and Paul Cusenza in 2006, she worked at Investor AB and Passport Capital. She is a member of a team called Exconomists that provides editorial advice for Xconomy company. Anne Wojcicki was named “the most daring CEO” by Fast Company in 2013.

Getting to the top is not easy, and the odds are stacked against women. However, the women above have done their best to achieve success.