Five Essential Traits for Entrepreneurs

Ash's story began as a single mother, working in sales for a home products company. Despite being one of the top sales directors for 25 years, Ash was repeatedly refused the promotions and pay raises her male co-workers were receiving. Fed up with the way she was being treated, Ash started Mary Kay Inc. in 1963 with $5,000.

Ash was best known for being a powerful motivator and inspirational leader, creating a company with a "You can do it!" attitude. Her sometimes over-the-top incentives included the famous pink Cadillacs she would give top sales directors. Thanks to her powerful leadership skills, Ash has been named one of the 25 most influential business leaders in the last 35 years, and her company has been recognized as one of the best companies to work for in America.

Ambition

At age 20, Debbi Fields didn't have much. She was a young housewife with no business experience, but what she did have was a great chocolate chip cookie recipe and a dream to share it with the world.

Fields opened her first Mrs. Field's store in 1977, despite being told she was crazy to believe a business could survive solely on selling cookies. Fields' headstrong determination and ambition helped her grow her little cookie store into a $450 million company with more than 600 locations in the U.S. and 10 foreign nations.