Today, we live in an era where the business opportunities for women and minorities are steadily growing. This is an advancement for women entrepreneurs, especially for women entrepreneurs who are of color.

In my management class, I was able to hear advice from several female minorities who were able to provide insight in the corporate world.

One successful black business woman provided insight after years of experience.  Although, she wasn't a femaleentrepreneur, she was a high level executive within one of the biggest corporations in the world. She had some great advice for women entrepreneurs.
  • She stated that she had to work twice as hard as men, sometimes putting in twice asmany hours as her male peers.
  • She also advised women in the class to be watchful of their reactions and be careful not to come off as emotional
  • And in order to avoid sexism, she advised women to stand strong in what they believe in.
  • For example, when an offensive comment ever came in her way, she had absolutely no toleration for it and was immediatelywas directly vocal against lewd or sexist comments
  • She revealed to have characteristics that were consistent, systematic, and stable

As a female and a minority, I felt that I was able to apply some of her insight into my own future and goals of becoming one of those women entrepreneurs. Even though we live in an era that has become more accepting of leaders who are women and/or minorities, there are still many preconceived notions that may work against female entrepreneurs during the social networking process with men.

It is up to us to ask ourselves how we are portraying our personas as women entrepreneurs and what we can do in order to succeed.