Washington D.C.s Most Successful Female Entrepreneurs

Washington, D.C., is no longer a city only interested in politics. There is a growing entrepreneurial spirit, and the District has become a hub for female entrepreneurs in the last several years. From DuPont to Downtown, Fort Totten to Friendship Heights, here are five female entrepreneurs that absolutely need to be on your radar.

Maggie Gaudaen – Pop! Wed Co.

Maggie Gaudaen started Pop! Wed Co. with her now-husband, Steven, after years of working in the wedding photography industry. As they say on their website, the goal of Pop! Wed Co. is to “offer a beautiful, custom wedding organized and designed entirely by the Pop! Wed team—our couples can simply show up and get married with no stress at all.” The company specializes in putting together weddings quickly and on a budget, offering a ceremony and photo shoot for as low as $2,900 on weekdays and $3,200 on weekends. They’ve even partnered with brands, such as Miss Pixies and DC Brau to offer a uniquely-D.C. feel to the celebration, should that be your thing. If you can’t imagine getting married anywhere else, but don’t want to make it a big production, Pop! Wed Co. is ready to help.
💗💗💗 // 📷 by @barbaraophotography
A post shared by Pop! Wed Co. (@popwedco) on Oct 4, 2017 at 2:37pm PDT

Rachel Koretsky – upace

At its core, upace, developed by Rachel Koretsky, is a fitness app for university recreation centers. Founded in 2014, her goal is “to help recreation centers engage, motivate, and make fitness an attainable goal for all members through the use of technology.” However, the cleverest aspect of upace is that it centers around the ability to know how many people are at your gym at any given time. Koretsy came up with upace after experiencing personal frustration while navigating large crowds at the gym.
Why yoga if you can #goatyoga!? 🐐
A post shared by upace (@upaceapp) on Aug 29, 2017 at 6:40am PDT

Susan Tynan – Framebridge

Susan Tynan is the founder and CEO of Framebridge, a web-based custom-frame store that aims to take the hassle out of framing. They offer intuitive and user-friendly options on their desktop and mobile platforms. Every frame is handmade in the U.S. and ships for free. Users can send in a hard copy of the piece they want framed, or upload a photo through their app.
Gallery walls are here! Link in bio.
A post shared by Framebridge (@framebridge) on Apr 18, 2018 at 11:08am PDT

Emilie Aries – Bossed Up

Emilie Aries is the founder and CEO of Bossed Up, a boot camp and podcast that help women achieve success at work and as leaders. Through coaching and seminars, Aries’ team helps clients to find a balance between power and likability, to overcome burnout, and to negotiate like a boss. Aries got her start in political strategy and grassroots organizing and now splits her time between D.C., and Denver, Co.

Jenelle Coy – Coy +

Although only in her 20s when she founded her company, Jenelle Coy has created an award-winning company in Coy +, which assists with digital strategy, event management, and creative development. The Coy + team strives to “bridge the gap between flair and function” and leads companies through the discovery and strategy processes before delivering breathtaking digital designs. Clients include Google, Hilton Hotels, Nordstrom, and more.

About the author

Kirsten Ballard

Kirsten was born in North Carolina and moved to Washington, D.C. in 2015. She received a BA in Journalism and Mass Communication and a minor in Creative Writing from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has worked for newspapers, women's magazines and food publications. Currently, she works at a newspaper trade association. In her free time, she's running, reading and eating her way around DC.