20 Aviation forWomen M A Y / J U N E 2 0 1 7
I
t's easy to romanticize the life of an entrepreneur – un-
limited vacation, no boss telling you what to do, mak-
ing your own schedule, and a dozen other perks that
someone who works for a corporation doesn't have. The
truth is radically different. If you think you're working hard
for someone else, talk to any business owner who is no doubt
working harder.
But for many women who made the choice to start their
own businesses, they are in good company. According to The
2016 State of Women-Owned Businesses sponsored by Ameri-
can Express OPEN, between 2007 and 2016, there was an in-
crease of 3.5 million women-owned firms. A full 78 percent of
these are new women-owned firms (nearly 2.8 million) that
are owned by women of color. Another way to look at this
growth in women-owned business is that since 2007, 1,100
new women-owned firms have been launched each day.
We don't know what the numbers are for women-owned
aviation business-
es. Their numbers
may not be huge,
but there are plenty of examples of women who have created
stable and successful aviation-oriented companies through
their own skill and perseverance. Here four successful avia-
tion entrepreneurs share some advice.
Entrepreneurship
I N H E R O W N W O R D S
Compiled by Patricia Luebke
Lillian Tamm