Female entrepreneur tell business-world tales

While it may be a common belief that men have an easier time succeeding in the business world, four women -- all Penn alumnae who went on to become successful entrepreneurs -- disputed that notion last Wednesday evening. The panel of women shared their thoughts about the "personality traits of a successful entrepreneur" with a group of about 50 students in McClelland Hall in a talk entitled "Women as Entrepreneurs," presented by the Trustees' Council of Penn Women. Moderator Suzanne Greenberg, a 1968 Penn College for Women graduate, made the point that "there are themes which are shared" in these success stories. Among them, she mentioned, "You have to be a risk taker" and "you have to be able to come back from mistakes and failures." Greenberg then introduced Karen Kaufman, a 1994 Wharton MBA recipient, who added simply that "the first lesson is to learn to be flexible." Being president of The Kaufman Partnership, which is known for its Comprehensive Image Development, she stressed that "if you don't define yourself, someone else will." Kaufman also told the students to "work, live and make sure you are happy" and never "burn bridges, because people tend to come in and out of your lives every few years." Audience members and the panelists themselves were visibly impressed by the advice of Renee Love, chairperson and chief executive officer of Omega Group Inc. "The ones that succeed do so because they have a vision that inspires you and those you work with," said Love, who also left Wharton with an MBA in 1994. "A vision is something that transcends reality." Ellen Thompson, who graduated from Wharton in 1990 and is now the chief executive officer of Know It All Inc., complemented what Love said by saying, "experiences you have now will help you in your entrepreneurial life in the future." Beth Kopin, the last speaker, who heads Kopin Inc., captured the audience's attention by reciting several statistics. According to her, "50 percent of people are unhappy with their jobs and the average person changes careers six to seven times per lifetime." She emphasized that people should make sure they are happy in their chosen profession. Although the discussion never focused on gender differences in the entrepreneurial field, Kaufman did claim that it was easier for women to become entrepreneurs than for men. "There are less stereotypes out there for women, and I would assert that females make good entrepreneurs because they are used to juggling a bunch of different things at once," she said. College senior Amy Urban said she was inspired by Kopin's speech. "I'm so clueless as to what I want to do that it's nice to know that Beth has taken many different steps in her career and has managed to come away happy," she said.