from the EDITOR’S DESK
Women-owned business on the recovery By Jason Walsh
“S he works hard for the money,” sang Donna Summer in her 1983 hit—a song inspired by the singer’s encounter with an exhausted female bathroom attendant at a posh West Hollywood restaurant. Juxtaposing Summer’s own celebrity life against the more common drudgery of some women’s working-class existence, the song is one of the few dancefloor classics to
and career endeavors. From former employees who went on to buy out their former bosses to women finding success in the typically male-dominated trades industries. Then there’s the Mill Valley resident who turned a marketing gig into a fascinating business creating scents for national retail brands (think candles, soaps, perfumes, etc.). Meanwhile, our cover features Caryl Hart, whose “business” has been a life of service
in the public sector—and her latest gig is as chair of the powerful California Coastal Commission. The North Bay is filled with inspiring women doing inspiring work—and it’s NBb’s pleasure to highlight just a few of the region’s many success stories. As Pamela Prince-Eason, president and CEO of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, told Forbes recently, women have achieved “immense progress” as owners and leaders over the past decades. But they—and especially with minority-owned women businesses—lack access to the same capital and equity
take on the bleak economic choices faced by many women back then—sing, shake it and hope for a break, or scrub greasy tile floors and stained porcelain fixtures. Things have changed in 40 years. Today, women are no longer relegated to what were once considered gender- specific careers—the old teacher or nurse question—nor are they expected to stay home and remain dutiful housewives (Mrs. Butker, excepted). According to data from Wells Fargo, women-owned businesses last year represented 39.1% of all U.S. businesses—about 14 million. What’s more,
It seems systemic change doesn’t always keep up with female entrepreneurial spirit.
wf.com reports, women-owned businesses between 2019 and 2023 increased at nearly double the rate of those owned by men; and from 2022 to 2023, the rate of growth increased to 4.5 times. That’s pretty incredible. Even more so when one considers women still face workplace challenges their male counterparts rarely, or sometimes never, have to deal with: working through pregnancy, finding and paying for adequate childcare, unbalanced responsibilities in the home, gender discrimination—the list goes on. It’s not all good news, however. That impressive growth of women-owned businesses is partly a recalibration following the pandemic—when women business owners suffered the brunt of the economic hardship, “leaving the workforce and closing businesses at record rates,” as Forbes describes. What appears to be economic growth for women, also looks a lot like economic recovery. Both are encouraging, but there’s a difference. In this issue dedicated to women business leaders, we cast a spotlight on several North Bay women’s entrepreneurial
opportunities as their white male counterparts. It seems systemic change doesn’t always keep up with female entrepreneurial spirit. But she works hard for the money, nonetheless.
Email Jason at jwalsh@northbaybiz.com.
Jason Walsh is editor in chief of NorthBay biz magazine and northbaybiz.com . A North Bay native, he’s spent his career covering the news, lifestyles and people of Sonoma, Marin and Napa counties. When not up to his elbows in page proofs, you can find him and his family exploring all corners of the North Bay from their home base in Novato.
June 2024
NorthBaybiz 11
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