It’s an exciting time for women in business. Never have women enjoyed so many opportunities to succeed as entrepreneurs—whether they’re looking to make an impact in corporate board rooms or establish a business or professional practice. Our area is teeming with female go-getters—ladies who lead, stand out in their fields, and stand tall on the shoulders of the women who blazed trails before them. 

A century ago, only 15% of women worked outside the home, mostly as domestics. By 1960, a third of women were employed. That decade gave rise to two important laws: the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which began closing the salary gap between the sexes, and a ruling in 1968 that job ads could no longer be segregated by gender. Yet it took until 1988 and the passage of the Women’s Business Ownership Act before women-owned enterprises could get business loans without male co-signers.

Today, more than three-quarters of working-age women are employed, and women are filling career opportunities once virtually closed to them: More than a third of doctors are women, up from 6%—not a misprint—in 1950. Lawyers’ Wives groups have given way to women lawyers associations. And more than a third of STEM workers are women; only 8% were in 1970. Not to be overlooked: Our country has its first woman vice president, and last year, Claudia Goldin became the first solo woman awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics (an award she won for studying obstacles women face in obtaining equal pay).

Some achievements still seem elusive. Women don’t yet own as many companies as men do—39% vs. 61%—but the growth of women-owned businesses continues to increase exponentially. From 2019 to 2023, women-owned businesses’ growth rate outpaced the rate of men’s 94.3% for number of firms, 252.8% for employment, and 82% for revenue.

One key to women’s success is that traditionally they network, support one another, share, and foster expertise. If entrepreneurship is your goal, here are just a few of the many available resources you might want to check out. 

Hear speakers and learn from the area’s best and brightest women business owners on May 2 at the Sacramento Women’s Conference. bbb.org/local/1156/womens-conference

Mingle with female entrepreneurs and women-owned businesses at Choose Folsom’s Women’s Expo & Mega Mixer on September 19 at the Palladio. choosefolsom.com

These organizations—in addition to local chambers of commerce— provide women with free or low-cost counseling/training/mentoring:

SBA Women’s Business Centers, sba.gov/district/sacramento

SBA SCORE, score.org

California Women’s Business Centers Network, californiawbc.org

Sacramento Valley NAWBO (National Association of Women Business Owners), nawbo-sac.org/about-nawbo

WomensNet (for startup grants), ambergrantsforwomen.com