Women entrepreneurs are increasingly dominating the business landscape, with an increase in female-owned businesses that cross numerous industries and countries. The power of networking, mentorship, and access to resources has helped these women break barriers and become industry pioneers in their respective fields. This article will discuss the top 10 women entrepreneurs to watch out for in 2023. These inspiring leaders have made strides toward success despite social expectations or other obstacles; they have risen as examples for inventing new opportunities to improve our world and bring about positive change.
Here are the Top 10 Women Entrepreneurs to Watch in 2023:
Shanna Dickerson, Blue Sky Luxury Travels
Shanna Dickerson is defining ultra-luxury travel. With a laser focus on the most delicate details, Blue Sky Luxury Travels offers its elite clientele personally cultivated dream vacations and corporate retreats at the world’s most exclusive private islands and villas, including Necker Island, Laucala, and Mustique. Their specialty for world-class service includes yacht and jet charters, dining experiences, and event planning.
After spending a decade in Nashville producing concerts for top artists, Shanna found her entrepreneurial spirit in St. John, US Virgin Islands, where she established Blue Sky Luxury Travels with a vision of crafting exquisite bespoke travel experiences. Since 2010, Blue Sky’s hands-on vetting approach has catapulted ultra-luxury travel to new heights.
Using the services of Blue Sky, you will be doing good and blessing our planet’s less fortunate animals as the company donates a percentage of its profits to Caribbean animal shelters through its non-profit Blue Sky Relief Foundation. She also started Blue Sky Logistics to support disaster response, including rebuilding efforts following Hurricane Irma.
Dr. Linda Wiley Bing, Turning Point Leadership Group, LLC
Dr. Linda Wiley Bing is the Founder and CEO of Turning Point Leadership Group LLC, an innovative performance improvement company specializing in DEI, leadership development, and relationship management. Her team works globally with clients of all disciplines and sizes, from individuals to Fortune 100 companies. Through innovative training and coaching, they’ve helped transform millions of lives.
Dr. Bing is a Certified Diversity Executive through IDC, and her training programs won an award from SHRM. Her viewpoints are sought as a keynote speaker and have been aired on several radio and TV talk shows and the CBS Evening News.
This transformational coach is the Author of Tame Your Tongue & Transform Your Relationship and Tame Your Tongue & Transform Your Organization: How to Close the Employee Inclusion Gap. She hosts the podcast, In Her Shoes, and is a motivational speaker on the Les Brown Speaker’s Network. This thought leader is changing things.
Fiona Edat, PioneeringEd
Fiona Edat is a seasoned professional with a propensity for experimentation. Driven by a passion for change, she is motivated to provide the best strategies and resources for underserved students. As the founder, her mission is to empower them to become the leaders of tomorrow.
PioneeringEd is a non-profit focused on helping the underserved student community in parts of third-world countries, such as India. Established in 2016, the non-profit has goals of improving the learning experience and academic success for those who are struggling.
There are two key pillars to the organization-learning strategies to help students retain educational content and a donation drive to provide laptops and other devices for online schooling. Fiona and her team have introduced several simple yet effective methods to enhance the learning experience of those who are challenged academically and financially. At PioneeringEd, they are committed to making a lasting difference.
Rose Bentley, Qumu Corporation
Rose Bentley is President and Chief Executive Officer of Qumu Corporation. She leads a future-forward culture, revolutionizing the video industry for the Enterprise. Rose also brings her thought leadership to the future of work as a Board Member of Fast Company. InsightsSuccess Magazine in 2020 recognized Rose as one of the Top 10 Most Inspiring Women in Business because she is committed to not only strategy but also to bringing out the power in people. She has a distinguished track record of driving top-line results for technology companies by improving the customer experience and enhancing sales execution. Rose most recently won the Aragon Research CEO 2022 Women in Technology Award as well as named Top 50 SaaS CEOs of 2022 by Software Report.
Before joining Qumu, Rose was Chief of Staff for Teradata, a global enterprise analytics company where she was brought in as adviser and proxy for the EVP of Americas Region and CRO Office, $1.8B + revenue business, leading go-to-market strategy and operations. Recognized as a change agent throughout her executive career, companies have turned to Rose to revitalize, scale, and drive rapid business growth. Rose is a great problem solver with a passion for serving people and scaling teams while never losing her focus on the outcomes that matter for the business.
Sharina Perry, Utopia Genetics
Sharina is a serial entrepreneur. Known for her strategic business structure and keen ability to effectively execute, Sharina is viewed broadly as an out of the box thinker and innovator.
Sharina is the Founder/Inventor of Utopia Plastix, a plant based alternative formulated into compounded resins using agricultural crops. Utopia Plastix allows manufacturers to use their current equipment and produce the sustainable products the world is demanding.
Sharina’s current professional corporate roles revolve around her Utopia Model companies. All formed to strategically launch her sustainable eco-system business model to provide sustainable solutions globally.
Sharina holds a considerable number of certifications in business management and development. Sharina owns global trademarks and patents. As an expert and industry leader in biopolymers, Sharina holds a certification in Sustainable Strategies and Circular Economics from the University of Cambridge Judge Business School.
Sharina is a TEDx and Keynote Speaker. She received the Vanguard Award for Environmental Excellence, Oklahoma’s Most Powerful and Innovative Women, Most Influential Young Professionals, Businesswoman of the Year, Supreme Excellence Dignitary Award, and Eco-Hero by Woman’s Day Magazine.
Allison Maslan, Pinnacle Global Network
Allison Maslan’s built ten successful companies and is the Wall Street Journal Best Selling Author of Scale or Fail, endorsed by Daymond John and Barbara Corcoran of Shark Tank.
For the past 14 years, she and her team of business mentors have helped over 150,000 Founders scale their businesses and create a more meaningful life through her company, Pinnacle Global Network, one of the Inc. 5000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies.
Her proprietary process, The SCALEit Method, guides Founders to shift beyond their growth wall to a more scalable model and a team-managed company that can thrive without them. This multiplies their growth and gives them their time back.
Sandra Lee, ES Advertising, Inc.
Sandra Lee is a recognized leader in the marketing industry, and many Fortune 500 companies have benefited from her counsel, providing strategic solutions to expand markets and drive growth. Sandra is the President and CEO of ES Advertising, a Los Angeles-based full-service advertising agency specializing in multicultural markets. ES Advertising has been recognized as one of the Top 50 Marketing Agencies in the nation by Agency Spotter in 2020.
In 2022, Women We Admire named Sandra Lee as one of the Top 50 Women Leaders of Los Angeles. She was recognized as one of the countless women significantly impacting gender equity. In addition to her professional role, she was recently appointed by the Mayor of Los Angeles to serve on the Board of the Los Angeles City Tourism Department. She also serves as a board member of the National Association of Women Business Owners California, Koreatown Youth & Community Center, & Asian American Advertising Federation.
Alexis Snelling, SheTransacts
Alexis Snelling and David Snelling co-founded WeTransact.Live, is an AI-powered innovation platform providing the infrastructure for organizations to scale their programs by connecting the dots across all of their ecosystem resources from idea to ROI in real-time.
They were featured in 2022 at Google I/O Extended as AI for Good and Leveling the playing field for Entrepreneurship. Earning recognition by the Anthem Awards as a nominee for the Innovation in Technology Category. As a Google Women Techmaker Ambassador, Alexis constantly pushes the boundaries of art, technology, and impact to foster better alternatives for underserved people to unlock capital and maximize their global impact.
Tabitha Ponte, Ponte Health
Tabitha Ponte, Founder, and CEO is the Lead Developer, Licensed Architect, and Lead Researcher at Ponte Health. A 20+ year veteran of the construction industry, Ponte has extensive expert participation in her experiences with private entities, semi-public, and public jurisdictional agencies, a path which, alongside her strengths and beliefs, led her to establish the Florida-based health-focused commercial development privately-held company in 2016.
Ponte currently leads Ponte Health on a mission To Help Expand the Healing Community; the company works to promote health and wellness by developing physical infrastructure and assets that function as an integral part of a person’s care team.
Today, Ponte is leading Ponte Health in developing the country’s largest assisted living facility and geriatric life sciences facility, Health Towers Orlando. This development will serve its residents every day with integrated on-property health care that spans the gamut of basic preventative health services to outpatient surgery.
Asli Erem, The Marmara Group
Asli Erem is an experienced professional and academician focused on strategy, future and social impact.
She holds a Bachelor of Science from Hacettepe University, a Master of Science from Johns Hopkins University, and Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from Baskent University.
In her professional career, she has developed many skills like negotiation, crisis management, multiple-task orientation, leadership, corporate governance, and effective communication. She is a very experienced leader, team builder, and positive problem, solver.
Erem started his career as a Financial Analyst at a Fortune 100 company (Prudential) in 1995 in the USA and returned to Turkey in 1998. Erem continued her career in Istanbul as Vice President of Strategic Planning at Koçbank, now Yapı Kredi Bank. After 7 years of work, she was transferred to Gama Power Systems as CFO. She currently holds the position of Group CFO and Executive Committee Member at The Marmara Group. She is also a Visiting Professor of Project Finance and Organizational Behavior. Erem led the process of signing a cooperation agreement with IFC, the World Bank’s organization focused on private sector investments, to realize Group’s goal of “Green transformation and decarbonization of the real estate portfolio”.