Kitchen table entrepreneurs : how eleven women escaped poverty and became their own bosses
(Book)
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Location | Call Number | Status |
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Chicago Heights Public Library - Stacks | 338.04 S55 | On Shelf |
Cicero Public Library - Stacks | 338.04 SHI | On Shelf |
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Published Reviews
Choice Review
Shirk (a journalist) and Wadia (program director, Ms. Foundation for Women) have written an inspiring chronicle of how 11 women in the US became successful microentrepreneurs. These women faced obstacles because most were minorities, lacked formal education, and were single mothers. In most cases they needed an infusion of capital from insurance settlements, subsidized loans, or out-and-out grants. The authors describe how these women established their businesses, which range from cake decorating and jewelry designing to daycare and an auto parts store. The book contains a partial listing of the major organizations that provide aid to aspiring female entrepreneurs and some statistics indicating the success of various plans. Anecdotally, these stories indicate that some governmental regulations can hinder more than help aspiring entrepreneurs, e.g., welfare regulations that prohibit women from accumulating capital for a business start-up. In reading these accounts of "kitchen table entrepreneurs," however, readers may be more impressed by the pluck and initiative of these women, rather than by the success of any specific program. Worthwhile reading for aspiring entrepreneurs, social work students, and policy makers. Public and academic library collections, lower-division undergraduate and up. E. P. Hoffman Western Michigan University
Booklist Review
Since 1985, the Ms. Foundation for Women has supported local organizations nationwide that train, counsel, and provide financial assistance to microenterprises, small businesses usually owned and operated by one person that employ five or fewer workers and require less than $25,000 in start-up capital. This book tells the stories of 11 women microentrepreneurs who overcame numerous obstacles to start small businesses that provide financial security for themselves and their families. A woman and her teenage daughter with food-service experience succeed with their own hotdog cart, which provides major support for their family, while an American Indian woman in her 60s parlays her beadwork, quilt making, and cooking skills into a business that ensures her family's comfort. An unemployed 30-year-old with a $15,000 loan succeeds with an Internet business. This book offers excellent insight into the organizational structures that make these successes possible and provides inspiration especially for low-income women who dream of forming their own businesses. --Mary Whaley
Publisher's Weekly Review
In Kitchen Table Entrepreneurs: How Eleven Women Escaped Poverty and Became Their Own Bosses, journalist Martha Shirk and Ms. Foundation program director Anna S. Wadia celebrate women who went from low-income employees to small business owners. Their stories are inspiring: America Ducasse immigrated from the Dominican Republic and eventually launched a home-based day-care business in Massachusetts, while Lucille Barnett Washington started working as a clerk at an auto parts store in Detroit in 1961 and today runs an auto parts and repair business. Each of the women received assistance from nonprofit organizations supported by the Ms. Foundation for Women. Photos. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Library Journal Review
In the United States, the number of women-owned companies is growing at twice the rate of all firms and will reach six million this year. This trend is exemplified by the 11 entrepreneurial or micro-enterprise case studies covered here. These female entrepreneurs worked their way out of poverty, often balancing the obligations of single parenthood and work and taking risks to achieve the dream of success for themselves. Their enterprises encompass many different industries, including retail, restaurant, and small manufacturing, and are located throughout the United States. These women were assisted by various nonprofit organizations, like the Ms. Foundation for Women, that support economic development through micro-enterprises. Documentary black-and-white photographs capture the hard work and spirit of the women and their families, and two appendixes provide additional data on micro-enterprise research and resources available to help new businesses. These studies by journalist Shirk and Wadia, a program director at the Ms. Foundation, should be included in business and women's studies collections in academic and public libraries.-Susan C. Awe, Univ. of New Mexico Lib., Albuquerque (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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Citations
Shirk, M., & Wadia, A. S. (2002). Kitchen table entrepreneurs: how eleven women escaped poverty and became their own bosses . Westview Press.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)Shirk, Martha and Anna S. Wadia. 2002. Kitchen Table Entrepreneurs: How Eleven Women Escaped Poverty and Became Their Own Bosses. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities (Notes and Bibliography) Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)Shirk, Martha and Anna S. Wadia. Kitchen Table Entrepreneurs: How Eleven Women Escaped Poverty and Became Their Own Bosses Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 2002.
Harvard Citation (style guide)Shirk, M. and Wadia, A. S. (2002). Kitchen table entrepreneurs: how eleven women escaped poverty and became their own bosses. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press.
MLA Citation, 9th Edition (style guide)Shirk, Martha., and Anna S Wadia. Kitchen Table Entrepreneurs: How Eleven Women Escaped Poverty and Became Their Own Bosses Westview Press, 2002.