Book Review
Dare to Think Purple: A Survival Guide for Women in Social Entrepreneurship by Danielle Kristine Toussaint, is the ultimate survival guide for women and new majority founders on a mission to make money and make a difference. It provides an honest look at what it takes to survive the first five years and beyond in social entrepreneurship.
One in five businesses don’t make it past two years. Another 45 percent don’t survive to five years. The odds are stacked against women and founders of color who set out to create viable companies and create social impact. Addressing these issues in her new book, Dare To Think Purple: A Survival Guide for Women in Social Entrepreneurship, Danielle Kristine Toussaint gives some honest and insightful examples of women who are building businesses that make a difference and make money. Featuring vivid and candid still-in-progress success stories of women leading social ventures, you will be inspired to dream and dare. Whether you are just starting out, at a crossroads, celebrating a victory, or mourning a setback, Dare to Think Purple, will give you the boost you need to persevere.
Author Quotes
Entrepreneurship is hard. Being a social entrepreneur ups the ante.
We all have much to learn from women choosing to take on some of our most intractable social problems.
Collectively, these stories provide an honest look into what it really takes to survive the first five years in social entrepreneurship as a woman.
Our authentic leadership stories, relatable in their fallibility and inspirational in their triumph, are the fertile soil in which we grow our impact.
About the author
Danielle Kristine Toussaint is a storyteller, strategist, and social entrepreneur. She's founder of She Thinks Purple, producer of PurpleCon (an annual convening for women and diverse founders leading and scaling startup social enterprises), and the inaugural Morgridge Communicator-in-Residence for Ascend at Aspen Institute. Her first book"Dare to Think Purple" is currently in production with New Degree Press and scheduled for release in December 2020. Ms. Toussaint has also been the writing pen behind op-eds and speeches for Huffington Post, Forbes.com, and TEDx.
She holds a B.A. in Political Science and African American Studies from Yale University and an M.S.Ed from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. She's a SEED Spot mentor, a Founder Gym graduate, a founding member of Tide Risers, and a Tribetan Social Innovation.
Why LoA loves it…
Anyone who is a social entrepreneur will know that it is not an easy journey, and certainly not one for the faint hearted. It takes passion, lots of it, combined with sheer determination to succeed and make a difference in the world. It takes resilience, lots of it, and the ability to keep bouncing back when challenges are hard, and where others would simply give up. Danielle Kristine Toussaint is someone who knows the journey of a social entrepreneur well. She understands how important it is to be able to tell your unique social entrepreneurship story, to harness that story to capture imaginations, hearts and minds, and support to help make an impact. Danielle’s book, Dare to Think Purple, is a great read for those women social entrepreneurs who need to hear and believe that it’s possible to achieve that big vision and those impact driven goals. — Melanie Hawken, founder & ceo, Lionesses of Africa