If you’re looking to add some new books to your library after receiving a dozen or so Amazon gift cards over the holidays, why not take some expert advice from some of the world’s leading business women?
Tyler Haney
Tyler Haney is the 28-year-old founder of Outdoor Voices. While attending the Parsons School of Design, Haney noticed that other apparel in the athleisure wear space was mostly focused on aggressive neon colors and unflattering cuts. Haney wanted something more simple, and designed a capsule collection that would eventually become the basis for Outdoor Voices.
Three years after Tyler launched Outdoor Voices, it had accrued over $22.5 million dollars in funding, with celebrity fans that included Gwyneth Paltrow and Allison Williams.
When it comes to picking a book for her team to read, Tyler Haney recommends ‘Different’ by Youngme Moon.
“There are a lot of other companies in the activewear space, but we really try to keep blinders on and stay focused on our own mission. If everyone is keeping tabs on what others are doing and trying to directly compete, everyone just ends up looking the same if they’re all trying to reach the same goal.” she told Fundera.
Whitney Wolfe
Whitney Wolfe was one of the founders of dating app Tinder, before leaving the company in 2014 after facing years of sexual harassment. Wolfe sued Tinder, won, and then launched her own dating platform: Bumble. Bumble has been a runaway success, and is currently the fourth most downloaded dating app.
Wolfe recognized some pain points in Tinder for female customers, such as harassment, stalking, and unwanted advances. In response, she made Bumble a platform where women had to make the first move — eliminating the possibility of getting stalked by someone you didn’t want to meet.
Having gone through a tumultuous journey to the top, Wolfe recommends Shantaram by David Gregory Roberts — one of the few novels to make the list. “What it made me realize was no matter who you are in life, where you come from or where you live, everyone is fighting their own battle and everyone’s battle is equally important as the next.”
Sheryl Sandberg
Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, is renowned around the world for her two books. The first Lean In was declared an immediate game changer for corporate women when it was first published in 2013.
After tragically losing her husband in 2015, Sandberg wrote ‘Plan B’ — a studied meditation on loss and resilience.
Which makes it all the more surprising that Sheryl Sandberg’s favorite business book isn’t really a business book at all. She recommends Tina Fey’s Bossypants. “She offers amazing advice to women in the workplace” Sandberg said. “‘No pigtails, no tube tops. Cry sparingly.’”
Indra Nooyi
Indra Nooyi has one of the most remarkable stories in corporate America. Born in Madras, India, Indra Nooyi always stood out from the crowd. In socially conservative 50’s India, she played guitar in an all female rock band. After graduating from college, she received her MBA, before attending graduate school at Yale in 1978. “It was unheard of for a good, conservative, south Indian Brahmin girl to do this,” she once explained to the Financial Times. “It would make her an absolutely unmarriageable commodity after that.”
To make ends meet, Nooyi worked graveyard shifts as a receptionist and once spent a whole summer wearing a Sari because she could not afford a business suit.
After years of climbing the corporate ladder, Nooyi became the CEO of PepsiCo in 2006. Nooyi’s leadership has always been shaped by her own code of ethics. She personally campaigned for PepsiCo go in a healthier direction, and in 2015 Diet Pepsi removed aspartame as an ingredient. So it’s no surprise that her recommended read is also rooted in being an ethical leader. She recommends The Road To Character by David Brooks. “Building inner character is just as important as building a career. In fact, the two go hand in hand—the moral compass of our lives must also be the moral compass of our livelihoods” she said.
Fundera recently put together this infographic, featuring the favorite books of nine powerful women in business, ranging from Beyoncé to Tyler Haney.
