Young Girls today are looking up to their favorite movie stars or reality T.V. personalities. They see these women every day across social media and television, and girls and young women have been shown that this is the example of success. Our young women aren't shown, with as much prevalence, that there are women in the world of business who have much more reach and far more influence in the world than any movie star could ever have.
Every year Forbes magazine publishes a list of the top 100 most powerful women across multiple categories, these are the type of women that our young girls should really be looking up to and aspiring to be.
From the automotive industry to military defense technology, these five women have influenced the happenings of the world from behind a desk.
Five top successful women in business
- Mary Barra is the CEO and Chairman of General Motors. 2017 is the second year in a row Barra is at number one on the Forbes list. She managed to navigate the company through difficult times to bounce back with $152.4 billion dollars in revenue in 2015. That same year the company also recorded record profits. She keeps General Motors on an upswing.
- Indra Nooyi Is the Chairman And Ceo of PepsiCo. She has held a long tenure in the position as she has been in the position for 10 years. Over the last year, Pepsi has recorded an 18 percent increase in revenue and were able to cut $3 billion dollars in cost over the last three years. Pepsi is also looking to diversify their holdings in a society that has an increasingly negative view of soda.
- Marilyn Hewson is the Chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin, specializing in military defense technology. She oversaw the largest acquisition in a decade at the company when they acquired Sikorsky Aircraft. This acquisition led them to being one of the top producers of military helicopters and drone technology. Her hard work has helped to add $10 billion to the companies market value over the last 10 years.
- Ginni Rometty is the President, CEO, and Chairman of IBM. She has weathered through a difficult time for the company, IBM has recorded 17 straight quarters of falling revenue. In a long term process to turn that around, Rometty has made 25 acquisitions over the last 18 months. On the good side, 35 percent of their revenue comes from new growing companies, so she is making moves in the right direction.
- Abigail Johnson is the President and CEO of Fidelity Investments. She is over-seeing the second largest fund management firm in the country ($2.1 trillion in assets under their management). The company is taking steps to diversify their customer base through digital means in order to keep up with the times.
True influence and serious work, these women get it done.
Young women are always looking for positive female influences and role models. The problem is that they are looking in all the wrong places. Instead of searching for an idol on T.V., check the boardroom.
