Carly Fiorina’s story is one of inspiration

Carly Fiorina decided to drop out of law school after only one year, but two decades later, she’s been named the most powerful women in American business by Fortune magazine and in 1999 was name the president/CEO of one of the world’s most important technology companies, Hewlett-Packard.

Carly’s interest was in network communications, a field that was growing and developing rapidly. She surprised her coworkers by joining the male-dominated Network Systems division, and at age 35, she became the division’s first female officer, and 5 years later was named the head of North American sales. Combining her appreciation of new technologies with a talent for sales, she won the attention of AT& T. When the company decided to spin off its Western Electric and Bell Labs divisions into a new company, she was asked to initiate that effort. The spin-off, Lucent, became one of the most successful IPOs (Initial Public Offerings) in U.S. History, raising $3 Billion.

Her Inspiration Takes Root

By the late 1990′s, Fiorina was president of Lucent’s Global Provider division. Her success was growing, and she was slowly becoming an inspiration for men as well as women. In the summer of 1999, Hewlett-Packard asked her to replace retiring president and CEO Lewis Platt. She made history by becoming the first woman to lead a Fortune 100 company.

Inspiration That Grows

Although growing competition has forced Hewlett-Packard to shift its focus from hardware products to consumer products and services, Fiorina was able to launch a $200 million successful branding campaign that proved very lucrative.

Fiorina is also a board member of Kellogg Co. and Merck & Co., as well as a member of the U.S. China Board of Trade. She remains one of the most powerful women in corporate America. 

Her accomplishments are ones that not only provide inspiration for us in corporate America but in our small businesses as well. As women, we must never limit ourselves to what we can accomplish. Especially because the fact is, we must work harder at our goals than men have to. It can be done, and the rewards can be sweet!