Taking the Leap: from Employee or Executive to Female Founder: from Employee or Executive to

This book contains courageous stories from 14 women who have overcome setbacks and carved a path to self-empowerment and triumph as female founders. This new anthology by 30-time author Marcia Bench and 13 amazing founders will inspire you, whether you are an executive wanting to start your own business or a founder looking to scale.

If you are reading this book, chances are you are either in a corporate role now and wanting to take charge of your future by starting your own business, or you are already a female founder and looking for inspiration from other women like you.

The good news is that for years now, women have been starting businesses at twice the rate of men. But the other news is that they tend not to hire help as quickly, and they earn less than male founders. A full 90 percent of female-owned businesses will never reach six figures.

And let's face it - the environment around us is volatile. There are economic ups and downs and political unrest, coupled with the unexpected detours life hands us in our personal and family life. So with the relative ease of starting a side hustle online today, it makes sense that every female corporate executive should at least have a side hustle, whether they intend to go full-time with it in the future or not.

That is how nearly every one of our authors started out. It turns out that entrepreneurship is the most rigorous personal and spiritual growth path one will ever embark upon. Learning to be vulnerable and sharing our stories, as each of these women here have done, takes courage. Learning to not only perfect the craft required for our offerings, but also to create the infrastructure required in running a business, is an ongoing educational process. And the challenges change at every level of growth.

One of the things that can make being a female founder challenging is not being understood by others. Family, friends, and others we know who work within the traditional 9 to 5 job model are wired differently than entrepreneurs. That results in some female employees and executives staying longer than they should in their corporate job due to fear of losing the perceived security that they have there. But all it takes is one unexpected layoff, or that meeting where you are discounted or taken for granted once again, for you to realize there must be more to life and work than this.

Like anything in life, starting and growing your own business has new challenges around every corner. But the rewards of being able to create your own map for the future, to work when, where, and with whom you want, to enjoy work and life harmony, and to remove the upper limits on your income are well worth it.

As you read this book, you'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll be inspired to step into your next level self. We invite you to reach out to those authors with whom you particularly relate and let them know how much you appreciated their sharing their story. And if you are ready to take that leap yourself, join our online community and reach out for support. It's there waiting for you.