Bessie Coleman

Bessie Coleman was born among the cotton fields of Texas in 1892. She was home-schooled by her mother, then moved to Chicago and found work as a manicurist. When Bessie discovered her dream was to fly airplanes, no one in America would teach her. In 1920, she learned to speak French, secured a passport, and sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to study aviation in France. Bessie became the first African-American to earn an international pilot's license and the first Black woman in the world to fly an airplane.

Captain Ellen Jack

Who is Captain Ellen Jack? Just one of Colorado's female entrepreneurs in 1872! She ran her own restaurant, leased commercial real estate to other businessmen, prospected the Black Queen Mine for silver, and was the single mother of four! Ellen Jack was an immigrant from England who was widowed early in life. But she embraced her challenges and became a legendary success story on the western slopes of Colorado.

Loreta Janeta Velazquez

In 1864, Loreta Janeta Velazquez, the first, recorded, Hispanic female spy in US History, left her married domestic life in San Antonio to fight in such battles as Bull Run and Ball's Bluff. She disguised herself as a man and served as a lieutenant in the Confederate army in the Civil War. After the army learned that she was a woman, she was discharged. She then began her life as a spy for the South, working in male and female guises.

Kathryn Beisner

Kathryn Beisner shares her personal journey that begins with growing up hearing-impaired in a strict, military family. She gained her independence first by being a "French fry jockey" in a fast-food business. She went on to experience the agony of flunking out of college on her first enrollment, and the ecstasy of reclaiming her valuable education with a second try. Upon graduation Beisner worked for a national accounting firm and quickly rose to the top, securing a position as Director of Finance for the City of Greenwood Village. Eventually she traded in her calculator for a microphone and began her career as a motivational speaker. Kathryn Beisner's story personifies the challenges and rewards of living your dream in humorous and passionate style!