Female Founders: Leading With Purpose

Here's a jaw-dropping stat: Female-owned businesses generate $1.8 trillion in revenue a year and that number is only going t continue to grow.

- By Gayle King

Last year, the number of businesses owned by women increased by nearly 30 percent-proving that, more than ever, female entrepreneurs are a force to be reckoned with.

But despite these massive numbers, many women still face uphill battles when it comes to running their businesses. For example, just over 2 percent of all venture capital goes to female entrepreneurs.

And the pandemic brought on more challenges. A significant number of female founders are in the hospitality or retail business, which both took a hit over the past few years.

Nonetheless, entrepreneurship is something a large number of women aspire to. One survey of nearly 10,000 people found that 72 percent of women say they'd like to have their own business one day.

To talk about all of this and more, Gayle King sat down with three enterprising and inspiring female business leaders Emma Grede, cofounder and CEO of Good American and cofounder of Safely; Laura Modi, cofounder and CEO of the formula brand Bobbie; and Kristin Sudeikis, founder and CEO of Forward__Space. Keep reading for a preview of their chat, then watch the entire conversation at oprahdaily.com/ roundtable-female-founders.

FINDING THAT BIG IDEA

Here's what inspired these women to start their companies.

GAYLE: A lot of people think they have good ideas for a business but don't actually do anything about it. Emma, I read that Good American was born out of the feeling that so many women feel left out of the fashion conversation. Talk to me about that.