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Actress-turned-entrepreneur Jessica Alba talks about the early, hard days of The Honest Company, her nontoxic household goods startup, today valued at upwards of $1 billion. It turns out being a star of the silver screen doesn't help when you're prepping to pitch Silicon Valley venture capitalists.

As a busy New Yorker and former public affairs guru, Audrey Gelman had changed her clothes in her fair share of Starbucks bathrooms and done pre-event makeup in many a Sephora. She had her big idea two years ago: what if city women had a third place, besides the office and home, not just to primp but to network and plot the rise of the #matriarchy? The Wing evolved from there. In October, Gelman and cofounder Lauren Kassan opened the door to their first women's-only social club and coworking space in Manhattan's Ladies' Mile. Hear how they raised over $2 million from (mostly female) investors, and why women need a place of our own.

Arlan Hamilton has called herself a “triple threat…but not in a Beyonce way”: she’s a woman, she’s black, and she’s gay. She knows a little about being underrepresented in the startup world. The former concert producer founded Backstage Capital, a venture firm aimed at funding women, LGBTQ founders and other minority entrepreneurs. Here’s how she raised capital from a who’s who of Silicon Valley giants.

As recently as seven years ago, Alli Webb was driving around Los Angeles, offering blowouts to clients as a mobile hairdresser. Today her blowout-only salon chain, Drybar, is a national phenomenon with 65 locations (and growing) set to do $100 million in revenues this year. Here's how she did it.

Katherine Power and Hillary Kerr cofounded pioneering fashion and style site WhoWhatWear after a chance encounter on the set of 'Project Runway'. A decade later, the former magazine editor and journalist preside over a media, tech, and commerce empire backed by more than $14 million in investment. Power tells us how the two grew Clique Media Group, why they decided to branch out (apparel, books, and more), and what they've learned about millennial -- and Gen Z! -- women.