Habilidades lucrativas: a busca pela beleza iluminando o empreendedorismo feminino do município de Campina Grande – PB.

Abstract

History tells that through centuries women were not allowed participating in different areas of society, including not being able to participate in any kind of business. However, after women rights were established and recognized, women gradually started getting more jobs in strategic positions in the business hierarchy and becoming developers in innovative enterprises. Therefore, this paper's main goal is to identify the profile of women who work in the beauty industry in the city of Campina Grande - PB. To do so, the working method was based on a descriptive approach with a qualitative nature using bibliographic review and multiple case study with field research methods. For the research sample, sixteen (16) entrepreneurs were invited to do a semi-structured interview. The data was categorised and analyzed based on perception about entrepreneurship, business planning, learning process, influence and motivation, creativity and innovation, advantages and difficulties, persistence and vision. The study shows that the women who were interviewed have a lower level of management knowledge than necessary to start a new business and they did not planned before starting working. However, they know how to deal with struggles in the business and have a satisfactory level of creativity and they are very persistent and have great future perspective. The study also shows that besides growth and professional achievement, financial independence and income supplement, as well as the improvement of their children's lives, it was the unemployment the main reasons to start working for themselves.