CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Women-owned businesses are coming out of the pandemic stronger than before, with a 12% increase in growth, according to Wells Fargo's recent 2024 financial report.

What You Need To Know

  • According to a 2024 Wells Fargo financial report, women-owned businesses increased by more than 12% between 2019 and 2023

  • North Carolina ranks the second highest state in the country for this economic growth

  • Growth in women-owned businesses outpaced growth in male-owned businesses

North Carolina ranks second, only after New York, for strong economies during the pandemic to support the women-owned businesses.

Genevieve Aesthetics in Charlotte launched a mobile space in October 2020, finally opening her brick-and-mortar store in March 2021.

"Contractors were hard to find, materials were hard to find so it just kept backing things up," said owner Genevieve Sears.

Sears has been a physician assistant in aesthetics medicine for 18 years. She says it was time she started her own business. 

"I wanted to show my daughter and all my children that it can be done," Sears said. "It can be done solo, without having the upper hand of someone leading and guiding you, and I wanted to prove that to my children and myself."

Sears says she worked overtime in emergency rooms during the pandemic, pulling 60 to 70 hours a week to save and open her own business.

Since opening, Sears has expanded into a new space more than double the size of her original location.

According to the Wells Fargo report, women-owned businesses outpaced male-owned businesses in growth from 2019 to 2023 by 82% in revenue. 

Black women-owned businesses saw the most growth at 32%, and Latina women-owned businesses increased by 17%.