“Informative and inspiring, Idea Makers tells the transformational stories of 15 amazing women entrepreneurs. Lowey Sichol skillfully brings each of those stories to life with lessons of creativity, perseverance, and passion.” —Kevin Lane Keller, E. B. Osborn Professor of Marketing, Dartmouth College
“This book is amazing! It is full of empowering stories that are sure to inspire a new generation of creative thinkers and future entrepreneurs. I was delighted to learn the captivating histories behind some of the world’s most well-known brands. Readers are going to love it too!” —Todd Burleson, 2016 Librarian of the Year, School Library Journal
“Idea Makers: 15 Fearless Female Entrepreneurs leads with the notion that in growing the entrepreneurs of the future, representation matters. As many of us in the corporate world seek to build equity and diversity in our teams, we see right away that perhaps the boldest pathway we can create to diversity in our future business leaders, is to engage in these discussions with our kids. Lowey Sichol focuses on stories children and parents can relate to together, and increases the representation of the examples of success and failures that we can all learn from. A great read!” —Suzanne Schaefer, Vice President, Global Head of Experienced Talent Recruiting, Bain & Company
“Lowey’s book is written with kids in mind—curious, creative, and ambitious kids. Her writing style is clear and easy for younger kids to follow but doesn’t skimp on the complex stories of these women and their businesses.” —Rebecca Burstein, Head of Brand Marketing and Creative Services, Bentley University; Founder and Principal, Burst Marketing Strategy
“It’s rare to find books that capture the attention of older and young readers alike, but Lowey Sichol has done it again. My son and I read Idea Makers together and were inspired by the narratives that Lowey so deftly crafted.” —Karen Loggia, Director of Marketing and Communications, Tension Corporation
“Informative and inspiring, Idea Makers tells the transformational stories of 15 amazing women entrepreneurs. Lowey Sichol skillfully brings each of those stories to life with lessons of creativity, perseverance, and passion.” —Kevin Lane Keller, E. B. Osborn Professor of Marketing, Dartmouth College
“This book is amazing! It is full of empowering stories that are sure to inspire a new generation of creative thinkers and future entrepreneurs. I was delighted to learn the captivating histories behind some of the world’s most well-known brands. Readers are going to love it too!” —Todd Burleson, 2016 Librarian of the Year, School Library Journal
“Idea Makers: 15 Fearless Female Entrepreneurs leads with the notion that in growing the entrepreneurs of the future, representation matters. As many of us in the corporate world seek to build equity and diversity in our teams, we see right away that perhaps the boldest pathway we can create to diversity in our future business leaders, is to engage in these discussions with our kids. Lowey Sichol focuses on stories children and parents can relate to together, and increases the representation of the examples of success and failures that we can all learn from. A great read!” —Suzanne Schaefer, Vice President, Global Head of Experienced Talent Recruiting, Bain & Company
05/01/2022
Gr 6–10—An entrepreneur can be defined as an innovator who creates and operates a new business, taking on most of the risks and realizing most of the rewards. This engaging book embraces this definition as it introduces readers to inspirational risk-takers. The stories are compelling and feature disappointments as well as successes; these women, who in the end would make millions of dollars and hire thousands of employees, often struggled with disapproval, insufficient funding, and initial product failure. The book is organized by the specific topics of food, health and beauty, science and technology, education, and clothing and fashion. Chapters in each section are devoted to an entrepreneur and explore her interactions with her family and friends, educational experiences, early encounters in the workforce, the inspiration for her business idea, and how she made it a reality. Each chapter includes highlighted sidebars featuring historically successful women entrepreneurs, business tips, and links to business websites and social media accounts. While these success stories are entirely those of Americans, a wide range of racial and cultural diversity is represented. The table of contents includes the entrepreneur's name and her product, which helps with research and review. The author's afterword challenges young readers to use hard work and passion to create their own perfect good or service for eager consumers. VERDICT The featured entrepreneurs are fascinating role models who are still playing out their life stories. Therefore, the book's content will likely become dated. Presently, however, these motivating stories would be a good addition to a middle or high school's library collection.—Lynne Stover
2021-11-30
It’s not only men who can make millions and have an impact on society.
Sichol, who previously profiled the men behind Disney, Nike, Google, and Lego, now turns her attention to women with big ideas. Here, she introduces 15 female founders of successful companies, organizing her presentation into five different fields: food, health and beauty, science and technology, education, and clothing and fashion. From Kathleen King, the original baker of Tate’s Cookies, to Morgan DeBaun, founder of Blavity, her subjects are as varied as their paths to success. But, in an introduction, the author points out that certain commonalities connect these stories. She offers glimpses of childhood interests and abilities, gives examples of early adult experiences, and stresses turning points. Most of these entrepreneurs are still with their successful organizations; some have turned over major responsibility for day-to-day management, and a few have sold to larger companies and moved on. The organizations are wide-ranging, too: businesses selling products or offering personal services and nonprofits for feeding the hungry and encouraging girls to learn coding. Interspersed with the biographies are short segments, sometimes related biographies, sometimes other relevant information. These add substance but detract from the flow of the chronological narrative. The author concludes by encouraging her readers to act on their own ideas because passion and hard work can pay off.
Inspiring stories of successful 21st-century women. (source notes) (Nonfiction. 12-16)
