In honor of International Women’s Day, we share inspiring words from female CEOs on what it takes to blaze trails.
Ursula Burns
“I Do Business With My Heart As Much As I Do With My Head, Both Personally And Professionally.”
While Ursula Burns has served on the boards of ExxonMobil and Uber, she is best known for her time as CEO of Xerox from 2009 to 2016. This role made Burns — who was raised in a low-income housing project on Manhattan’s Lower East Side — the first Black woman to head a Fortune 500 company. In 2009, President Barack Obama appointed her as a leader on his STEM initiative and chair of the President’s Export Council, where she traveled with him on an historic trade mission to Cuba. After retiring from Xerox, she took on another CEO position.
Mary Barra
“Do Every Job You’re In Like You’re Going To Do It For The Rest Of Your Life, And Demonstrate That Ownership Of It.”
Mary Barra rose to the top of General Motors Co. in 2014 after an impressive decades-long career there, making history as the first female CEO of any major automobile manufacturer in the world. The company was dealing with dozens of safety recalls when Barra was first appointed CEO and she had to testify before the Senate. (Many companies have been accused of promoting women only in times of crisis — a phenomenon known as the “glass cliff.”) In response, she implemented various new safety policies. Barra has been praised for her ability to work under pressure, using innovation to solve problems quickly and efficiently.
Sara Blakely
“My Dad Encouraged Us To Fail. Growing Up, He Would Ask Us What We Failed At That Week. If We Didn’t Have Something, He Would Be Disappointed. It Changed My Mindset At An Early Age That Failure Is Not The Outcome, Failure Is Not Trying. Don’t Be Afraid To Fail.”
Sara Blakely — the entrepreneur who created Spanx — became the world’s youngest female self-made billionaire in 2012. She started her company 12 years earlier using $5,000 of her personal savings, while she was still working full-time at her day job selling fax machines door-to-door. Her business took off in 2000 when Oprah Winfrey featured Spanx on her show. A devoted philanthropist, Blakely signed the Giving Pledge in 2013 and most recently committed $5 million to support female-run small businesses during the pandemic.
Indra Nooyi
“Just Because You Are CEO, Don’t Think You Have Landed. You Must Continually Increase Your Learning, The Way You Think, And The Way You Approach The Organization. I’ve Never Forgotten That.”
Indra Nooyi has consistently ranked among the world’s most powerful women, and for good reason. Nooyi began her career in India and later joined PepsiCo in 1994, becoming its first woman CEO in 2006. During her 12-year tenure, Nooyi led a major restructuring and, in an effort to have the company provide a more balanced variety of products, oversaw the acquisition of Tropicana and a merger with Quaker Oats. Under her leadership, PepsiCo’s revenues increased from $35 billion in 2006 to $63.5 billion in 2017. In 2021, Nooyi released her memoir.
Karen Lynch
“Be Authentic. Be Yourself, And Work At Places That Really Welcome Who You Are. You’ll Get Up Every Single Morning Passionately Committed To Making A Difference. Leave Your Fingerprints. Really Think About … What’s The Impact That I Had Because Of This Job?”
Karen Lynch, the president and CEO of CVS, was ranked first on Fortune’s Most Powerful Women List for the past two years. She took the helm during the Covid-19 pandemic after previously serving as the first female president of Aetna. Under Lynch’s leadership, CVS Health administered the Covid-19 vaccine in more than 40,000 long-term care facilities and in CVS Pharmacy locations across the U.S. CVS also supported vulnerable, low-income communities by partnering with Lyft and the YMCA to expand Covid-19 vaccine access in those communities. And last year, Lynch led the initiative to combat the pink tax by reducing prices of menstrual products.
Geisha Williams
“Don’t Be Afraid To Take The Tough Jobs. You’ll Develop Confidence In Dealing With Tough Issues That Will Serve You For The Rest Of Your Career.”
When Geisha Williams was five years old, she and her parents immigrated to the United States from Cuba as political refugees. Though she couldn’t speak English when she first arrived, Williams grew up to be the first person in her family to receive a college education and entered the field of energy and electricity. She joined PG&E in 2007 to oversee the company’s electric operations before she was named president and CEO 10 years later — making her the first Latinx female CEO to head a Fortune 500 company. Under her leadership, the company says it has delivered nearly 80% greenhouse-gas-free electricity to 16 million people in northern and central California, and the best electric reliability in company history.