Famous Women in Business Trivia Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. While this actress's film image was that of a helpless waif in the silent film era, in reality she was a Hollywood powerhouse. She was the first actress to produce her own pictures and was also the first woman to own a major movie studio when, with her husband Douglas Fairbanks and others she co-founded United Artists. Who was she?

Answer: Mary Pickford

United Artists was established in 1919 by Pickford, Fairbanks, comedian Charlie Chaplin and director D. W. Griffith. Pickford and Fairbanks built a famous mansion in Beverly Hills called 'Pickfair' where they entertained like the Hollywood royalty they were.

After their divorce in 1936 Pickford continued to live at Pickfair with her third husband, "Wings" star Buddy Rogers, until her death in 1979.

2. Which woman launched the world's first designer fragrance in 1921?

Answer: Coco Chanel - Chanel No. 5

Chanel No. 5 was originally given as a gift to customers at Chanel's Paris boutique. Always thinking outside the box, Chanel is said to have wanted to create a scent that, rather than smelling natural like other perfumes of the 1920s, actually smelled artificial or like a composition as were her designs. Its said that when asked what she wore to bed Marilyn Monroe replied "Why, Chanel No. 5, of course."

Joy (1929) and Shalimar (1925) were created for male designers Jean Patou and Francois Guerlain, respectivley. Youth Dew was created for Estee Lauder in 1953.

3. This cosmetics entrepreneur founded her business in 1963 based on the principle that women could advance in her company by helping other women to succeed. She was famous for rewarding top sales reps with pink Cadillacs. Who was this phenomenal woman?

Answer: Mary Kay Ash

Ash (1918-2001) founded Mary Kay Cosmetics after a man she had trained at World Gift, Inc. received a promotion she felt she had earned. She was famous for wearing a bumblebee lapel pin because it symbolized her approach to business: "aerodynamically, the bumble bee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumble bee doesn't know it so it goes on flying anyway."

4. This woman's father purchased the "Washington Post" at an auction during the Great Depression. She took over the reins as publisher upon her husband's suicide in 1963 and garnered fame and respect for green-lighting Woodward and Bernstein's investigation of the Watergate scandal, despite intense pressure from the White House to call it off. Name her.

Answer: Katharine Meyer Graham

Katharine Meyer Graham (1917-2001) was married to Philip Graham who became the Post's publisher after his father-in-law died. He had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder prior to his own death. Though she initially felt ill-prepared to step into the newspaper world, Katharine Graham became a much respected and beloved figure in Washington, DC and the business community at large.

She was one of the first to recognize the financial genius of Warren Buffet and continued to cultivate influential friends into her 80s including Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

Her memoir 'Personal History' won the 1998 Pulitzer Prize and was acclaimed for the frank discussion of her husband's mental illness and relating intimate details of her private life.

5. Anita Roddick founded this company in 1976 with a single shop in Brighton, England that eventually grew to more than 2,000 retail outlets worldwide. She used her fame to champion causes like ending animal testing and was a pioneer in the concept of ethical, green consumerism. What was Roddick's highly successful chain?

Answer: The Body Shop

In her "New York Times" obituary, Roddick (1942-2007) was characterized as one of the UK's most visible business leaders who believed companies could be run ethically and with moral leadership and still turn a profit. She cited her travels to Tahiti, Australia and South Africa, where she saw people rubbing their bodies with cocoa butter and mud, as changing her ideas about skin care.

6. According to Cokie Roberts' book "Founding Mothers" (2004) while this woman's husband received credit for establishing America's first postal service it was left to her to actually run the venture during his long absences abroad. Can you spot the woman who may have been the country's first Postmistress General?

Answer: Deborah Read Franklin

Deborah Franklin's able management of the many family businesses is cited by Roberts as allowing Ben Franklin the financial means to pursue an active role in national and international politics in the American Revolutionary War period, including living in Europe for almost 20 years.

Her daughter Sally Franklin was Deborah's assistant for many years, even delaying her own marriage until a suitable replacement (male of course) could be found.

7. Tamara Mellon started life in the rarified world of upper-class London but went on to found one of the most famous designer shoe companies in the world. Do you know the name of the company Mellon started that is now synonomous with designer footwear? (Hint: these shoes are mentioned by Adriana in "The Sopranos" and Anne Hathaway in "The Devil Wears Prada" as their favorites)

Answer: Jimmy Choo Ltd.

Born Tamara Yeardye in 1967, Mellon worked in public relations and as an assistant editor at "Vogue". Her official biography on the Jimmy Choo website states that she perceived a gap in the luxury ready-to-wear shoe market and approached Choo, a well regarded London shoemaker, about collaborating on a collection.

She was briefly married to an heir of the famous Mellon banking family and retained his name after their divorce.

8. This remarkable woman born in 1867 to ex-slaves built a business empire based on her line of hair products for black women. She is cited as the first American female to become a millionaire in her own right. Though born Sarah Breedlove, she is better known today by what name?

Answer: Madam C.J. Walker

Walker acquired her name upon marriage to Charles Joseph Walker in the early 1900s. Having developed a scalp condition that caused her to lose her hair around 1890, Madam Walker experimented with home-made remedies and began a door-to-door sales campaign with her 'Madam Walker's Wonderful Hair Grower' in the American South. Pittsburgh became the home base for her wide range of products including hair care, cosmetics and beauty schools.

Her company employed as many as 3,000 people at its peak.

9. This woman invented one of the most famous and successful patent medicines of the 19th century. Her "vegetable compound", marketed to cure menstrual ailments, contained several herbs which are found in many modern-day products such as black cohosh (plus a tidy percentage of alcohol!). Name her.

Answer: Lydia Pinkham

Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound, a tonic for 'female complaints', contained fenugreek, life root, black cohosh, pleurisy root and unicorn root with about 20% alcohol as a 'preservative.' It was pharmaceutically similar to many modern herbal products sold for women's health. Pinkham was one of the first marketers to recognize the power of selling herself via her portrait on each bottle, to utilize testimonials in advertising and, at least ostenisbly, to answer all questions sent to her (even after her death!).

10. Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, one of the largest endeavors started by a woman, included forays into publishing, television and textiles. Do you know what Ms. Stewart's first job was after finishing college? (Hint: when it came to the crime that landed her in prison she should have known better)

Answer: Stockbroker

After graduating from Barnard College, Stewart was a stockbroker on Wall Street from 1967-73 with the firm Monness, Williams, and Sidel. Previously, she had worked as a model with ads such as the Tarreyton cigarettes "I'd rather fight than switch" campaign to her credit. In 1975 she founded The Uncatered Affair, a catering firm in her hometown of Westport, Connecticut. When her book editor husband Andy Stewart got her a contract to publish a cookbook she was off and running.

Source: Author brewster76

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Before Oprah Winfrey came to define successful businesswoman these ladies had already made their mark in commerce. See how much you know about the following entrepreneurs and their companies.

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