3 Female Celebrity Entrepreneurs

In the early years of the 20th century, the idea of women owning, running and maintaining businesses was almost laughable. Thankfully, as the decades passed women gained the freedom and respect needed to become successful entrepreneurs and today women own 36% of businesses in the USA.

To celebrate how far women have come over the past one hundred years, we thought we'd take a look at three female celebrity entrepreneurs who have defied expectations and created their own empires.

Paris Hilton

Often regarded as the original socialite, Paris Hilton has spent her entire life building and maintaining businesses. At 35 years old, the heiress to the Hilton Hotel Empire has gained popularity around the world as a television personality, a model, an actress, a singer, a DJ, an author and an incredibly successful businesswoman after having launched numerous fashion and perfume lines.

Her journey began in 2000 when she was signed to Donald Trump's modeling agency, but it wasn't until 2003 when The Simple Life aired on Fox that Paris Hilton became a household name. Following her debut on the television show, Paris instantly rose to fame and began launching purse collections, jewelry lines and an autobiography that quickly climbed The New York Times Best Seller list.

Over the next decade, Paris went on to launch DreamCatchers hair extensions, Paris Hilton Footwear, a clothing line at Kitson Boutique in LA, Little Lily canine apparel, Gripping Eyewear, a hair product line, a motorcycle team, numerous clothing stores around the world and a variety of perfumes. On top of running all of these businesses, she currently travels the world as a DJ and is an ambassador for the online casino BGO, home of the popular BGO slots games selection including Rainbow Riches and Cleopatra. Needless to say, she is by far one of the most successful celebrity businesswomen in the world.

Kim Kardashian West

Paris Hilton is also somewhat responsible for launching Kim Kardashian's career, having employed her as a stylist in the early 2000s. But, of course, these days it is unusual to go a single day without hearing about Kim or the Kardashian family as their rise to success continues unparalleled.

Most people were introduced to Kim when Keeping Up With The Kardashians aired on E! and Kim set up her own television production company entitled Kimsaprincess Productions LLC. In October 2009, Kim launched her first fragrance, an online show shop called ShoeDazzle and by mid-2010 had created a successful clothing line for Bebe stores with her sisters Kourtney and Khloe.

As the years went on, Kim and her family opened more clothing stores around the world. Still, it wasn't until June 2014 that Kim's most successful business venture besides the unbelievably popular television show that presents every second of her life – was made public. This business sensation took the form of a smartphone game entitled Kim Kardashian: Hollywood. In the first five days after the app's release, Kim made $1.6 million, so it was no surprise that her emoji pack entitled Kimoji was equally popular when launched in December 2015. Kim will undoubtedly go down in history as one of the most successful women to turn fame into a lucrative business.

Beyoncé Knowles

Of course, we couldn't possibly discuss female celebrity entrepreneurs without mentioning Beyoncé Knowles. Beyoncé rose to fame through the girl group Destiny's Child, numerous acting roles and an incredibly successful solo career, though she has also managed to create and maintain numerous business deals alongside her music career.

Beyoncé entered the business world at a young age and has preserved endorsement deals with Pepsi, American Express and Nintendo DS for decades. In addition, she released fragrances with Tommy Hilfiger in the early 2000s, though her first official perfume, Heat, wasn't released until 2010. To this day, the six editions of Heat make up the best-selling celebrity fragrance line in the world, having earned over $400 million.

Back in October 2014, Beyoncé entered a partnership with Topshop to create Parkwood Topshop Athletic Ltd, which later went on to release the activewear line, Ivy Park. This was not Beyonce's first journey into the world of fashion however, as she and her mother founded the company Beyond Productions and launched the House of Deréon line in 2005. The collection made up most of Destiny Child's Destiny Fulfilled tour wardrobe and is still available at specific stores throughout the USA and Canada. The line also featured in Beyonce's 2008 mobile game Fashion Diva, which premiered before the release of a brand new junior apparel label named Sasha Fierce for Deréon.

Having been born to humble parents in Houston, Texas, nobody could have possibly predicted Beyonce's rise to success. Despite preconceived ideas about their gender, origins and abilities, Beyonce, Kim and Paris have all defied expectations and continue to run their own successful businesses. We are in awe of these three women for founding companies, following their dreams and representing others, whether it be Pepsi or BGO, but we also look forward to celebrating future female entrepreneurs and who knows – you could be one of them.