Famous Women Entrepreneurs – Three Things They Know About Success

I find it very inspirational to learn from famous women entrepreneurs who had an idea and made it happen. What’s interesting about some of these women is that they didn’t necessarily have the ideal background or circumstances for success but that didn’t hold them back. They overcame their obstacles and became successful in a business world dominated by men.

There is a pattern that emerges when you take a look at what these diverse women entrepreneurs have in common—women like Mary Kay Ash, Anita Roddick and Debbi Fields. I found three things these famous women entrepreneurs knew and demonstrated about success that I’ve found critical in my life as an entrepreneur.

Three Things Famous Women Entrepreneurs Know …

1. Believe in Yourself

Mary Kay Ash quote: "Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember you can achieve."

I love this quote because the right mindset is the number one determining factor of success in business and in life. I frequently speak about the importance of having a healthy mindset. In fact, I’ve dedicated the entire first section in my Direct Sales Success System to mindset because it’s really the foundation of success.

As you can see in Mary Kay’s quote, to believe in yourself you have to let go of “limiting” beliefs. A “limiting” belief is something that you believe to be true about yourself that is not true and it prevents you from moving forward.

If you believe in yourself—you can achieve your goals. Regardless of your past success (or not), it is completely possible to be successful in the future. It requires your belief and ability to change the story you’ve been telling about your past circumstances. Truly knowing what you want empowers you to put your best thoughts and actions forward.

2. Have a Support System

Anita Roddick quote: "We entrepreneurs are loners, vagabonds, troublemakers. Success is simply a matter of finding and surrounding ourselves with those open-minded and clever souls who can take our insanity and put it to good use."

What I appreciate about this quote is its self-awareness. Although, I don’t necessarily agree that all entrepreneurs are loners, vagabonds or troublemakers, I do believe that we all have strengths and weaknesses. One of the most important lessons I’ve learned since starting Metromom is that you can’t do it alone. But, you can achieve amazing things when you build a team and leverage each other’s strengths.

If you want to be truly successful, then you must have a fantastic support system. I’ve learned to delegate whether it means having friends to carpool my kids, VA’s to set-up my ezine or business coaches to help me discover the next step in my marketing plan. Learn to enjoy the collaborative process of what others add to the process of building your business.

3. Be of service

Debbi Fields Quote: “The principle was right there - you couldn't miss it. The more you did for your customers, the more they did for us.”

You can see from this quote that her focus was never just on a single sale, it was about creating a long-term meaningful relationship with her customers. When you step out of your own personal focus and begin
asking how you can be of service to others, you embark on the path to success.

Customers sense when your focus is on being of service and they reward you with their loyalty. Instead of focusing on "What's in it for me?" - take the focus off of yourself. Shift your focus to "What am I going to GIVE?"

Whether or not you want to be famous, believing in yourself, having a support system and being of service will help you be a more successful and happier entrepreneur. Yes, there is much that we can learn from these famous women entrepreneurs or from other entrepreneurs in our lives that display true leadership.