I wonder if Kirstin Osolind gets enough credit as a great writer as well as a great business consultant. She should, and you should read this entire story, whether you’re a woman or not. I will keep that image of the long unfurled list of cosmetics in my head for a long time.

Link: re:invention blog – for women entrepreneurs.

Later that evening, while biding time in the waiting room at Municipal Tire, I watched quietly as a woman near me placed orders out of an Avon catalog. Her makeup shopping list, written on a long piece of paper that unrolled onto the floor, caught my eye. Upon my quiet and casual inquiry, she softly shared her experiences as a Mary Kay representative, explaining how she occasionally exported Mary Kay and Avon products to women friends in Africa. Amidst a room of performance tires and empty bubble gum machines in South Chicago, I was introduced to Barine Wiwa-Lawani, a woman entrepreneur who lives between two cultures.