Women and their struggles to make a name for themselves in the entrepreneurial world have been monumental. Regardless of their industry, women have achieved tremendous growth in every sector wherever they step a foot. However, there was no magic formula that made them launch out of their cubicle confinement and made them successful in their entrepreneurial endeavors. It was their own passion, commitment sheer hard work, and patience of long years before their dream finally come to fruition.
The Top Female Entrepreneurs of 2021 that we are presenting in this list today are a great example of what women can do when they have the confidence to pursue what they desire and with their impressive career journeys they are inspiring others to do the same.
Theresa Depasquale
CEO and founder of Capture Social Group, Theresa began her career as an entrepreneurial fitness expert. In 2012, She started her Instagram page and used her business acumen and marketing skills to quickly dominate the social media space by successfully building multiple large, revenue-generating brand pages on Instagram. Her own personal brand page @TheresaDepasquale has over 220k followers and is still growing today due to its motivational and practical content.
With over 10 years of online branding and social media experience, she’s become the go-to for many high-level clients and companies providing one-on-one consulting and management programs to help them successfully build their brand on social, and grow their reach, credibility and profits. With her brilliance and valuable insights, she has been helping businesses achieve miraculous growth in her guidance.
Julia Wang
Julia Wang holds a Broker license, the highest real estate license in the state of Texas, and is the Broker and Owner of NextGen Real Estate. She was also recently chosen as the #1 realtor on social media for both Houston and Texas and named 'Top 5 Real Estate Agents to Follow' by Yahoo Finance. She is a seasoned businesswoman, with a strong background in marketing, who understands the value of taking care of her clients. Her rich career in real estate specializes in luxury home buying and selling and representing Houston luxury home builders such as Aurora Custom Homes, MC2 Architect, Timeline Construction Group, Dreamscape Modern, Citywide Builders, Imagine Modern Builders, and more.
After earning a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin, Julia worked at several large corporations before starting her own marketing consulting firm. With a desire to follow her true passion, Julia secured a real estate license and quickly skyrocketed to the top where she is now one of Houston's most recognized realtors.
Julia prides herself on always being ahead of the curve, and she also always employs the latest technologies when it comes to helping her clients buy or sell their homes.
Rossanna Ceccato
Rossanna Ceccato founded Redress in 2019, a disruptive clothing platform where users may renew their wardrobes by swapping their barely used dresses. Considering 80% of women feel they have nothing to wear even their wardrobes are packed, Ceccato realized 5.3 Billion pieces of clothing are hanging in US closets that will inevitably end up in landfills, and that numbers would rise as the Instagram generation doesn’t like to be seen more than once with the same outfit. Conscious fashion has become the second most polluting industry in the world, Ceccato believes rent sites don’t allow monetizing what’s already in your closet and that resale marketplaces only allow recouping a minimal fraction of the original cost of garments. Alternatively, Redress with its scalable swap platform has set itself the goal of unleashing the full value of secondhand apparel while reducing its user’s carbon footprint and saving them thousands of dollars.
DJ Viva (Bibi Khurshed)
DJ Viva (Bibi Khurshed) is a professional DJ, Music Producer, and successful female businesswoman based in Saudi Arabia where the entertainment industry is very new and currently plays the role of Music Director/Resident DJ at Myazu Saudi. She has always been a self-driven and motivated businesswoman with a passion for the entertainment industry ranging from film & photography to modeling & design, with music being her main focus. Along with abundant live performances, DJ Viva has released music on all major music platforms via her co-founded music label entertainment, as well as the recently established Myazu Music.
Aside from her creative side, she also plays lead business roles as partner in 7Zenith Business consultancy, and co-founder of EntertainmenTen, a Saudi-based entertainment consultancy and music label. She holds an MBA & is a Ph.D. Candidate in Organizational Development, & recently launched Viva Cosmetics a Saudi Cosmetics Brand designed for busy women on the go who need makeup that can keep up with their hectic lifestyle, much like herself, makeup that you can wear from the board room to the dance floor! Most recently, Viva Concepts was launched as an incubator hub for new ideas such as recently launched sub-brands VivArt & VivApparel.
Entin Gartini
Entin Gartini is the founder and creator of the Entin Gartini Clothing brand.
As a successful fashion designer and fashion illustrator, she created a unique masterpiece in every show. She began her career in her 40s with her self-learning and resources. Before that, she had 15 years of experience running a successful business. She started gaining recognition in 2021 when she won the award for the best Fashion Designer in Ottawa. Her story as a mom and her struggles of being a newcomer in Canada is very inspiring. Her inspiring journey also received a lot of attention from the media. She also found that many teenagers, women, wives, moms like her are struggling to start their brand and have no money to pay tuition school, so she decided to teach other women to start their own business and build a brand with her blog, ebook, and online course.
Entin's mission is to share her knowledge and encourage others to believe in themselves even though they may face some struggles in the beginning.
Jess Hughes
Jess Hughes is the founder and chief visionary of Citizen Pilates, a popular network of boutique Pilates studios in Houston, Texas. An efficacious entrepreneur and forward-thinking founder, she’s found success in seizing viable opportunities for expansion and innovation in the boutique fitness industry. Her experience in fundraising, client acquisition, and most importantly, employee retention, has disrupted outdated industry archetypes.
Hughes’ ability to implement new fitness studio norms to boost productivity, employee satisfaction, and overall financial and mental well-being is paramount to Citizen’s culture. For over 6 years and across 3 locations, her leadership continues to address chronic deficiencies to change the human capital landscape in the boutique fitness space. Her entrepreneurial spirit incessantly believes small businesses have the power to unlock workforce potential through mentorship while bringing the next generation of motivated individuals to a place that respects and cultivates their career paths.
Dr. Carol Parker Walsh
Dr. Carol Parker Walsh, founder, and creator of the Career Rebel Academy™ and the Midlife Rebel Community is an award-winning career and personal brand strategist, serving as a catalyst for transformational growth, confidence, and career/life alignment for high-achieving women at midlife.
Leveraging her J.D. and Ph.D. and multiple certifications, along with her experience as an attorney, in executive leadership, and psychology and organizational systems, she’s a disruptor in the career development industry. TEDx presenter, author, international keynote and member of Forbes Coaches Council and Newsweek’s Expert Forum, and career expert on AM Northwest morning show, she’s coached Grammy Award Winners, Paralympic Gold Medalists, executives, and 6-7 figure professionals and entrepreneurs.
An expert in personal branding, she helps women worldwide up-level their brands for increased visibility so they can come out of the shadows and showcasing their brilliance with the world.
Kelly Carter
Kelly Carter is the architect and founder of the Food Freedom Nutrition and Lifestyle Program. Her university background gave me the knowledge and understanding of the science behind the human body and nutrition. Kelly’s personal health journey showed her that there is much more to a lifestyle transformation than following a meal plan. When you are looking to change your diet, you have to look at changing your current lifestyle for the transition to be successful.
Kelly (certified nutritional practitioner) was tired of the quick fixes/plans, supplements, and products she was seeing that created this multi-trillion-dollar industry. She created a program that she wanted to see in this world - comprehensive, tailored to each client’s individual needs, goals, and unique circumstances, personalized food plans, and ongoing support and accountability. Kelly will be the last nutritionist that you ever need to see. The end result is you find a sustainable diet that fits perfectly into your ideal lifestyle.
Ellie Heber
Ellie Heber, CEO, and founder of Fill My Lashes is transforming the beauty world like never before. Her goal in mind was to create an academy that helped women succeed as beauty entrepreneurs. She now has created a space for women to connect together and share being in a 1.4 Billion Lash industry. After finishing her MBA, she was passionate about not only helping women but creating a carbon-free footprint in the beauty realm. The Fill My Lashes approach is to help women from all backgrounds, become the entrepreneur of their dreams, using Vegan and sustainably sourced packaging. Our students are not only practicing sustainability but making the income of their dreams. Ellie’s sole goal is to see her students succeed and creating makers of change. With over 2,500 Alumni, the future is bright for these students who are making well over 6 figures.
Maureen Ikem Okogwu-Ikokwu
Maureen Ikem Okogwu-Ikokwu is the founder and creative director of Sunny Rose. As a successful international model who graced the pages of Italian Vogue, Marie Claire, Elle amongst others and walked the runway at Chanel, Valentino, Akris, and other designer brands, she was at the height of her modeling career when she decided to start her very own fashion label Sunny Rose, born from a desire to fuse her African heritage and culture into a modern luxurious clothing and accessories line. Sunny Rose has grown into an award-winning line, which is being worn by celebrities and trendsetters worldwide, this year it celebrates its 15th year anniversary.
In 2020 at the height of a global pandemic Maureen decided to use the lockdown to further her education in a new sector, interior design, at the University of the Arts London. Hereby creating a new department that uses indigenous artisans to create artistic furniture and home furnishings to adorn her interior design projects.
Kenya Seifert
CEO and founder of Kenya Kreates LLC, Kenya “Kutie Blue” Seifert was born and raised in the concrete jungle called Brooklyn, New York. Kenya has always been a creative individual. From making clothing out of paper, writing stories in her comprehension notebook, performing with her Highschool’s senior band and orchestra, to becoming a successful Fine Artist, Graphic designer, and Brand stylist. Self-taught since 14 years old, Kenya pursued a Bachelors Degree in Digital Design and Multimedia--concentration Fine Arts at The City College of New York.
While she’s open to clients from all walks of life, the demographic of her clientele includes mainly women of color. Kenya takes pride in bringing a entrepreneur’s vision to life-- hence the slogan “Turning your vision into reality one kreation at a time.“ Founded in 2019, Kenya Kreates provides an array of services such as logo design website design, portraits, cover art design, and the list goes on. Kenya strives to grow Kenya Kreates into a one-stop-shop empire. Offering every design need a client would require to start their business in-house. What started out as an escape for adolescent Kenya (a hobby ) is turning into more than she ever imagined. Kenya Kreates is also a co-owner of independent label Live Through Dreams Entertainment, where her stage name is Kutie Blue.
Rose Gabler
Rose Gabler is an Author, Speaker, and Creativity Alignment Strategist. She is frequently called upon to consult on creative alignment development with goals for business associations, entrepreneurs, institutions, and colleges.
Rose has been referred to as one of the leading Creativity Experts with
the creation of her #1 Best Selling Kindle book in a premier category, “The Creativity Gene: 5 Universal Traits to Spark Success,” which challenges society’s mindset about creativity as being solely related to artistic expression. After years of working in the artistic field, she wanted to find an actionable way to empower creativity in a variety of industries, as it is one of the most sought-after skills.
Rose now uses her 20 plus years of creativity research and engagement to provide high-level solutions to a broad range of clients worldwide. These solutions include actionable methods to empower creative advantages, marketing strategies, and training programs that improve productivity.
Eliza Kuo
Eliza Kuo is the founder of JUN Dare to Dream that sells inspirational bracelets to empower women to dare to dream and live their best-desired lives. Prior to starting JUN, she is a seasoned corporate banker and was recognized as one of the top-ranked producers in a global bank. She wants to help more women succeed and realize their dreams.
She attributed her success to fully utilizing the law of attraction theory to manifest and take action to pursue her dreams. She knows how powerful this force is like all things that she wished for come true in different stages of life including her dream job, her husband/soulmate and her dream house, and many more. She wanted to create this bracelet as a reminder that any dream can become a reality. All you need to do is dare to dream. 1% of proceeds are donated to JUN’s charitable partner to give back to the community.
Michelle Arceo
Michelle Arceo is a Multi-awarded Online Business Mentor and Coach. In less than 2 years of becoming an entrepreneur, she made it to the list of Top 5 leaders in Canada and Top 10 in the world in our online business community. She has built a 7-figure empire with over 6,000 online business owners in her global organization.
She used to be a Real Estate Broker in the Philippines. Michelle migrated to Canada, started from scratch, and worked as a Retail Sales Associate and a Financial Advisor.
She, fortunately, found a proven successful system and a very supportive online community in 2018. Then she started her own digital business Michelle Arceo Marketing and currently running the business with her fiance, Dan, and kids. She has been helping thousands of people start their own digital business with no selling involved and no digital experience required so they too can escape the "paycheck to paycheck lifestyle".
She considers this online business system as a "great equalizer" as individuals from all walks of life - from high school undergraduates to licensed professionals are able to achieve more time and financial freedom whether they are doing the business part-time or full-time
Shida Kebriti
Shida Kebriti started her profession in pharmacy after completing a Bachelor of Pharmacy at Sydney University. In 2012 after an injury during a marathon, she saw a gap in the market for topical natural products that helps to relieve the pain. Shida spent the next six years researching and developing a number of natural pain relief creams. She successfully launched Soodox pain relief cream, Soodox for women, and Soodox Active. In 2019 she and her team also introduced Soodox Vytal which includes a large number of hygiene products. During the pandemic, they managed to escalate their manufacturing of hand sanitizer from 10,000 units per month to nearly 2,000,000 units per month.
Their flexibility and their success came from a great background of research and development, staff that raises to the occasion, and family members who were ready to jump in to assist and keep me whole.
Shida and her team have gone from strength to strength with their products being sold in Australia, Hong Kong, Kuwait, China, and now Qatar.
The main goal is to develop the most innovative health care products that give the customers the best healthcare solution and experience that are made in Australia.
Jennifer Grigg
Most people aren’t aware of how powerful your body language is in what it conveys to others, how it can allow you to see beneath the surface of a person’s actions and how using it to your advantage can change your life in ways you’d never imagine.
Jennifer Grigg draws her inspiration from a similar ideology. As an introvert, she always struggled with anxiety and social awkwardness. She has gone from hiding in the aisles in department stores to avoid talking to people to making a successful career for herself as a coach, speaker, and body language expert. She used to struggle with a pervasive lack of confidence and it affected how she lived her life and it robbed her of enjoying almost everything. Jennifer went from job to job because every time she reached a level of success, She’d get scared and quit. She honestly thought she would never be truly happy but then Jennifer started studying body language and it changed her life.
Rebecca Featherstone
Rebecca Featherstone saw something missing in the music industry - a platform dedicated to music teachers but friendly enough for children. The founder and CEO of the Musicology App—the first interactive video conferencing app designed specifically to help music teachers—saw clear shortcomings in traditional conferencing apps. Featherstone put together a team of developers who understood the esoteric problems teachers were facing and got to work designing an intuitive app that solved the technical issues, while simultaneously providing all the tools teachers need to teach effectively online and keeping it simple enough for a child to navigate. Flash forward six months and Featherstone had secured a half-million dollars in funding and was in charge of a major Canadian app company. Her innovative thinking and perseverance for children's online education have been an inspiration to teachers globally.
Musicology is available for iOS and as a web app.
Birgit Barkhoff
Birgit Barkhoff’s career journey started as a dental nurse but she left the job as soon as she got married. She joined hands with her husband to support him in his company and worked in back office. At the time she was always taking care of her three kids on her own. Birgit used to work from home while trying to balance her personal and professional life, but she always felt something was missing. She wanted to make a name for herself and wanted to be recognized for her talents.
Soon she realized her passion for art and began painting. Her paintings filled in the voids in her life where she felt unappreciated and got her the freedom and reputation she was searching for. During this time, she also moved out of her house and took her kids with her, and began the journey of living as an independent woman. Her paintings gave her the confidence and power to manage her personal and professional life. Her paintings have already been exhibited internationally, such as in Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. With her paintings, she aims to inspire others to gain that lost strength and power and achieve their dreams.
Falicia Newsome
Falicia is a thriving founder of Newsome Notary, an experienced licensed Tax Preparer with 500+ clients across the USA, and a business owner since 2015. From professional tax to notary services, today, her company has been benefitting various clients boundlessly. She started off as a Notary Public/ Signing agent and being a math wiz she quickly expanded her skills and business to include Tax Preparation. Driven by her entrepreneurial interests, she started working at the early age of 13 and soon realized how her abilities and knowledge can create a difference in the business world. Known for her expertise and boundless knowledge in the industry, Falicia has successfully completed her Associate Degree in Arts, Leadership Certificate in Organization (Undergraduate), and Bachelor of Science in Communications leading her into the National Society of Leadership and Success. Today, her commitment and passion make her one of the most trustworthy tax preparers in the industry.
Kelly Loftus
Kelly Loftus is the owner and founder of Fit Impressions, a boutique fitness studio in Connecticut. Fit Impressions provides a warm, comfortable atmosphere for women of all sizes, ages, and shapes to train in. Fit Impressions does not take a “cookie-cutter” approach to its clients. Kelly takes each individual’s personality, lifestyle, and goals into consideration when creating a workout plan. Kelly’s dedication and attention to detail are what sets her and her business apart. Training sessions offer a unique combination of barre, pilates equipment, and functional training for improved strength, balance, and flexibility.
One year post-Covid, the studio is thriving. Kelly believes the pandemic has helped her business flourish in that many women are in need of some devoted attention to their health and wellness. Fit Impressions was recently voted 2021’s Best Fitness Center and Best Pilates of Cheshire, CT.
Final Thoughts
These women with their inspiring career journeys and the power to overcome every obstacle in their life are trying to make the best of each day to stay resourceful in their industry and motivate other women to do the same for themselves. With their self-confidence and inner strength, these women are excelling in their respective careers and setting an example for all of us every day.