When Zinah Saleh and her female friends couldn’t land jobs in a post-war Baghdad, she started a business, Ishtar Handmade Soap. Now, she employs only women.
Riva Richmond
Riva Richmond, the former Editorial Director for The Story Exchange, is a longtime journalist focused on technology, global business and small business. She also served as a senior editor at The Economist Intelligence Unit and has written for The New York Times, Entrepreneur.com, The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones Newswires and other national publications. Riva is passionate about travel and has traversed the Middle East, Europe, India and Central America. Formerly a dancer and then a martial artist, she now practices hatha yoga and surfs her local Rockaway break.
Posts by Riva Richmond
5 Crowdfunders to Watch – Inspired by History
The women featured in our latest crowdfunding column are pursuing wildly different passion projects that all peer into the past.
A Surprising Path Out of Domestic Abuse: Entrepreneurship
For some women who have suffered physical, emotional and financial abuse by their partners, entrepreneurship offers an effective path to economic independence, safety and healing.
An Indian Startup Takes ‘Ugly’ Farm Food To Market
Since 2013, DesiVDesi has sold low-cost solar dryers to farmers in India and beyond, reducing food waste and raising farmer incomes. Now, it aims to take those dried fruits and veggies to the masses, co-founder Nidhi Pant tells us.
Spotlighting Immigrant Women Entrepreneurs
The path for immigrants is getting more treacherous. Fortunately, immigrant women entrepreneurs display deep wells of resiliency, not to mention goodwill, our ongoing coverage shows.
Entrepreneurship Provides New Hope for Former Prisoners
Programs to teach and facilitate business ownership are springing up around the U.S. in a bid to expand economic opportunity for women leaving prison.
Family and Eggnog Makes a Happy Christmas
Heidi Fausel’s eggnog company, Christmas Milk, won’t let a little fall misfortune ruin a season of happiness, or its annual gift to help foster kids find “forever homes.”
Young Entrepreneurs in the Age of Obamacare
We asked young entrepreneurs at a Brooklyn coworking space what access to insurance through the Affordable Care Act has meant for them — and what they’ll do if a Republican-promised repeal means it’s taken away.
Circling Back: Kimberly Crupi Dobbins Is Going Big
The founder of Chicago-based Simple Squares is looking to take her healthy snack bars beyond the specialty-food market and out to the masses.
Circling Back: ‘Pivot’ is Felena Hanson’s Favorite Word
The San Diego entrepreneur says her company, Hera Hub, will touch 20,000 women entrepreneurs — just not the way she originally planned.
Circling Back: Chef Ana Sortun is Becoming Much More Than a Restaurateur
The owner of three popular Boston-area eateries has set her sights on two complementary business opportunities that feed her entrepreneurial appetites and share her love for great food.
Circling Back: When the Going Gets Tough, Jan Erickson Gets Creative
Amid painful disruption of the apparel industry, Jan Erickson is retooling her Colorado Springs, Colo., clothing company for the digital age.
New Pop-Up Concept Aims to Boost Entrepreneurship in U.S. Cities
Entrepreneur Jen Groover has launched JumpStart StartUp, a traveling pop-up shop for business services, to lift up 10,000 entrepreneurs in 10 economies in 12 months.
Arita Nicholas’ Printing Business Almost Went Under — Until Setback Became Opportunity
How the search for a strategic partner gave the Houston-based owner of Nicholas Earth Printing a new lease on entrepreneurial life.
Scaling Up: When Equity Matters
Meet three women entrepreneurs who took on the male-dominated world of equity investing and got cash infusions to expand their companies under terms just right for them.