10 of 10
BACKNEXT
Michelle Jones
Michelle Jones
President, CEO and founder, Entech Northwest Inc.

Jones started her environmental consulting firm 17 years ago, after being laid off from a company that was doing similar work.

Then in her early 20s, she was making more than 50 calls a day to prospective clients. When one expressed reservations about her youth, Jones replied that if he had gone with her former employer, the work still would have ended up on her desk. She followed with: "So why don't we just cut out the middleman and I can deliver you the product and service that you need."

She got the job -- and the confidence she needed to build her business, which helps companies grow while protecting the environment. The business now has 17 employees.

Her goal is to create a long-lasting "platform to effect change and be innovative in solving a lot of the issues in the environmental construction industry." In other words, Jones wants to make her business -- like the environment -- sustainable. --J.S.

More galleries

Last updated December 18 2009: 12:52 PM ET
Email | Print | Share  |  RSS
 
google my aol my msn my yahoo! netvibes
Paste this link into your favorite RSS desktop reader
See all CNNMoney.com RSS FEEDS (close)
50 most powerful women When the Most Powerful Women list premiered, just two of our honorees ran Fortune 500 companies. This year 13 do. More
25 highest-paid womenWhich corporate women raked it in - and how much did they earn? More
From the pinnacles of power by Fortune editor at large Patricia Sellers. More

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.