BETHLEHEM, Pa. — They represent a workforce that makes up 40% of businesses in the United States and generates over $2 trillion in revenue.
Numbers aside, four women who own businesses with ties to the Lehigh Valley shared nearly identical answers when asked about entrepreneurship as a woman.
It's "intimidating" and "empowering," they said.
For each of them, Lehigh University was their starting point, whether they knew it or not.
Ali Kaminetsky graduated from the Bethlehem university in 2016 with a bachelor's degree in supply chain management and marketing. After working as a buying intern, she was hired by Macy's as a buying trainee.
Kaminetsky didn't realize her daily lunch break at her corporate dream job would lead her into business ownership, but years later she's made a "Shark Tank" appearance and been featured in well known publications like Vogue, Forbes, Business Insider, GQ and People magazine.
And it all started with a business-esque foundation from Lehigh University and an ugly lunch bag.
"I had no idea or intention of starting something for myself," Kaminetsky recalled. "But I think like looking back on it and looking at kind of like my personality, and I guess, I was always kind of working towards something. It was just a different something."
Enter: Modern Picnic, a female-founded and "female-guided" brand, built on "chic, functional, sustainable solutions for packing, caring and storing your food."
"I really resonated with the phrase 'with risk comes reward, with hustle comes opportunity,' which I really like that," Kaminetsky said.
And hustle she did.
Kaminetsky appeared on "The Pitch Show" in April 2023 as well, sharing that Modern Picnic "tripled" its sales from $600,000 in 2020 to $1.8 million in 2021. Three months ago, Modern Picnic announced on LinkedIn that in 2024, the brand expanded into retail partnerships with Bloomingdales, Nordstrom, Anthropologie, Maisonette and Target.
"I'm really excited about what's to come for the business, especially when it comes to our wholesale and retail partnerships," Kaminetsky said. "... So as I continue to evolve as a leader and a business owner, I've just learned so much every year and keep trying to just be better and do better."
'A new way to wine'
She's not the only woman business owner to come from Lehigh that's reaching for the stars.
Sisters Sarah and Emily Mack founded Vinat in 2022 and they're looking to create "a new way to wine," as described by Vinat's website.
The idea for their business dates back to Sarah Mack's time in Barcelona pursuing her MBA — she minored in entrepreneurship at Lehigh University and graduated in 2014.
Emily Mack would visit and work remotely from Spain or outside of Spain, and Sarah Mack said she eventually pursued a wine certification after getting more interested in visiting vineyards.
"And wine culture in Spain is so much more approachable than here in the U.S.," Sarah Mack said. "And Emily and I are like, 'This is crazy that, you know, it's such a snobby, unapproachable thing in the U.S., where in Europe, it's like an agriculture product.' And so we're trying to bring a bit of that non snob wine culture to the U.S."
The company's name stems from their time in Spain as well — "Vino" is Spanish for wine and "Viatge" is a Catalan word meaning trip or journey, the Vinat website explains, adding "Catalonia is home to our beloved city of Barcelona." Vinat is a combination of the two words that means "wine journey."
Emily Mack said her background is in product design, so the two "started from the ground up." The two officially launched the wines in February 2024, Sarah Mack said, after months of education on doing business in the wine industry and laws governing it.
"It's a crazy industry because it's really, really male-dominated," Sarah Mack said. "... Almost all the wine makers, and most countries, and especially in the U.S., are men... So that was also interesting, because it's about as boys club as you can get for an industry. And so Emily worked in tech and I worked in corporate finance, and those are pretty male-dominated industries, but wine was just like, a totally different level."
But that's what's made the business fun, Emily Mack said — and the personal connection with customers looking to embark on their wine journey.
"Everyone underestimates us," Sarah Mack said, holding back laughter. "We've had our wine at different events, and people think that we're brand reps, and then they're shocked to find out that we launched our own wine business — especially people in the industry that know how difficult the regulation is and all of that they're they're just like, completely astonished that Emily and I managed to do this brand, which is it's kind of interesting to see.
"But I would say most of the time when we have the wine somewhere, people just assume that, we're two girls working for this brand."
Being women-owned has its perks too.
The sisters referenced a section on the Vinat website that shares Yale University research, reported by ABC, found "that women actually have more taste buds on their tongues," and "about 35% of women (and only 15% of men) can call themselves “supertasters,” which means they identify flavors such as bitter, sweet, and sour more strongly than others." And, another study from the NIH National Library of Medicine found "females seeming to possess better taste function than males."
When it came to starting up the business, Sarah Mack said that's where her alumni network and college connections showed up.
In a January email to LehighValleyNews.com, Sarah Mack said she's a current participant in the Lehigh Ventures Lab programming, which "supports Lehigh faculty, recent alumni, and advanced student entrepreneurs to move from venture ideas to viable startups," according to the program webpage.
Other program participants have also found success in the Lehigh Valley and beyond, like With Meraki Co., a urinary and vaginal probiotic, and Fuse, a match-making dating app — both companies that have graduated from the program.
Above all, Emily and Sarah Mack said they're most grateful for being able to "pay it forward," to other prospective women in business.
"I think it's really hard when you're a woman in business, because you're kind of setting an example," Sarah Mack said. "And there's not as many of us as men, and so you can either be a really good example, or there's a lot of high profile bad examples."
Emily Mack agreed, adding that it's about leading with the example that you want to set, noting that they've talked to students about their business journey.
"... We've had a lot of women really give us a hand up," Emily Mack said. "And so for us, it's paying it forward with helping with courses like that."
As far as their favorite wine? The sisters joked that their family asks when they'll have children, to which they respond that they have three: Valevino Skinny Dip (a prosecco), Valevino Cha Cha Cha (a red blend) and Valevino Out of Office (a white blend). It's like asking them to pick a favorite child, but the two said their answer changes depending on the day.
Breaking out on her own
Erin Talgo tries to do the same, with her company, Erin Talgo Trading Co.
Similarly to Kaminestky, Talgo entered the corporate world as a buyer for Ross Stores in New York City.
"It was really amazing," Talgo said. "They sent me around the world, like China, India, Vietnam, Thailand, sourcing all of the furniture... I spent five years doing that, and what was amazing is I not only learned how things were made, but who makes them best."
Working with other entrepreneurs to source furniture for Ross Stores, Talgo recalls she "started to get the itch." Still, she persisted in her field, later working for Burlington Stores, also as a buyer.
"I felt like, after 10 years of working with other business owners, I got to see a lot of their successes and failures and how they pivoted, and that really inspired me to kind of go and do it on my own," Talgo said.
Combine that with her travel experience and another trip to Morocco and Spain, and Talgo said her sustainable, luxury hand-made rug business was born. She said she noticed a "white space opportunity" in seeing rugs that were made by women and sold by a woman-owned business.
"I basically started putting all of my corporate skills to work," Talgo said. "I started reaching out to random suppliers on Etsy and on Instagram, and bought two finished rugs, just to kind of see the quality and what they looked like. And serendipitously, ended up meeting a woman who owns a charity called Free a Girl, and she was doing a silent auction that night."
The rugs ended up generating $24,000 for the charity that night and created a long-lasting business relationship. She expanded her reach in 2024 by opening a showroom in the Pacific Design Center, Quintus, in Los Angeles — and she's in the process of opening another showroom in New York City.
But Talgo said she thinks she's "just scratched the surface," in what her business is capable of.
And while her business grows, Talgo has also grown.
"...I think that's what makes it beautiful. Like as women, we're capable of so much..."Erin Talgo, on business ownership
She said she felt "intimidated" when she first stepped into the business, noting that most rug companies are family-run, and that she only knows of one other woman-owned rug business, also led by a Lehigh University graduate. Now, like the Mack sisters, she said she feels "empowered" when people are impressed that she runs her own business, with a child and hopes of more to come.
"I recognize that I'm very lucky to have that opportunity, and a lot of work went into it," Talgo said. "But I think for me, being a woman in business is really multifaceted, because I'm a mother in business, I'm a woman in business, I'm CEO at home.
"It's funny, I had COVID, and I was like, 'Oh, you know what stinks is not only can I not call my boss and be like, 'I'd really not to go to work today,' but I also can't call my mom and be like, 'I'd like to not go to work today' because you still have a baby to take care of, you still have emails to answer.
"So it's definitely a multi faceted situation, but I think that's what makes it beautiful. As women, we're capable of so much, and we can pick and choose what we want to, you know, lean into, and that's been really, really great for me to be able to be home with my son and pursuing this business dream of my own at the same time."
