Originally Published on March 8, 2023. Updated: March 8, 2023
As business owners, every day brings a challenge. Whether it's a deadline for a client, a meeting about our taxes, or an unexpected expense – there is always something that gives us angst. As women business owners, we've learned to fight that angst and stay positive by looking to the women who inspire us.
So, to kick off Women’s History Month, below are 51 of our favorite quotes from women who encourage us to be the best for ourselves and those around us (be sure to bookmark this page for when you need a little inspiration):
1.“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any”
- Alice Walker
2. “You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.” - Eleanor Roosevelt
3. “... the trouble is, if you don't risk anything, you risk more.”- Erica Jong
4. “We learn the importance of our voices only when they are silenced.” Malala Yousafizai
5. “Expect the unexpected, and whenever possible, be the unexpected.” - Lynda Berry
6. “Be where the world is going”- Beth Comstock
7. “There Is no greater Agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” Maya Angelou
8. “When anyone tells me I can’t do anything… I’m just not listening anymore” - Florence Griffith Joyner
9. “The most effective way to do it, is to do it” - Amelia Earhart
10. “Even when you are marketing to your entire audience or customer base, you are still simply speaking to a single human at any given time.” - Ann Handley
11. “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage” - Anais Nin
12. “Don't limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve.” -Mary Kay Ash-
13. “Well-behaved women seldom make history.” - Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
14. “Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.” - Virginia Woolf
15. “The question isn’t ‘who’s going to let me; it’s ‘who’s going to stop me?’” - Ayn Rand
16. “ ...as one goes through life one learns that if you don't paddle your own canoe, you don't move.” -Katharine Hepburn
17. “The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.”- Coco Chanel
18. “It’s a dialogue, not a monologue, and some people don’t understand that. Social media is more like a telephone than a television.” - Amy Jo Martin
19. “If you do things well, do them better. Be daring, be first, be different, be just.”- Anita Roddick
20. “I learned to always take on things I’d never done before. Growth and comfort do not coexist." -Ginni Rometty
21. “People don’t take opportunities because the timing is bad, the financial side unsecure. Too many people are overanalyzing. Sometimes you just have to go for it.” -Michelle Zatlyn-
22. “Women are leaders everywhere you look—from the CEO who runs a Fortune 500 company to the housewife who raises her children and heads her household. Our country was built by strong women, and we will continue to break down walls and defy stereotypes.” – Nancy Pelosi
23. “Doubt is a killer. You just have to know who you are and what you stand for.” – Jennifer Lopez
24. “You must know that you can do this. You are strong. And you will make it. Just hang on and keep believing in yourself, always.” – Heather A. Stillufsen
25. “Everyone has inside of her a piece of good news. The good news is that you don’t know how great you can be, how much you can love, what you can accomplish, and what your potential is.” – Anne Frank
26. “Don’t look at your feet to see if you are doing it right. Just dance." -Anne Lamott
27. “Women are like teabags. We don’t know our true strength until we are in hot water.” –Eleanor Roosevelt
28. “Let’s hear it for the bossy ones. For those loud, proud women who stand up and speak out. For their confidence and imperfection, their strength and vulnerability. Let’s hear it for us.”— Meghan Craig
29. “You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through.” – Rosalynn Carter
30. “Accept and acknowledge your own brilliance. Stop waiting for others to tell you how great you are!” - Iyanla Vanzant
31. “In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders.” – Sheryl Sandberg
32. “Strong women don’t play the victims, don’t make themselves look pitiful, and don’t point fingers. They stand and they deal.” – Mandy Hale
33. “Give light and people will find the way.” – Ella Baker
34. “A woman is the full circle. Within her is the power to create, nurture and transform.” – Diane Mariechild
35. “I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list." - Susan Sontag
36. “"Stay true to yourself and your vision. Don’t let any one person’s opinion move you; listen, but be confident." -Amanda Kahlow
37. “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” —Helen Keller
38. “Don’t compromise yourself. You are all you’ve got. There is no yesterday, no tomorrow, it’s all the same day.” —Janis Joplin
39. “Some women are lost in the fire. Some women are built from it.” – Michelle K. Some
40. “A really strong woman accepts the war she went through and is ennobled by her scars.” – Carly Simon
41. “Buckle up, and know that it’s going to be a tremendous amount of work, but embrace it.” -Tory Burch
42. “Do not tame the wolf inside you just because you’ve met someone who doesn’t have the courage to handle you.” – Belle Estreller
43. “Stop wearing your wishbone where your backbone ought to be." -Elizabeth Gilbert
44. “You’re not in competition with other women. You’re in competition with everyone.” – Tina Fey
45. “I don’t go by the rule book. I lead from the heart, not the head.” – Princess Diana
46. “If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.” - Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
47. “I can’t think of any better representation of beauty than someone who is unafraid to be yourself.” —Emma Stone
48. “You have to believe in yourself when no one else does.” —Serena Williams
49. “Women must not depend upon the protection of man, but must be taught to protect herself.” – Susan B. Anthony
50. “Practice creates confidence. Confidence empowers you.” —Simone Biles
51. “Never limit yourself because of others’ limited imagination; never limit others because of your own limited imagination." -Mae Jemison
52. "Do not be afraid to make decisions. Do not be afraid to make mistakes -Carly Fiorina
53. "Don’t sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them.” - Madame C.J. Walker
54. “If there’s one thing I’m willing to bet on, it’s myself.” - -Beyoncé
55. "Define success in your own terms, achieve it by your own rules, and build a life you’re proud to live." -Anne Sweeney
56. The road to success is always under construction.-Lily Tomlin
57. “We need to accept that we won’t always make the right decisions, that we’ll screw up royally sometimes – understanding that failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success.”
-Arianna Huffington
58. “I really think a champion is defined not by their wins but by how they can recover when they fall.” - Serena Williams
59. "Do what you love and success will follow. Passion is the fuel behind a successful career."
-Meg Whitman
60. "What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make." -Jane Goodall
61. "I realized that if I was willing to step up and be in the spotlight, I’d be able to make everyone else around me much more powerful as well." -Alaina Percival
62. “Success isn’t about the end result; it’s about what you learn along the way.” -Vera Wang
63. “At the end of the day, you are the only one that is limiting your ability to dream, or to actually execute on your dreams. Don’t let yourself get in the way of that.” -Falon Fatemi
64. “Define success on your own terms, achieve it by your own rules, and build a life you’re proud to live.” -Anne Sweeney
65. Don’t be intimidated by what you don’t know. That can be your greatest strength and ensure that you do things differently from everyone else." -Sara Blakely
66. "Repetition makes reputation and reputation makes customers." -Elizabeth Arden
67. "People respond well to those that are sure of what they want." -Anna Wintour
68. "Trying to do it all and expecting it all can be done exactly right is a recipe for disappointment. Perfection is the enemy." -Sheryl Sandberg
69. "Next time ask: what's the worst that will happen? Then push yourself a little further than you dare." Audre Lorde
70. "Whatever it is that you think you want to do, and whatever it is that you think stands in between you and that, stop making excuses. You can do anything." -Kate Beauchamp
71. "Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else." -Judy Garland
72. "If you don't see a clear path for what you want, sometimes you have to make it yourself." Mindy Kaling
73. "Stay true to yourself and your values. Don't let anyone person's opinion move you. Listen, but be confident." -Amanda Kahlow
74. "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." -Anais Nin
75. "You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you cannot do." -Eleanor Roosevelt
At dameSpeak, we appreciate and deeply respect the women who blazed the trails that now allow us to do extraordinary work. Now, it's our responsibility to help other women succeed.
Happy Women's History Month!