9 Successful Women-Led Companies That Will Inspire Your Inner Girlboss

girl breaking through pink wall wearing pink lipstick
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Breaking the glass ceiling never looked so good.

Sophie Matthews

The Most Successful Female-Led Companies

We wouldn't be Women.com if we didn't celebrate some of the most successful female-led companies out there.

From entrepreneurs, to writers, these boss women are inspiring us everyday. Because there's a scarce amount of female leadership, the following women are especially important to us, and women everywhere.

We're thankful we have some badass examples and we can't wait to see what these boss women have up their sleeves.

1. Girlboss founder & CEO, Sophia Amoruso

🥊 ding ding, round 2️⃣ #girlbossrally

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Sophia was really good at shopping. She'd find gems hidden in thrift stores in San Francisco, sell them online, and make a profit. Thus began Nasty Gal, an online store that took flight. As typical in business, the company folded. But she showed up. She regrouped and launched Girlboss, which "is a community of strong, curious, and ambitious women redefining success on [their] own terms. [They] hope to inform, entertain, and inspire action through the content and experiences we create. Unapologetically, Amoruso's newest endeavor, supports girls and women to reach their full potential, in a shame-free capacity.

2. Glossier founder & CEO, Emily Weiss

Immensely excited to be on the cover of @entrepreneur's September issue. There are a lot of people I'm grateful to in this moment: @henrydavis1, COO & President of @glossier, our incredible team (around 120 strong across three countries!), our visionary investors, and, of course, the hundreds of thousands of customers who are co-creating this company in real time. I recently found out that our most recent round of funding--$24 million--was the largest Series B raised by a female CEO in 2016. The (largely male) venture capital world, as in many industries, struggles with a systemic gender bias and blatant gap between the amount of backing/support it shows to men vs. women to help grow their businesses. A gap of $56.74 billion dollars going to 5,448 more male-founded companies last year, to be exact. This cover is not only for my mom to frame & for all the people that have helped build Glossier along the way--and trust me, there have been a lot--but for all of the future female venture capitalists building future female-led businesses with future female entrepreneurs. LINK IN BIO

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Emily Weiss wanted women to feel good about their beauty regime. Whether a woman piles on makeup or wants better skin, she sought out to create an attainable beauty brand.

After her blog, Into The Gloss saw success, she started her own company, Glossier. With the notion that make up should be real, Glossier lays out "the foundation for a beauty movement that celebrates real girls, in real life. Glossier is a new way of thinking about (and shopping for) beauty products. Because "beauty" should be fun, easy, imperfect, and personal. Above all, we believe that you give life to products-products don't breathe life into you".

3. Clique co-founders, Hillary Kerr & Katherine Power

Celebrating 10 years with this party animal! Love you, @hillarykerr #www10

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What happens when two friends, with two different backgrounds in media get together? Evidently, rapid success. Power and Kerr teamed up to create Who What Wear, a website all about fashion and beauty content. Fast forward to today, the two lead Clique which oversees various websites dedicated to beauty, design, and women. They even have a line of clothing at Target, which is truly impressive.

4. Man Repeller founder, CEO, and EIC, Leandra Medine

Like many things, Man Repeller started as a creative outlet for CEO and EIC, Leandra Medine. Born and raised in New York City, Medine chronicled her life and ongoings on her blog, which eventually spiraled into a book deal. Man Repeller represents the fashion that women love, and well, men hate. By using this credo she created her own company. With humorous and honest articles based in fashion and empowering others, Medine doesn't repel much.

5. The Huff Post founder, Arianna Huffington

Blogging, and politics, led Arianna Huffington to raise venture capital thus creating The Huff Post.And in 2011, AOL bought it for $315 million dollars. She has since started Thrive Global whose "mission is to end the stress and burnout epidemic by offering companies and individuals sustainable, science-based solutions to enhance well-being, performance, and purpose, and create a healthier relationship with technology".

6. The Honest Company founder, Jessica Alba

"Five years ago when I started this company it was a dream to make safe products that worked. Our new cleaning collection took more than two years to develop and I'm so proud of my incredible team of chemists who are here everyday pushing to raise the standards by creating awesome products that work and that are safe so that we can fulfill our mission to help our customers live a healthy, happy life. We're thrilled the products' efficacy and performance have been recognized and backed by the @GoodHousekeeping Seal." - Founder @JessicaAlba. We are proud to announce that four of our lines in our new and improved cleaning collection have earned the Good Housekeeping Seal, which has served as a symbol of trust and reliability for millions of consumers since 1909. Read the full article at the link in bio.

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Want safe, organic products for your little bundle of joy? What about eco-friendly cleaning supplies that don't do too much harm to the earth? Well, so did Jessica Alba and so she created, The Honest Company. The Honest Company sells products in places like, Costco and Bed, Bath, and Beyond, allowing all shoppers the opportunity to buy affordable and safe products for their families.

7. Spanx founder and owner, Sara Blakely

Blakely is America's youngest self-made billionaire. Yes you read that correctly, B-Billionaire. She invested$5,000 into creating something to wear under white pants that makes you feel composed. With a simple idea, she launched Spanx, thus giving women of all shapes and sizes garments to make them feel comfortable in their own clothing.

8. 23andme co-founder and CEO, Anne Wojcicki

Ever wonder where you're from? Wojcicki studied molecular biology so it should come at no surprise she co-founded a genomics company. By focusing on an affordable genealogy test, she hopes "to generate more personalized information so that commercial and academic researchers could better understand and develop new drugs and diagnostics. Presently, 23andMe has built one of the world's largest databases of individual genetic information".

9. S'Well founder and CEO, Sarah Kauss

Walk. Water. Repeat. Traveler: Teakwood

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We all need to drink water, right? And eliminating unnecessary plastic would be great too. Well Kauss wanted a durable yet chic water bottle to keep up with her lifestyle. And so, S'Well was born. Armed with an MBA from Harvard Business School and a call from Oprah, S'Well took off.

10. CURLS CEO and founder, Mahisha Dellinger

Mahisha Dellinger is the ultimate entrepreneur. After graduating college she worked for Intel Corporation and pivoted her career into creating her own company, CURLS which creates products for women and girls to embrace their natural hair texture. Thanks to Mahisha's dedication and drive, CURLS products are everywhere including our beloved Target stores. As a pioneer, Mahisha created a brand for women and continues to empower women through books, TV shows, and brand summits across the country.

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