Meet The Most Successful Female Entrepreneur In American History | Forbes

Diane Hendricks had a child at age 17, worked as a Playboy Bunny to pay her bills, beat cancer twice and survived the tragic death of her husband before transforming herself into the nation’s most successful businesswoman. She has tripled her net worth in the last five years to more than $12 billion. Next: fixing the country’s schools and infrastructure before we red, white and blow it.

Hendricks believes in the American Dream because she has lived it. A teen mom who once worked as a waitress to pay her bills, she cofounded ABC Supply with her husband, Ken, in 1982 and built it into the nation’s largest wholesale distributor of roofing, siding and windows. After Ken died in 2007, Hendricks continued the business’s rapid expansion, buying rivals and more than doubling its store count to 900. Revenue hit a record $15 billion in 2021. “We’ll do close to $18 billion this year in sales,” Hendricks says. “It’s not a little company anymore. It’s five times what it was when Ken was alive.”

0:00 Introducing Diane Hendricks

0:15 Hendricks On How Her Upbringing Shaped Her Career Mindset

4:34 How She Built A Successful Business With Her Husband

10:28 How Hendricks Positioned ABC Supply At The Top Of A Male-Dominated Industry

11:58 Smart Risks & Acquisitions: How ABC Supply Grew During 2008's Housing Market Crisis

16:56 Hendricks' Best Business Idea

18:58 Hendricks' Mission To Improve Education

21:21 Reflections On A Long Career

25:04 Looking Ahead To An Uncertain Economic Future

27:40 How It Feels To Be America's Richest Self-Made Woman

Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/maggiemc...

Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?s...

Stay Connected

Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com

Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes

Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes

Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes

More From Forbes: http://forbes.com

Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.