The Time to Prosper

Why now is the best time for creating your most successful future.

OK, first let’s acknowledge the elephant in the room: the recession. We’re in one. It’s frustrating and sometimes scary. Now that we have that out of the way, let’s get to the real issue: you.

You are where you are today because of your choices. Sure, recessions, layoffs and stock tumbles have happened before and will happen again. Jobs end. Recessions come and go. Life happens. And it isn’t always easy. But what you must understand if you want to thrive while everyone else around you is floundering is that you have choices and those choices create your reality. Read more

Success: It’s in the Bag

Sarah Davis built a multimillion-dollar business, one step at a time.

It’s difficult to find a woman who doesn’t love a great purse. From palm-sized to super-sized, exquisitely beaded, lusciously smooth leather or sassy quilted canvas, the perfect bag is like the siren’s call… all but impossible to ignore. That truth, and a desire to pay down college loan debt, led Sarah Davis to create a multimillion-dollar business selling pre-owned designer handbags. Read more

Carmen Ulrich on Building Wealth

What you need to know to take control of your income.

The day I took control of my income was the day I quit my job. Of course, my timing was perfect, as my husband had just gotten laid off the week before. Two missing incomes, one mortgage and a lot of bills. But it pushed us to talk seriously about our potential to make it on our own, to build our own business and open the doors to even more success. Read more

Turning “What If?” into a Multimillion Dollar Business

Persistence, time and energy. That’s the difference between “what if” and product success, and Lori Greiner has all three. After years of having ideas for products and even books and sitting on the sidelines, she grew tired of thinking about what might happen. So when she had a promising idea for an earring organizer, she immediately got to work. Read more

Reinventing Your Career: Success Tips from Debra Cohen

Women switch careers or start businesses for any number of reasons. For Debra Cohen, president of Home Remedies of NY, becoming a mother marked the turning point that took her from employee to stay-at-home mom to entrepreneur. Here, she shares some of the secrets to her success.

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Building a Strong Future

It’s easy for Debra Cohen to remember when she started her business; she marks time by her oldest daughter’s birthday. Cohen launched Home Remedies of NY, her home-based home-remodeling referral business 13 years ago, when her oldest daughter was 6 months old. A need to earn extra cash for her family combined with boredom that set in when she transitioned from full-time employee to stay-at-home mom made starting a business somewhat of a necessity. But determining exactly what type of business—and what business model to use—was a process. Read more

From Minimum Wage to Rooftop Gardens

Teresa Carleo’s client roster reads like a who’s who in New York real estate development. But her success started with the question, “What am I going to do with my life?”
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Save Money Enjoying an Evening with Friends

Dinner out is, well… out. Throw a fun, inexpensive dinner party instead.

The doorbell rings, and a smile sweeps across your face. Music is playing, candles are flickering, the table is set and your home smells wonderful. You open the door to let your friends in, relaxed and ready to enjoy a delicious dinner and an evening of fun.

OK, so maybe you haven’t thrown a dinner party in years. (Does watching Food Network in your sweat pants count?) But even if your life is consumed by a busy schedule, throwing a fabulous dinner party can be a reality. Read more

Who Says You Can’t?

Author writes about go-getting women

Susan Casey’s list of “friends” is extensive. Some were born in the 1800s, while others haven’t graduated from high school yet. And many, she never met. But an avid researcher and lover of “detective work,” as she calls it, Casey combed through libraries across the country, hungry to meet women inventors. She now knows so much about them that she calls most—dead or alive—friends. “I feel like I know them,” she says.

Her far-reaching memory harkens back to a “brilliant” woman who came to the United States in the 1920s and built the first solar-heated house. She jumps to the story of the hardworking secretary Bette Graham, who secretly invented Liquid Paper in the 1950s to cover up her typewriting mistakes. Casey’s research was published in Women Invent!, a book about female pioneers of their time.

“These women were pursuing their interests in a very intelligent way—and following through,” Casey says. “They say, I’ll figure out a way to do it. I’m gonna make this happen. It’s inspiring.”

Casey talks about her favorite women inventors, unable to pick just one. She tells the story of Rose Totino, of the famous brand of frozen pizzas, like she’s a long-lost friend: “Rose settled in Minneapolis, and nobody there knew a thing about pizza,” she explains. “Rose would take pizza to the PTA when they were asked to do a potluck. And people thought, Wow, this is great! And it caught on!”

Casey’s book was published in 1997—just before the advent of the Internet and online search engines. She spent nearly 18 months in a Los Angeles library, “zipping” through microfiche and making notes for her book. “It was really fun. For a lot of these women, I had to search in books and call historical societies to find anything about them,” she says. “Now, I Google their name and five biographies pop up.”

Still, the lengthy research process is what Casey found fascinating. “Spending several years talking and researching about optimistic people is inspiring,” she says. “There’s a model of every kind of person in this book: chemists, balloonists, secretaries. When I speak, I teach girls and boys that anyone can use their ideas and create something terrific.”

Creating Job Security by Becoming the Boss

I recently received an e-mail from a business owner and new author whose book release has been delayed by the publisher. She says the book explains how to turn a product idea into a profitable business, but the publisher and booksellers are telling her people simply aren’t taking “risks” right now.

Undoubtedly, it’s more important than ever to be cautious with our income and assets. But starting a business can be a very wise investment of your time and money — if you do it right. And with the uncertainty of the economy and fewer “secure” jobs available, becoming an entrepreneur or independent professional is an option many women are examining more closely. In our recent poll, more than half of you said you were either starting a business or taking on freelance or contract work in an effort to create financial security in your life. Read more

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