9 Single Mom Business Success Stories

1. Joy Mangano

If you've seen the movie "Joy" you'll already know who this impressive women is.

Or perhaps you've used either of her most successful inventions:

• The Miracle Mop
  
• Huggable Hangers
  

At the time of writing, she's invented over 100 products and has a networth in excess of $70 million.

This mom of 2 knew the Miracle Mop had a market and she kept going until she finally had the opportunity to promote it on a mass scale on a home shopping channel.

Even though she was navigating completely uncharted waters, she just kept going and let her enthusiasm for the product shine through.

The cool thing about Joy is how much she encourages other inventors.

Offering to help them get started or supporting them in getting promising products to market.

Just like a few of the other ladies you're about to meet, Joy bundles up her knowledge into her autobiography.

If you're looking for a dose of 'can-do', it's well worth checking out.

Next up, we look back at a women who really had so many odds stacked against her.

Yet, she did whatever it took and built an incredible legacy.

2. Cathy Hughes

Cathy is an astounding example of beating the odds with sheer determination.

As the owner of a $400 million broadcasting empire, she's impacting communities at scale.

After falling pregnant at 16, her mom kicked her out of the house.

Instead of falling apart, Cathy said this was the moment everything changed - she started to take her life seriously for the very first time.

With an obsession for radio, Cathy worked her way up in the radio station at Howard University. 

In a meeting with a bunch of male coworkers, one of them decided to belittle her ambition, joking that she should just run the radio station herself.

Well, Cathy decided to prove a point and run her own station.

It took 32 "No's" before finally getting a loan to buy her own station.

And then a further 7 years of struggle to finally start making a profit.

There was a time where she and her son slept at the radio station because she had lost her house and couldn't afford rent.

Well, fast forward a few years...

Cathy and her son, Alfred Liggins, run the industry-leader in urban radio with 53 stations.

When asked about the drive to overcome the difficulties, Cathy always reflects on her determination to take care of her son and make sure he doesn't become another 'statistic'.

Next up, a women who not only rebels against the rules placed on women, she actively working to change them.

3. Beate Chelette

German native Beate Cheletee found herself in a state of desperation as a single mom with $135,000 in debt, lingering on the verge of bankruptcy.

With one business destroyed by an employee.

Plus another dismantled due to 9/11, Beate has certainly had plenty of struggle to overcome.

But get this, just 18 months later she was able to sell her stock photography business to Bill Gates for 7-figures.

Throughout her career, Beate faced the same struggles many women do in the workplace.

With so many double-standards in the way women and men are expected to lead.

Along with a serious lack of mentoring to help climb the ladder.

Seeing a huge need to help rewire how women treat each other in business and arm them with the tools to be confident leaders, Beate founded The Women's Code.

She's also been declared "One of the 50 Must-Follow Women Entrepreneurs" by the Huffington Post.

That's some pretty impressive recognition.

But let's talk about someone who was first championed for her story by the one and only Beyonce.

4. Cashmere Nicole

Cashmere founded cosmetics company Beauty Bakerie back in 2011 even though she was battling breast cancer.

After falling pregnant during high school and living on welfare for a number of years, she put herself through college and nursing school.

The combo of wanting to contribute to cancer awareness and the lingering business ideas led to the formation of Beauty Bakerie.

It certainly wasn't an easy ride and it took a lot of patience to get traction.

After being featured on Beyonce's website for Breast Cancer Awareness month, things really started to take off for Beauty Bakerie.

4 years in and the company hit $475,000 in revenue.

Fast forward it's rapid growth and it's a multi-million dollar business.

If you have to pack lunches for your kids, you probably know about the product behind this next successful business owner already.

5. Melissa Kieling

Melissa is best known for her "PackIt" brand of lunch coolers but it was a hard road to build what is now a multi-million dollar company.

After her divorce in 2008, this mom of 3 had her house foreclosed, her car repossessed, and barely enough money to feed her kids.

Frustration over food spoiling in regular lunch boxes gave her the idea to put the icepacks inside the lining instead of relying on gel packs that would keep disappearing.

After bootstrapping her concept and getting some financial support from friends, PackIt was launched.

Melissa had to figure out how to go from single mom to major business owner and admits she often felt way out of her depth.

But she pushed forward, figured it out and grew her company into from $150,000 to $6 million within the space of two years.

Our next feature had to battle the NFL at one point AND she won!

6. Lauren Thom

New Orleans native, Lauren Thom was a single mom of 3 who took a gamble with her $2000 tax return and ordered 300 t-shirts to start her business.

Thankfully, they were a hit and all sold within a month.

Lauren then opened her Fleurty Girl store on Oak St.

Selling merchandise inspired by the spirit and energy of New Orleans, allow tourists to take a little piece of that back home with them.

One of the designs upset the NFL, who claimed "Who Dat" was trademarked and Lauren couldn't use it.

Well, the city of New Orleans got behind her even more.

Eventually Lauren won the case.

Fast forward a few short years and Lauren has 5 stores and 30 employees.

The best part....

Lauren still loves helping people pick out the perfect item while learning all about their stories and adventures in the city.

Our next entrepreneur demonstrates how doing good in the world can lead to helping a lot of people.

7. Zhena Muzyka

Talk about a change of fortune!

Zhene went from being pregnant with just a measly $6 to her name to building a multi-million dollar empire.

It all began with a $3,000 loan from a family member and selling tea from a cart.

At the time, Zhena desperately needed to raise money for a life-saving operation for her son.

A timely reminder to never underestimate your power when it comes to finding ways to take care of your kids.

Fast forward and Zhena's Gypsy Teas are sold at over 10,000 locations.

She's also proving that you can take fair trade products and do good in the world on a huge scale.

Muzyka released her own book "Life by the Cup: Ingredients for a Purpose-Filled Life of Bottomless Happiness & Limitless Success.  

In addition, she also has developed an academy, workshop, and consultancy geared toward transforming lives for the better.

Another common theme here with our next business owner is a genuine desire to help other women stand on their own two feet financially.

8. Danisha Danielle Hoston Wrighster

You may have seen Danisha Danielle on a talk show.

Or making a guest appearance on the news giving financial advice or real estate insight.

But that's a sharp 180 from where life might have taken her.

Things started off well by graduating from UCLA early with a plan go into sports broadcasting.

However, in her early 20's she fell pregnant and the baby's father passed away from cancer just a few months after her baby was born.

Talk about devastating circumstance.

Add to that, she also lost her job and was left to survive on government assistance.

Instead of giving up, Danisha decided to jump into commercial real estate as a broker and learn the ropes.

It took almost a year before she saw any income from her efforts.

Thankfully, she found a good mentor, quickly climbing the ladder.

This despite the odds being stacked against her being a female and a minority too in the industry.

She now owns her own real estate company and has her own property portfolio.

Danisha has been featured on numerous talk shows and podcasts.

Sharing her advice for managing finances as well as other areas like dating and entrepreneurship.

One of the most inspiring things about Danisha is her authenticity.

She keeps it very real.

She's also quick to reach out and help others as they navigate their own struggles on similar career paths.

Okay, so you're probably looking at some of these women and thinking you could never imagine building a company with so many moving parts.

Well, next up let's look at someone in a business niche that's completely accessible to anyone to get started today.

9. Maggie Chang Avila

Being a single mom hasn't stopped Maggie from making serious coin with her digital marketing and lead generation business.

In fact, when Covid had people worried about losing clients, Maggie went into overdrive and started making even more offers to help business owners who needed to pivot fast and start reaching their customers online.

Her agency, Birdie SEO has hit over 30k a month in revenue and continues to grow.

She has a small team she outsources some of the work to help manage the workload.

Maggie got started with Lead Generation and has used those same strategies to help small business owners grow beyond their wildest dreams.

She's also a source of inspiration to newer students who are learning the ropes too.

Now, there are 2 big reasons I want to highlight Maggie's journey:

See, I've been mentoring people just like Maggie in how to build their own lead generation business (and SEO agency if they want a more client-orientated business).

And it's changing lives.

You could be next!!