Karin Kamp

While taking her children to school one day, Amy Davis's daughter needed a tissue. She leaned over and searched for one on the passenger seat floor. "My car veered to the right and I nearly took out my neighbors fence," she says.

Soon after she had the lightbulb moment that...

Elim Chew says her success as an entrepreneur is due to the example set by the revolutionary hairdresser Vidal Sassoon, who died this week, aged 84.

"He inspired me because I saw that a humble hairstylist can transform the industry and take his business worldwide," Chew told

Before Mother's Day, first lady Michelle Obama thanked her mother, Marian Robinson, for being her "rock" at an event she spoke at honoring military mothers and wives for being "outstanding role models" for their children, communities and country.

Like many working mothers, Mrs. Obama,...

At a time of high levels of youth joblessness -- the latest U.S. figures show that the unemployment rate for workers under 25 is over 16 percent -- some are betting that the best chance for finding a job, is creating one.

Over the past month, we have...

Women's issues have been all over the media lately, and not for all the right reasons. Birth control, abortion rights, the Rush Limbaugh Sandra Fluke 'slut' comment controversy, Hilary Rosen's comments on Ann Romney never working a day in her life -- it's really enough to make your head spin....

Growing up below the poverty line, Melissa Mowbray-D'Arbela, the founder of Filligent Technologies, learned to be resourceful at an early age.

Raised by a single mother of four, Melissa started her own business creating hand-made greeting cards at age 12. "Early on, I learned a lot about self-sufficiency and the importance of being empowered and empowering others," Melissa told The Story Exchange.

She went on to become a lawyer on Wall Street and later an investment banker before starting Maven International, which she describes as an ethical investment fund.

Today, Melissa runs Filligent Technologies, a cutting-edge biotech firm based on ethical principles and disruptive ideas.

"I wanted to run a company that was based on ethical and business elements -- the way that you treat your employees, the way that you do your corporate governance -- the way that you treat your shareholders, how you treat the environment," she said.

One of the company's main products is the bio-mask -- an anti-infection face mask designed along "intelligent-filtration" principles -- that has been used in the aftermath of major disasters, such as the earthquakes in Haiti and Japan, as well as in HIV hospices. Her bio-masks are now available at Walgreens co-branded with Curad.

"The idea is that high technology shouldn't have to be exclusive to high end customers," Melissa told The Story Exchange. Filligent donates many masks for disaster relief, she adds.

Melissa says to succeed as a woman in male-dominated industries -- and she's worked in a lot of them, architecture, law, corporate finance, investment banking, private equity and now science -- you have to be meticulous and strategic.

"I'm sort of like the terminator in that movie that just keeps getting up and going, and going. And yes he does get killed in the end but I'm not focusing on that."

Are you a woman who has started a company? Share you story with us to be featured in upcoming blogs and videos....

While diapers and women's shoes might not be the first thing on Brian Lee's mind, they are top of his list when it comes to starting a business. As a co-founder of LegalZoom, he's moved from the rather dry business of legal documents to working with celebrities like...

March 8th is International Women's Day, a day when we celebrate the achievements of women (at least that's what Wikipedia says we do). When I visited the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office last week, I learned that women are getting more patents than ever...

The number of women in America obtaining patents has soared in recent years, according to new research commissioned by the National Women's Business Council.

It was at its highest level in 2010, when 22,984 patents were granted to women, a 35 percent jump...

"I have to follow my own passion, not what my parents set out for me," our 22-year-old intern Christina Wu said after watching Violet Lim's video on The Story Exchange.

In Violet's story, Christina saw a fellow Asian woman who had gone against the grain, found...

The Story Exchange "reinforces stereotypes" of women, some have said. That's because -- or so we've been told -- many of the women business owners we feature started companies that produce products and deliver services in areas typically associated with women, known in the back streets of...