SerpApi.Org
Leaders are often seen as the ones who can open doors, innovate, and bring about change. Talented, ambitious, and visionary women are paving their own way by launching successful ventures, leading organizations, and making an extraordinary impact in a variety of industries.
We’ve compiled our list of Top 10 Self-Made Women Leaders To Follow In 2026. Women who have made it to the top with entrepreneurship, career success, and leadership. They are from different sectors with their own journey and story of resilience, innovation, and excellence. This edition celebrates their achievements and reflects on the enduring impact of their work on their fields and their ability to inspire future generations of leaders.
1. Jasmyn Yu
Jasmyn Yu is the founder of 999 Legacy Holdings and a real estate investor, author, philanthropist, global speaker, humanitarian, and self-made deca-millionaire.
Jasmyn’s work has been recognized by publications including US Biz Weekly, CEO Times, Cedar Park Neighbors, and MSN.
Born in Vietnam, Jasmyn Yu moved to the United States with her family at the age of four. She grew up watching her parents work hard and make sacrifices to build the American dream.
Jasmyn was a single mother of two daughters when she built her real estate business in 2010. Through hard work, she built her business, invested in real estate, and continued to build her career while giving back through her philanthropy and community work. She was recognized by MSN as the No. 1 honoree in the Top 10 Self-Made Women Leaders of 2026. Through her Legacy Leadership Method, she encourages others to overcome challenges, unlock their potential, and build lasting success and legacy.
2. Ruby Gill (BSC., MA, DCHM)
“Humble enough to know, I can be replaced
Wise enough to know there's no one else like me."
Ruby Gill (BSC, MA, DCHM) is a homeopathic physician who has been providing individualized homeopathic care in Brampton, Ontario, for over 11 years.
Ruby is also the Founder and CEO of Nanak Homeopathic Clinic and supports patients through Health Canada-approved homeopathic remedies. Her areas of practice include PCOD, anxiety, depression, eczema, autism, and speech delay in children.
In addition to treating patients at her clinic, Ruby served as the Board Director of the Ontario Homeopathic Medical Association from 2014 to 2020 and played a major role in advancing the field of homeopathy. The NYC Journal included her among its "Top 30 Women Leaders" list, while CIO Today also recognized her by featuring her in its "SheInfluence: Trailblazing Women Making a Difference" edition. Today, Ruby Gill continues to lead the field of holistic healthcare through her patient-centered care and professional leadership.
3. Kimberly Allison
Kimberly Allison is the founder and CEO of Champagne Lion, a digital marketing agency she built from the ground up into a nationally recognized agency that focuses on fitness, wellness, hospitality, and lifestyle brands. Since starting the agency in 2018, Kimberly has been helping businesses drive measurable growth from their social media through strategic storytelling, community building, and performance-driven content.
She is an entrepreneur and fitness professional, so she has a unique perspective that links marketing to human behavior and brand loyalty. Kimberly leads her agency, but she’s also passionate about mentoring business owners, speaking on modern marketing strategy, and helping brands build communities that people actually want to be part of. Her work shows that long-term success is not built on trends alone but on brands that people trust, remember, and recommend.
4. Katya Vilchyk
When Katya arrived in America from Ukraine, she had $300 and no other plan, no backup. All she had was hard work and the desire to succeed. Today she is an accomplished photographer in Atlanta doing personal branding and product photography for founders, CEOs, and luxury brands. She is self-taught.
Her journey started with just a camera, clicking every special moment of her newborn daughter. This hobby evolved slowly into a successful business for her.
Katya thought that her work would bring her popularity for a long time, and she stayed behind the camera, but when she started working on her personal branding and started putting herself forward, her life and business changed. She encourages women to build their personal brands with confidence. that they should not hide their identity but should present it before the world with the same confidence because your presence is your best strength.
5. Jaylynn Bird
Jaylynn Bird is a photographer, filmmaker, and entrepreneur. She has experience with documentary and editorial photography. She has had her photography featured in some of the most prestigious magazines, such as Rock & Roll, which has helped her gain significant industry recognition. She works with couples and brands to create photographs and visual content commemorating special occasions and projects.
She combines documentary and editorial photography to create images that perfectly capture each client's individual style and story. Jaylynn focuses on photography and visual storytelling. She always strives to ensure that her clients' important moments in their personal and professional lives are preserved as memories in the form of beautiful photographs.
6. Lisa Goulet
Lisa Goulet has created a real estate niche dedicated to assisting families with their healing process. When a family member dies, instead of contacting multiple people, they can contact Goulet Properties Group through NRR. Dealing with a house full of belongings on top of the unbearable pain of losing a loved one is simply too much. Lisa and her team manage the services required to prepare the property for sale.
Lisa and her team will arrange for dumpsters, an estate sale, vehicle sales, debris removal, charitable contributions, professional cleaning of the home, and then selling it for the benefit of the families involved in the process. Lisa founded Goulet Properties Group to alleviate the burden and stress of decluttering the family home.
Her goal is to simplify the process so that families can concentrate on what is most important during a difficult time.
7. Dr. Benita Safaryans, DAOM, L.Ac., FABORM
Dr. Benita Safaryans, DAOM, L.Ac., FABORM, is the founder and owner of Peak Life Acupuncture, Inc. She specializes in pain management, women’s health, and fertility care, including support for patients undergoing IVF and IUI. Her practice integrates Traditional Chinese Medicine with evidence-informed, individualized treatment approaches. In 2026, she expanded Peak Life Acupuncture into a hospital medical center, advocating the synergy of Traditional Chinese Medicine with conventional healthcare.
The practice also offers functional medicine laboratory testing in conjunction with Dr. Arik Naylous, DAcHM, L.Ac., to support individualized treatment planning. Dr. Safaryans was featured in VoyageLA Magazine, Bold Journey Magazine, and Best in California Magazine and was highlighted in the Yo San University Alumni Spotlight for her contributions to the field of integrative medicine. She is passionate about patient-centered care and supporting an integrative approach to health and wellness.
8. Karen Floyd
Karen Floyd is a branding photographer for professionals over 50 who are looking for new career opportunities, starting a business, publishing a book, or working toward long-term career goals.
Her work is geared towards producing professional images that mirror the experience, skills, and current aspirations of her clients. Instead of relying on old-fashioned pictures, she guides clients in producing branding photos that reflect their present-day professional image and future goals.
Floyd started her photography service to help people start a new business or change careers later in life. Her style is completely natural and full of new experiences, and she encourages her clients to present their personal and professional growth to the world with confidence.
9. Dr. Dominique M. Carson, LMP, HC, MLD-C, MMP
Based in Virginia with roots in New York City, Dr. Dominique M. Carson is a massage practitioner, freelance journalist, author, and public speaker. She has been featured on the Startups in Stilettos podcast, is a lifetime member of the Entreprenista League, and has appeared on the local cable television program Living757. By the age of 25, Dr. Carson had earned her bachelor's and master's degrees. She was the first African American to be awarded the Brooklyn College Wall of Fame award in 2011.
In 2024 she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Humanitarianism from Global International Alliance Advocate University. As a freelance journalist, she has interviewed more than 150 people in the entertainment and popular culture world. Dr. Carson has been open about her own personal struggles throughout her career, experiences that have shaped her work and her commitment to inspiring others with her writing and public speaking.
10. Sara Ting
Sara Ting is a TEDx speaker, poet, author, and diversity and inclusion trainer. She is the founder and president of World Unity Inc. She wrote the Sun poem in 1978, and it debuted in 1985 as part of a citywide multimedia public service campaign in Boston for equality. The poem would become a foundation for her later work on diversity, inclusion, and unconscious bias.
Ting’s TEDx talk, Uncover and Overcome All Unconscious Bias, speaks about the origins and message of Ting and how to tackle unconscious bias and create equality. Through the years she continued to develop educational and public awareness projects on inclusion. Her current work includes the World Unity Landmark, an ongoing project that aims to spark dialogue and awareness of equality and unity through a permanent public installation.
