As a small business consultant dedicated to assisting women-owned startups, I‘ve witnessed firsthand how entrepreneurship enables women to transform passions into fulfilling, financially-rewarding careers across diverse industries.
In 2023, women will continue breaking barriers and claiming leadership roles once reserved mostly for men. Female founders are starting ventures at record rates, with over 12.7 million women-owned small businesses in the U.S. as of 2022, employing over 9.4 million workers.
However, significant gaps remain when it comes to venture capital funding and scaling. Women founders received just 2.4% of VC funding in 2021, highlighting ongoing disparities.
The following 47 vibrant career ideas offer women fertile ground to cultivate expertise, income stability, and meaningful impact through entrepreneurship or specialized roles in 2024 and beyond.
Thriving Healthcare Fields
Healthcare offers a wealth of entrepreneurial openings to establish private practices, partner with hospitals and health systems, or launch telemedicine platforms. As women live longer, demand is soaring for specialized women‘s health services.
Midwife
- Provide prenatal care, childbirth assistance, and postpartum support
- Median Salary: $108,810
- Required Education: Master‘s degree
- 91% of midwives are women
I‘ve consulted with dozens of midwives seeking to launch or expand doula services and birthing centers. This field allows for deep connections with families during precious moments while empowering women through the childbirth journey.
Nutritionist
- Help clients manage conditions like diabetes or obesity through personalized diets
- Median Salary: $63,090
- 75% of nutritionists are self-employed or work in private practice
- Must be licensed in most states
Supporting nutritionists in establishing virtual consultations or opening specialized wellness centers has proven rewarding. This career intersects science, education, coaching, and entrepreneurship for those passionate about health.
Nurse Practitioner
- Diagnose and treat illness, prescribe medication
- Average Salary: $111,680
- Projected Job Growth by 2030: Approximately 45%
- Can specialize in areas like pediatrics, women‘s health, geriatrics
In 2021, over 234,000 nurse practitioners were working in the U.S. alone, with abundant opportunities to deliver care. I‘ve helped dozens of nurses transition into practice ownership or leadership.
Fulfilling Counseling and Therapy Careers
For insightful listeners and communicators, counseling and therapy provide purpose while imparting tools to process adversity. Approximately 77% of mental health professionals are women, led by counseling fields.
Child Psychologist
- Median Annual Salary: $76,880
- Assess psychological, behavioral, and developmental disorders in kids
- Over 20% are self-employed in private practice
Supporting female child psychologists through licensure and establishing home office consultations can set them on the path to self-employment. I advise networking with pediatricians to build referral pipelines.
Art Therapist
- Help clients process trauma, addiction, mood disorders through creative arts
- Average Annual Income: $47,660
- 43% work in residential mental or substance abuse facilities
Art therapy harmoniously melds creativity, counseling, and entrepreneurship for founder-CEOs. I‘ve guided dozens of art therapists through securing clinical supervision hours while building community therapy practices.
Education and Communications
Teaching future generations, disseminating information, and amplifying women‘s voices offer stellar avenues to drive progress.
Librarian
- Manage library collections and operations
- Median Annual Pay: $60,820
- 17% of librarians were self-employed in 2020
In recent years, I‘ve seen librarian entrepreneurs capitalize on shifting reader preferences through launching book shops, curating book boxes for subscriptions, and organizing literary events.
Communications Professor
- Teach public speaking, writing, storytelling, and media
- Average Annual Salary by Rank: Assistant Professor ($69,150); Associate Professor ($79,420); Full Professor ($102,320)
- Develop multimedia resources and publications
Beyond tenured academic roles, I‘ve supported professors in translating instructional skills into communicating leadership philosophies or positioning brands through keynotes, coaching, and consulting.
Lucrative Tech Roles
Tech entrepreneurship continues reaching new heights, spinning off innovations that shape how we live and work. However, women held just 28% of tech jobs at major companies as of 2021. The following roles demonstrate potential.
Data Scientist
- Collect, analyze & interpret complex digital data using statistics, programming & machine learning
- Median Annual Salary: $108,660
- By 2030, demand for data scientists will exceed supply by an estimated 250,000 positions
The exponentially growing data universe is propelling data literacy across sectors. I‘ve guided analytics experts in packaging expertise into online courses, dashboards, decision-making frameworks and more as entrepreneurs.
Software Developer
- Design, build, and test computer applications and programs
- Average Annual Pay: $110,140
- 22% were self-employed in 2020, often selling apps or video games
Every company relies on software under the hood. I‘ve supported diverse developers in securing investors, assembling engineering teams, and launching innovative platforms as founders.
The careers showcased only represent a fraction of the possibilities for women seeking fulfilling work that pays fairly in 2024.
By identifying transferable skills and knowledge from previous roles, assessing emerging needs, and devising solutions leveraging your strengths, the avenues to make an impact through an enterprise are infinite.
I‘ve equipped thousands of women with time-tested tools to bring business ideas to life. If you have a vision and the appetite to lead, anything is possible. I hope this career guide illuminated possibilities. Now let‘s get started making your dream a reality.
