In the first of our Snippet series, I share my thoughts on women and entrepreneurship straight from the pages in my book Your Brilliant Un-Career: Women, Entrepreneurship, and Making the Leap. In a world that is becoming increasingly geared toward independent enterprise and technology, it’s entrepreneurship that affords women the greatest autonomy and scope to leave their legacy.

* Much has changed for women in the past few years.
* It was as if being a mother excluded me from fully participating in the corporate world.
* There are a lot of women out there who are struggling to meet their personal goals and needs.
* A US study on successful women entrepreneurs showed that women-owned businesses are less likely to attract funding, less likely to be scaled into larger businesses and less likely to survive beyond two years.
* According to the 2013 Amex Open Forum study on The State of Women-owned Businesses, only 2% of women-owned businesses have broken through the one million dollar profit barrier.
* Very few women are establishing high tech businesses, despite a boom in information and communication technology start-ups in the past few years. While women have experienced success in the corporate world in greater numbers than ever before, few are finding entrepreneurial success.
* In a world that is becoming increasingly geared toward independent enterprise and technology, it’s entrepreneurship that affords women the greatest autonomy and scope to leave their legacy.
* As older business models fade away, the future of the global economy could well rest in the hands of the woman entrepreneur.
* There is a global movement towards entrepreneurship, and women are forging their own paths forward in this new economic era.
* Despite ever-present gender discrimination, women have entered a new era of empowerment, and are redefining work, employment, the small business lifestyle and, indeed, success.
* Unemployment continues to be a major problem in developed nations, and those at the pointy end of economic instability are looking, in greater numbers, towards having more control over their work life.
* Since the start of the GFC, there’s been a growing trend towards low-growth, small scale ventures or micro businesses.
* For those working in these businesses, it means more perceived control and more flexibility.
* Entrepreneurial thinking is starting to gain a foothold, even in large bureaucratic organisations and corporations.
* The more governments foster entrepreneurship, the more likely it will be that innovative thinkers will be encouraged to scale their ideas into businesses and their businesses into leading corporations.
* If corporate culture remains the same as it has been, driven by patriarchal and political models that do not consider their impact on the environment, on cultures and on families, governments and industry will find themselves fighting a losing battle.
* Something has to change in the way people work together, and this change always starts with those who choose to do things differently.
* The shift is subtle, but more people are seeking to shed the trappings of regular employment for a better existence.
* Women in business have a unique opportunity to lead the way towards establishing a different paradigm; one that is more humane, one that encourages thoughtful leadership and one that acknowledges the complexities of modern family life.
* Women are choosing to value themselves and offer their expertise in a way that feels good to them.
* My vision is that every woman staring down the barrel of life in the corporate workforce, a redundancy, career stagnation or a career change, knows she can take her destiny into her own hands.
* I want every woman who longs to turn her passion into a profitable enterprise to be empowered to succeed, on her terms, in her way. In essence,
* I want this book to instigate a movement that changes the stats on women-owned businesses.