There is no single blueprint for building a successful business, and the women shaping today’s entrepreneurial landscape are proving exactly that.
For National Women’s Business Month, we’re spotlighting female founders who are turning personal experiences, industry gaps and ambitious ideas into businesses with staying power. Their companies span weddings, agriculture, law, technology, real estate, publishing, leadership and professional services, but their stories share a common thread: each founder saw an opportunity to do something differently and decided to build it herself.
From scaling a wedding platform across the country to rethinking how our food is grown, making real estate more accessible and helping women find their professional voice, these are the founders, innovators and business leaders worth knowing now.
Ashley Bowen Murphy & Kami Huddleston | Wed Society®
Sometimes the best business ideas begin with realizing the resource you need simply does not exist.
Ashley Bowen Murphy and Kami Huddleston founded Wed Society® in 2007 after planning their own weddings just two weeks apart. Both struggled to find a trusted local resource that paired beautiful wedding inspiration with reliable professionals. So they created one.
For 16 years, Wed Society grew as a successful regional business. Then, in 2023, Murphy and Huddleston decided to take the concept national through franchising.
The expansion has been significant. In just 34 months, Wed Society grew to 38 locations across 22 states, with women owning 80% of its franchises.
The model combines national reach with local entrepreneurship. Each market connects engaged couples with trusted wedding professionals through digital content, social media, print publications and community events, while local owners become part of a larger national brand.
Wed Society now reports more than 11 million digital and social content views monthly. The company has been recognized by Entrepreneur among its “Top New & Emerging Franchises” and by Franchise Business Review as a “Top Franchise for Women.” Murphy and Huddleston were also co-named Oklahoma’s “CEO of the Year” by the Journal Record.
Behind those numbers is a larger mission: supporting local wedding businesses, strengthening communities and creating opportunities for more women to become entrepreneurs themselves.
Website: Wedsociety.com
Donya Litowitz | ByNature
Donya Litowitz did not set out to build an agriculture company. She set out to solve a problem she could not ignore.
Perfectly good food was going to waste simply because it did not fit conventional markets.
That observation led Litowitz, Co-Founder and CEO of ByNature, to create her first product using farm-surplus spaghetti squash. But what began as an attempt to address food waste eventually revealed something much larger: a food system in which questions about soil health, farmer profitability, food quality and consumer trust are deeply interconnected.
Today, ByNature is a regenerative agriculture and produce company working across the agricultural value chain. The company sources and sells produce throughout the United States, Mexico and Canada while developing farmer partnerships and contract-growing relationships centered on improving profitability.
For Litowitz, the mission also became personal. Her experience going through IVF prompted her to look more closely at food quality and chemical exposure, further shaping the philosophy behind the company.
Rather than placing the responsibility entirely on shoppers to decipher how their food was grown and sourced, ByNature aims to do more of that work upstream. At the heart of Litowitz’s approach is a business principle that applies far beyond agriculture:
“If the economics don't work for the farmer, the system doesn't work.”
Website: Bynature.co
Amanda DuBois | DuBois Levias Law Group & Camille Delaney Mysteries
Amanda DuBois has built a career that proves reinvention does not require abandoning everything that came before it.
Before becoming an attorney, DuBois worked as a high-risk labor and delivery nurse. She later entered law and became a founding partner of DuBois Levias Law Group, described in her submission as the longest-standing women-owned law firm in Washington.
More than three decades into her legal career, DuBois added another professional identity: novelist.
She is the author behind the Camille Delaney Mystery series, drawing on the worlds of medicine, law and advocacy that have shaped her own career.
Rather than treating those chapters as unrelated, DuBois has allowed them to inform one another. Her trajectory offers a compelling counterpoint to the idea that women must choose one professional identity and remain there.
For other women contemplating the idea, business or creative project that refuses to leave them alone, her advice is refreshingly simple:
“Build the thing you can't stop thinking about, and let your values lead the way.”
And when moving toward it feels uncomfortable?
“Let discomfort be a signal, not a stop sign.”
Summer Grays | My Butler AI
As social media becomes more algorithmic, crowded and impersonal, Summer Grays is asking a different question: What if the platform worked for the person using it?
Grays founded My Butler AI around the belief that social technology could prioritize connection and user control rather than simply adding another endless feed to our digital lives.
The social media platform is designed to help users connect, create and engage more intelligently, with an emphasis on privacy, authenticity, no censorship and no shadowbanning.
The idea grew from frustration with overwhelming feeds, impersonal algorithms and the increasingly complicated relationship people have with the platforms intended to connect them.
My Butler AI aims to combine artificial intelligence with human connection in an experience designed to feel more like a digital assistant than a traditional social network.
For Grays, the company's philosophy begins with questioning the status quo.
“Every great innovation begins by asking a simple question: 'What if people deserved better?' My Butler AI is our answer—a platform where authenticity, opportunity, and meaningful connection come first.”
Website: Mybutleralapp.com
Yaya Reed | The Confidently Her Collective
A woman can be successful, accomplished and ambitious and still quietly question whether she belongs in the room.
Yaya Reed built The Confidently Her Collective for precisely that woman.
The confidence and mindset coaching company works primarily with ambitious women navigating self-doubt, imposter syndrome, people-pleasing and difficulty advocating for themselves, even as they continue advancing in their careers and businesses.
The idea grew from Reed’s own journey.
After navigating depression, career setbacks, self-doubt and seasons of starting over, she began rebuilding the way she saw, spoke to and showed up for herself. Through that experience, she came to understand confidence as something that can be developed rather than a trait a person either possesses or does not.
Today, Reed works through coaching, community, workshops and speaking to help women trust themselves, advocate for themselves and become more comfortable occupying the spaces they have worked hard to enter.
Her mission can be distilled into one sentence:
“I want every woman to know that her voice can change the world.”
Websites: Theconfidentlyher.com | The Confidently Her Method | Community | Confidence Starter Kit
Lisa Will | Stonz
One of entrepreneurship’s most enduring lessons is also one of its simplest: pay attention to the problems in your own life.
For Lisa Will, one of those problems appeared during a cold hike in Whistler with her infant son. His shoes would not stay on.
The frustrating experience planted the seed for Stonz, the Canadian children’s outdoor brand Will launched in 2004.
Rather than accepting children's footwear that did not work particularly well for active families, Will began developing products around the realities of childhood movement, outdoor play and parents who need practical gear that performs.
What started with a very specific parenting problem grew into a business focused on children's outdoor footwear and gear.
More than two decades later, the origin story remains a compelling example of how entrepreneurship often begins: not with an abstract search for “the next big idea,” but with a founder noticing that something ordinary could simply be better.
Website: Stonz.com
Maria Gallucci | Gallucci Homes / ASL Realty
For Maria Gallucci, entrepreneurship has also become a way to make an established industry work better for people who have historically encountered barriers within it.
A REALTOR®, author and entrepreneur, Gallucci works in real estate through Gallucci Homes while also bringing a deeply personal perspective to accessibility.
As a child of Deaf adults, Gallucci experienced firsthand the importance of communication and access. That background helped inspire her work connected to ASL @ Compass and ASL Realty, bringing greater awareness to the needs of Deaf and hard-of-hearing clients navigating real estate.
Her story illustrates a form of innovation that can be easy to overlook.
Not every entrepreneur needs to invent an entirely new category. Sometimes meaningful innovation comes from entering an existing industry, recognizing who is not being fully served and changing the experience.
Website: Galluccihomes.com
The Next Generation of Women-Led Business
The entrepreneurial landscape is also being shaped by women finding new ways to improve communication, simplify complex life moments, build professional authority and create stronger communities. These founders are bringing fresh thinking to industries ranging from publishing and property to leadership development and emerging digital technology.
Lorilyn B. Alden | CHAT Communication System®
Communication expert and three-time TEDx speaker Lorilyn B. Alden created the CHAT Communication System®, a framework designed to help people better understand themselves and one another through four natural communication styles.
Alden's work is built around the idea that better communication begins with understanding how people naturally process and express information. The CHAT framework can be used by individuals as well as leaders and organizations seeking to communicate with greater confidence, strengthen relationships and create more connected workplace cultures.
At a time when businesses are placing greater emphasis on collaboration, leadership and employee relationships, Alden is turning something we all do every day, communicate, into a skill that can be better understood and intentionally developed.
Website: Thechatsystem.com
Sandy Eulitt | Life Backup Plan
Sandy Eulitt, Founder and CEO of Life Backup Plan, is building technology around a challenge many families encounter but few are fully prepared to manage: what happens when a health emergency or caregiving responsibility suddenly changes everyday life?
Life Backup Plan is an all-in-one digital health, safety and lifecare platform designed for individuals, families and caregivers. It combines proactive wellness check-ins, medical information, caregiver coordination and secure document management within one system.
The platform extends across emergency preparedness, caregiving, post-discharge recovery and aging in place, giving families a way to organize important information before it becomes urgently needed.
Eulitt's concept recognizes that preparation is not simply about responding to emergencies. It can also mean creating a clearer system for managing the everyday realities of care.
Website: Lifebackupplan.com
Debbie Jackson | Debbie Jackson Coaching & Consulting
Achievement does not always create fulfillment, a disconnect Debbie Jackson has made central to her work with high-achieving women.
Through Debbie Jackson Coaching & Consulting Incorporated, Jackson works primarily with women ages 35 to 60 who have built successful lives and careers but find themselves wanting to reconnect with their authentic purpose and a version of success that feels more personally meaningful.
Her signature Trapped in Success Solution™ is a 12-week online transformational program designed to help women develop a roadmap for that next chapter. Jackson also works through one-on-one coaching, workshops and keynote speaking.
The premise is particularly relevant for women who have spent years reaching professional and personal milestones only to discover that the next goal may not simply be achieving more, but deciding what they genuinely want the life behind those achievements to look like.
Website: Debbiejacksoncoaching.com
Kathryn Starke | Creative Minds Publications
For Kathryn Starke, entrepreneurship and literacy education are closely connected.
Starke founded Creative Minds Publications, an award-winning publishing company that helps authors bring their books to life while drawing on her own expertise in literacy education. The company's broader mission is rooted in helping teach the world to read.
Among its projects are Tackle Reading and A Touchdown in Reading: An Educator's Guide to Literacy Instruction. The books helped kick off the 10th annual Tackle Reading educational initiative with the National Football League.
By bringing together publishing, literacy and education, Starke has built a business in which books are not simply products. They become tools for encouraging reading and helping educators support the next generation of readers.
Website: Creativemindspublications.com
Cristina Ortega | Mrs. Property Solutions
Cristina Ortega is the entrepreneur behind Mrs. Property Solutions, bringing a woman-led presence to the property and real estate space.
Her company reflects the growing number of female founders building businesses within industries that have traditionally had fewer women represented at the ownership level.
Rather than treating real estate solely as transactions, businesses such as Mrs. Property Solutions also illustrate the many entrepreneurial paths that exist within the broader property industry, from identifying opportunities to helping owners navigate their next steps.
Website: Mrspropertysolutions.com
Ruth Klein | Expert Celebrity Branding™
Ruth Klein has built a business around helping accomplished people become more visible for what they already know.
Through Expert Celebrity Branding™, Klein works with entrepreneurs, authors, executives and thought leaders to transform their expertise into influential personal brands. Her approach brings together thought leadership, book development, media visibility, personal branding and strategic business positioning.
The company's signature Expert Celebrity Branding™ methodology can include helping clients develop marketable books and book proposals, pursue literary agents and publishers, prepare for TEDx talks and media opportunities, and leverage their expertise into speaking, podcasts, television appearances and longer-term business growth.
Central to Klein's philosophy is the idea that a book can become more than a finished publication. It can serve as the foundation for authority, visibility and an entirely new stage of a business.
Website: Ruthklein.com
Ronda K. Salazar | Roar Like A Woman
Ronda K. Salazar knows the challenges women can encounter in traditionally male-dominated industries because she built her own career inside them.
A former manufacturing and construction leader, Salazar founded Roar Like A Woman to help companies develop and advance women working in construction. The company provides leadership and career coaching, workshops and speaking focused on helping women recognize, articulate and communicate their professional value.
Its leadership development programs also address the organizational side of the equation, helping companies strengthen their pipelines of women prepared to move into leadership positions.
Salazar's work places the focus not simply on getting more women into construction, but on creating clearer paths for them to grow, lead and be recognized once they are there.
Website: Roarlikeawomanofficial.com
Gina Zeolla & Alison Storm | Wesion x IRIS
Gina Zeolla, Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Wesion, and Alison Storm, Founder of IRIS, are collaborating on a different model for women-led digital communities.
Their partnership is built around moving beyond traditional social media platforms and giving founders greater ownership over their communities, relationships and long-term value. Wesion provides the connected digital infrastructure, while IRIS is developing a global movement centered around helping women explore identity, reconnect with their authentic power and form meaningful relationships with one another.
Wesion's ecosystem programs can bring memberships, events, education, content, commerce, communication and collaboration into one connected experience rather than requiring founders to build communities across multiple disconnected third-party platforms.
Through the IRIS partnership, that infrastructure supports a women-led community beginning with the IRIS Identity archetype quiz and continuing through personalized content, events, connection and collaboration.
Website: Wesion.world
Erica Anderson Rooney | HER Collective
Erica Anderson Rooney is the founder behind HER Collective, adding her voice to the growing movement of women creating professional communities specifically designed to help other women advance.
HER Collective centers on connection and professional growth, reflecting an important shift in women's entrepreneurship: some founders are building businesses not simply around a traditional product, but around access to relationships, knowledge and community.
Website: ericaandersonrooney.com | joinhercollective.com
Nikki Lindgren | Pennock Digital Marketing Partners
Nikki Lindgren and Pennock Digital Marketing Partners are looking beyond traditional search marketing toward the changing ways consumers discover information online.
The company works in digital marketing with an approach it describes as data-led, plain-spoken and specific. One of its areas of focus is AEO/GEO, or Answer Engine Optimization and Generative Engine Optimization, designed to improve brand visibility within AI-powered platforms such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity.
As search behavior continues to evolve beyond the traditional list of blue links, Lindgren's work represents an emerging challenge for businesses: understanding not only how to appear in conventional search results, but how their brands and expertise are surfaced within AI-generated answers.
Website: Pennock.co
What These Founders Tell Us About the Future of Business
Look closely at these companies and a pattern begins to emerge. Many started not with a grand declaration about disrupting an industry, but with a founder noticing something that could work better.
A bride needed a more trustworthy way to find local wedding professionals. Food was being wasted. A woman wanted to pursue another chapter in an already accomplished career. Social media felt increasingly disconnected. Successful women were still questioning their own voices. Children's shoes would not stay on. Deaf and hard-of-hearing clients deserved a more accessible real estate experience.
Others saw opportunities to make communication clearer, caregiving more organized, professional expertise more visible, women's leadership more attainable or digital communities more valuable to the people who actually create them.
The businesses that emerged are wildly different, but the instinct behind them is remarkably similar. See the gap. Question the assumption. Build the alternative. This National Women’s Business Month, that feels like something worth celebrating.
