Women entrepreneurs are synonymous with determination and feminine power! Luiza Helena Trajano, for example, is responsible for the success of Magazine Luiza.
Thanks to feminist movements, it is now increasingly common to find women entrepreneurs who own large businesses. However, entering the world of female entrepreneurship is not an easy task, in fact, 45% of Brazilian households are headed by women and the difficulty of dealing with double shifts is very great.
Furthermore, it is important to highlight that many female entrepreneurs face the fear of not being taken seriously in the business world since, unfortunately, there is still a lot of inequality in the market. After all, men’s work still has greater value.
However, despite the difficulties, women entrepreneurs fortunately exist and continue to inspire many women to conquer their space in the financial market and achieve their long-awaited financial independence. Discover the history of some of them!
Women entrepreneurs to be inspired by
Luiza Helena Trajano | Magazine Luiza
To start off on the right foot, let’s tell you a little about the Brazilian Luiza Helena Trajano, who is one of the most inspiring, in fact, she is one of the most powerful women in Brazil.
Luiza is at the head of one of the biggest retail brands in the country, Magazine Luiza, serving as President of the Board of Directors of Magalu and Endeavor Ambassador.
Magazine Luiza, in addition to e-commerce, has 113 physical stores, distributed across 819 cities, in 21 states, and has been ranked among the “Best companies to work for” for 22 consecutive years.
Luiza Helena Trajano is one of the women entrepreneurs who has received the most recognition as a businesswoman and leader – ranking 1st, for two consecutive years, as a business leader with the best reputation in Brazil, according to Merco, and also as the only Brazilian executive in the global list of the WRC – World Retail Congress.
Cristina Junqueira | Nubank
Co-founder of Nubank, Cristina Junqueira is one of the entrepreneurial women who most revolutionized financial services in Brazil, offering a bankless credit card.
Cristina is a production engineer and has a master’s degree in engineering from USP. Furthermore, she also holds an MBA from Northwestern University, one of the best business schools in the United States.
Before Nu, she was an internal analyst at Itaú Unibanco, a consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton and then at the Boston Consulting Group.
Nubank, which already has 10 million customers, is considered one of the most revolutionary fintechs in the country.
Chieko Aoki | Blue Tree Hotels
Chieko Aoki is an example that it is possible to start from the bottom, in fact, the entrepreneur has worked in the hotel sector since the 80s, but, initially, she was just the marketing director of a luxury hotel chain. Today, Chieko is the founder and president of the Blue Tree Hotels chain, one of the largest hotel chains in the country and a benchmark.
Currently, the Blue Tree Hotels chain has more than 20 units throughout the country and is a reference in service excellence.
Women entrepreneurs: Zica Assis | Natural beauty
Who would have thought that a former maid, a former taxi driver and two former McDonald’s attendants would own the first and largest institute specializing in frizzy and curly hair in Brazil. Well, this is the story of Zica Assis, one of the biggest entrepreneurs in the country.
It all started 21 years ago, when Zica started mixing products and raw materials in search of the ideal formula for her curly hair. When she finally found the formula, Zica, in partnership with her friends, opened the company Beleza Natural which, in fact, is now a success among all curly women in Brazil.
Monica Hauck | Solids Technology
Graduated and postgraduated from the Federal University of Minas Gerais and Fundação Getúlio Vargas, Mônica Hauck is an entrepreneur, founder and CEO of Sólides Tecnologia. Additionally, she is the winner of the Notable Women Award, technology category.
Sólides is a startup that develops People Behavior Management Software and is here to innovate the business world!
Sonia Hess | Dudalina
The history of the Dudalina brand was born in 1957, when Seu Duda, by some mistake, ended up buying more fabrics than he should have for his wife, Dona Lina, to manufacture the clothes they sold. However, instead of despairing about the loss, Dona Lina had a brilliant idea of unstitching a shirt that had a lot of sales, learning how to make it and hiring other seamstresses to start selling them.
But, after all, who is Sônia Hess? Well, Sônia is the only daughter of the couple who, in fact, has 11 other sons. With an entrepreneurial spirit and desire to grow in the market, Sônia Hess took over the presidency of her parents’ shirt shop and transformed it into the largest shirt exporter in the country.
Women entrepreneurs: Cecília Prado | Cecilia
Born in the interior of Minas Gerais, Cecília Prado grew up among artisans, where her family worked knitting. So, she pursued a career as a fashion designer and decided to expand the business’s production. To achieve this, she combined craftsmanship with technology and founded, in 2006, the brand that bears her name: Cecília.
Today Cecília is successful throughout Brazil and exports her products to more than 20 countries on 5 continents.
Marina Silva | Black Money
CEO of the Black Money Movement, Marina Silva is an entrepreneur who arrived to innovate the market with a proposal for autonomy for the black community in the digital era.
The Black Money movement focuses on communication, education and generating business for black people.
Alcyone Albanesi | FLC
Alcione Albanesi started life in the job market early, at the age of 14, with a job as a model. However, Alcione’s dream was always to be a great entrepreneur and make her own clothes, so at the age of 17, she set up her own clothing factory and already had 80 employees.
So, over time, Alcione saw an opportunity to export fluorescent lamps from the USA and China, where they were sold at a much lower price than in Brazil, and implemented sales in the country. This idea has been very successful since then and has made FLC a leader in the market.
Paula Abreu | Choose your life
Paula Abreu had the life that many dream of having, in fact, she was a renowned lawyer, had an office, a nice house and a great car. However, she was always fascinated by the world of entrepreneurship, so she decided she would help people follow their dreams.
Currently, Paula is one of the most followed coaches in Brazil.
Women entrepreneurs: Janete Vaz and Sandra Costa | Sabin Laboratory
Biochemists Janete Vaz and Sandra Costa always wanted to go beyond their professions, rather than end up working in pharmacies, hospitals or laboratories. In fact, since they were children, they both had entrepreneurial inspirations at home. Janete was influenced by her father who did business in the porch and Sandra, in turn, by her mother, who was a seamstress and sold her clothes.
The values inherited by the family, therefore, made them one of the most famous women entrepreneurs in the country. This is because the two, with the support of specialized professionals, founded the Sabin Laboratory and made the company one of the most recognized in Brazil.
Ana Fontes | Entrepreneurial Woman Network
One of the greatest examples of female entrepreneurs who seek to inspire other people is Ana Fontes. The businesswoman is the creator of a successful online network called “Rede Mulher Empreendedora” where you can find tips, forums and news related to female entrepreneurship.
Arianna Huffington | The Huffington Post
Greek-American, Arianna Huffington is the founder of The Huffington Post, a news website about herself. Different, right? Although many did not believe in the proposal, the site became a reference worldwide and was sold for more than 300 million dollars.
Currently, Arianna, in addition to being a millionaire, is an advisor to Uber.
Tânia Gomes | 33e34 Shoes
Tânia Gomes combined her entrepreneurial spirit with a problem that she faced in her daily life, to create her successful business. But, after all, how did all this happen? Well, according to the businesswoman’s reports, she was tired of looking for shoes for her feet, which are 33 and 34. Therefore, seeing the difficulty of finding options in this size, she noticed an opportunity to invest in something innovative and opened her factory of shoes targeted for small feet.
Currently, 33e34 Shoes has more than 120 distributors of its shoes throughout Brazil, including in the Federal District.
So, what did you think of this article? Take the opportunity to also check out: Brazilian women – 20 important names in the country’s history.
Sources: Endeavor, Idea in the air, Solides.
Image sources: List Marau, Fashion Network, El País, Reserva, GPS Lifetime, Choose your Life, Globo, Profissionais SA, Viviane Feitosa, Es Brasil, Globo 2, Exame, Uol, Exame 2, Infomoney.
