As a teenager, Estée Lauder gained valuable business experience working in her father's hardware store and learned important business principles of dedication, determination, and discipline. Inspired by her uncle, a chemist who created beauty products and fragrances, Lauder realized her true calling was in beauty products. Not only did she make the world a more beautiful place, she also left behind a billion-dollar legacy.

Sponsors!

Target/Slate Studios - Subscribe now to Coffee and Crayons podcast.

Leesa - Get $160 off a Leesa mattress at Leesa.com/WOMEN.

Western Governors University - Get your $65 application fee waived at wgu.edu/GreatWomen.

Ritual - Go to Ritual.com/WOMEN to sign up and learn more.

LinkedIn - Go to LinkedIn.com/WOMEN and get $50 off your first job post.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

She’s one of the most powerful women in modern business. Current Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo, Indra Nooyi’s design thinking, calculated risks, and clever strategy brought PepsiCo into the 21st century. We examine how Indra balances motherhood and a high-powered career, and how passion, humility, and hard work helped her bubble to the top.

Sponsors!

Coffee and Crayons - Subscribe now to Coffee and Crayons on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Western Governors University - Get your $65 application fee waived at wgu.edu/greatwomen

HelloFresh - For a total of $60 off, that’s $20 off your first 3 boxes, visit HelloFresh.com/WOMEN60 and enter code WOMEN60

Gusto - Sign up today and you’ll get 3 months free once you run your first payroll, just go to Gusto.com/WOMEN.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In a time when women were desperate for safe and effective treatments for women’s health issues, Lydia Pinkham's Vegetable Compounds became one of the best-known medicines of the 19th century. She began by giving away the compound for free to create a strong referral network, which fueled the rapid growth of her business.

Sponsors!

Leesa - Get $160 off a Leesa mattress at Leesa.com/WOMEN

LinkedIn - Go to LinkedIn.com/WOMEN to get $50 off your first job post.

Care/of - Go to TakeCareOf.com and enter WOMEN for 25% off your first month of personalized Care/of vitamins.

Secret - Not sweating is great, so you should buy Secret Clinical Strength Antiperspirant.

Pretty Litter - Go to Prettylitter.com and use code WOMEN to get 20% off your first order.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lillian Vernon had no formal business training but that didn’t stop her from starting her own business selling mail-order handbags out of her kitchen. An ad placed in Seventeen magazine for personalized purses and belts would lead to a multi-million dollar operation. Vernon would later become the first female-founded company on the American Stock Exchange.

Sponsors!

Halo Top - Halo Top is available nationwide. Find your pint at HaloTop.com. Follow them on social media @halotopcreamery.

Ritual - Go to Ritual.com/WOMEN to sign up and learn more about Ritual vitamins.

The Great Courses Plus - Get a full month of unlimited access to The Great Courses Plus for FREE at TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/Women.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Debbi Fields showed that anyone can make a dream business reality. As a young mother with no business experience, she was able to open her first cookie store in Palo Alto, CA in the late 1970s. She often gave cookies away, telling customers they were the most essential investment she could make. Debbi Fields based her business not on selling cookies, but on customer experience.

Sponsors!

Halo Top - Halo Top is available nationwide. Find your pint at HaloTop.com. Follow them on social media @halotopcreamery.

Leesa - Don't miss these summer savings! Get $160 off a Leesa mattress at Leesa.com/WOMEN.

The Great Courses Plus - Get a full month of unlimited access to The Great Courses Plus for FREE at TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/Women.

Wunder - If you’re interested in combating global climate change, while earning up to 7.5% annually, go to WunderCapital.com/Women.

Gusto - Sign up today get 3 months free once you run your first payroll at Gusto.com/WOMEN.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Brownie Wise didn't just sell Tupperware, she revolutionized sales strategies and created lasting opportunities for working mothers. However, her volatile relationship with Earl Tupper cost her job, her contacts, and for years, her credit for making Tupperware a household name.

Sponsors!

Halo Top - Halo Top is available nationwide. Find your pint at HaloTop.com. Follow them on social media @halotopcreamery.

The Great Courses Plus - Get a full month of unlimited access to The Great Courses Plus for FREE at TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/Women

Lightstream - Listeners get an additional interest rate discount on top of LightStream’s already low rates. Go to LightStream.com/GREATWOMEN.

LinkedIn - Go to LinkedIn.com/WOMEN and get $50 off your first job post.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Susan Wojcicki discovered that great opportunities aren't always easy to recognize. But Wojcicki had a knack for not only recognizing great opportunities but seizing them and executing upon them with immediacy. Her first big opportunity came when she left her job at Intel to become Google's 16th employee.

Sponsors!

Leesa - Hurry, the Leesa July 4th Mattress Sale won’t last long! Get $160 off a Leesa mattress at Leesa.com/WOMEN today

Gusto - Sign up today and get 3 months free once you run your first payroll. Go to Gusto.com/WOMEN.

Lola - For 40% off all subscriptions, visit mylola.com and enter WOMEN40 when you subscribe!

Audible - Go to Audible.com/GREATWOMEN or text GREATWOMEN to 500-500 to get started. Amazon Prime members can get Audible for $4.95/month for the first 3 months. After that, it’s only $14.95/month. Offer ends 7.31.18.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After developing a scalp disorder that caused her to lose much of her hair, CJ Walker identified a market opportunity. So she developed her own homemade hair care products and marketed them to the black community. This would become an important business principle for her – necessity is the mother of invention.

Sponsors!

Pitney Bowes - For a free 60 day trial of a Pitney Bowes C200 go to PB.com/WOMEN

Wunder - If you’re interested in helping businesses go solar while earning up to 7.5% annually, go to WunderCapital.com/WOMEN

Gossip - Listen to episodes one and two of GOSSIP now on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you get your shows.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Originally a plastics company, Mattel changed their focus to toys when co-founder Ruth Handler sensed a growing need for toys after the post-war baby-boom. Years later, she would disrupt the toy market by launching a doll for kids in the form of an adult woman. It would be called: Barbie.

Sponsors!

Pitney Bowes - Go to pb.com/WOMEN and get a free 60 day trial of a Pitney Bowes C200.

ModCloth - To get 15% off your purchase of $100 or more, go to ModCloth.com and enter code

WOMEN at checkout.

LinkedIn - Go to LinkedIn.com/WOMEN and get $50 off your first job post.

LightStream - Get an additional interest rate discount on top of LightStream’s already low rates at LightStream.com/GREATWOMEN

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Martha Stewart started with a modest catering company and parlayed it into a branded empire that focused on quality. This simple business principle set Stewart on her way to becoming the first self-made female billionaire. However, her most impressive feat was earning back her empire that she lost following a slew of felony convictions.

Sponsors!

Leesa - Get $130 off AND get a free pillow when you go to Leesa.com/WOMEN

Gusto - Sign up today and you’ll get 3 months free once you run your first payroll. Go to Gusto.com/WOMEN.

Pretty Litter - Go to prettylitter.com and use code WOMEN to get 20% off your first order.

ModCloth - Go to Modcloth.com and enter code WOMEN at checkout for 15% off your purchase of $100 or more.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices