September 15: When Women Turn Their Stories Into Business — Agatha Christie and the Power of Intellectual Property

H.O.P. Today in Female Entrepreneur History

On September 15, 1890, Agatha Christie was born in Torquay, England. Most people know Christie as the legendary mystery writer behind Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, but through an entrepreneurial lens, her life gives us another conversation worth having: your creativity can become an asset. Christie didn't simply write stories. Her writing became intellectual property that generated books, theatrical productions, films, television adaptations and a brand that continued long beyond the moment she sat down to write. 

For H.O.P., that's important because entrepreneurship doesn't always begin with opening a storefront or creating a physical product. Sometimes the product is what came out of your mind. A book can become a business. A podcast can become a business. A television concept can become a business. A curriculum, photograph, design, character, course, screenplay or original media series can become part of a larger entrepreneurial ecosystem. The question isn't only, “What can I sell?” Sometimes the better question is, “What have I created that has value beyond today?”

Christie's story also reminds female entrepreneurs about the difference between constantly producing and actually building a body of work. Social media has conditioned many creators to believe everything has to be new tomorrow. Post today. Forget it tomorrow. Create again. But entrepreneurs should also think about longevity. Can something you create today continue creating opportunities five, ten or twenty years from now? That's when creativity starts moving beyond content and toward intellectual property.

Black Women Were Creating Intellectual Property Too

That conversation becomes even more important when we look at Black women's history. Black women have spent generations creating culture, language, beauty trends, music, fashion, recipes, stories and ideas that became valuable to other people. Yet the people creating culture haven't always been the people who financially benefited from it. That's why modern Black female entrepreneurs need to understand something previous generations were too often denied: creation, ownership and compensation should be part of the same conversation.

Women such as Annie Turnbo Malone, Madam C.J. Walker, Maggie Lena Walker and Mae Reeves demonstrate different forms of Black female ownership. Malone turned knowledge of Black hair care into a beauty enterprise. Walker transformed beauty products and sales networks into economic opportunities for Black women. Maggie Lena Walker used financial leadership to strengthen Black economic independence. Mae Reeves used her creativity and millinery skills to establish a business in Philadelphia after securing a $500 loan in her own name from a Black-owned bank. Smithsonian records that Reeves opened Mae's Millinery Shop on South Street in 1941 and became one of the first African American women to own a business in downtown Philadelphia. 

Different industries. Different women. Different circumstances. But there's a shared lesson: don't just create—understand what you own.

Your Creativity Is Not “Just Something You Do”

Women sometimes minimize skills because those skills come naturally to us. “I just make cakes.” “I just do hair.” “I just write.” “I just decorate.” “I just make videos.” “I just help people organize things.” Take the word “just” out of the sentence and look again.

If people consistently come to you because you can do something they can't, there may be value there. That doesn't automatically mean every hobby needs to become a business, but it does mean you should stop assuming your talent has no economic potential simply because it feels normal to you.

Agatha Christie made stories.

Mae Reeves made hats.

Sarah E. Goode created a solution for furniture.

Annie Turnbo Malone developed hair-care products.

None of those descriptions sound complicated until you look at what those women built around their abilities.

That's where entrepreneurship enters the picture.

Don't Build Something You Don't Own

Today's creator economy makes this lesson even more urgent. You can spend years growing an audience on somebody else's social-media platform and still not own the platform. Algorithms change. Accounts disappear. Monetization rules change. Companies close. That's why creators and entrepreneurs should think beyond followers and start thinking about assets.

Your website matters. Your mailing list matters. Your business name matters. Your original content matters. Your contracts matter. Your trademarks and copyrights can matter. Your customer relationships matter. Your catalog of work matters.

A million views can be exciting, but ownership asks a different question: What remains after everybody stops watching?

That's the difference between attention and an asset.

September 15 Also Gives Us Another Lesson About Female Founders

September 15 has a modern connection to women building businesses as well. In 2018, Y Combinator held one of its Female Founders Conferences on September 15 in Silicon Valley. The conference brought women founders, entrepreneurs and investors together to share knowledge about creating and growing startups. 

That may seem worlds away from Agatha Christie sitting down to write a mystery, but the entrepreneurial principle connects them. Women need access not only to creativity, but also to information, networks, capital and ownership.

An idea can start with one woman.

Building it often requires a community.

Black Female Entrepreneurship Is American Business History

Black women's entrepreneurial stories shouldn't appear only during Black History Month, just as women's entrepreneurial history shouldn't disappear after Women's History Month. Black women have participated in America's economic story across generations, even when discriminatory laws, financial institutions and social systems restricted their opportunities.

The Smithsonian's American Women's History Museum recognizes women such as Mae Reeves and Maggie Walker as part of America's business history. Their stories remind us that entrepreneurship isn't simply about becoming wealthy. For many Black women, business ownership created something equally powerful: options.

Options to employ themselves.

Options to employ somebody else.

Options to support their families.

Options to finance their communities.

Options to create something nobody could easily take away.

That's why ownership matters.

The H.O.P. Takeaway

September 15 gives us an opportunity to think differently about what a female entrepreneur looks like. She doesn't always have a storefront. She doesn't always manufacture a physical product. Sometimes she's sitting at a desk writing. Sometimes she's recording a podcast. Sometimes she's designing clothes. Sometimes she's creating a curriculum, developing a television concept, building a digital platform or turning years of professional experience into something she can finally call her own.

The lesson is simple: Create it. Protect it. Build around it. Own as much of it as you can.

Your creativity may entertain somebody today, but with the right strategy, ownership and business structure, it could become part of your legacy tomorrow.

Today's H.O.P. Question

What have you already created that you have been treating like “just content” when it could actually become an asset?

And here's the bigger question: If something you created became extremely valuable tomorrow, would you understand what you actually own?

Follow @hopempoweringwomen for more H.O.P. Today in Female Entrepreneur History, H.O.P. the Series and conversations encouraging women to turn their knowledge, creativity and experience into ownership.

House of Peach Inc.

Learn the history. Build on the history. Make some history of your own.

Sources

HISTORY — “Agatha Christie Is Born.” Documents Christie's birth on September 15, 1890, and provides biographical context about her early life and writing career. Read the HISTORY profile

Smithsonian American Women's History Museum — “Five Women to Know for American Business Women's Day.” Provides historical information on Mae Reeves, Maggie Walker and other women whose entrepreneurship contributed to American business history. Explore the Smithsonian feature

Y Combinator — “Female Founders Conference in Silicon Valley on September 15.” Documents the September 15, 2018 Female Founders Conference and its focus on connecting women entrepreneurs with founders and investors. Read about the Female Founders Conference