Today is American Business Women’s Day, and I keep thinking about how recently women could be required to have a man’s signature to get a business loan. Some states still required women to have a husband or other male relative co-sign a business loan until 1988?! What?! That was only 12 years before I started spanx. The progress came in steps. In 1974, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act made it illegal to deny women credit or require a male co-signer simply because they were women. Then, in 1988, the Women’s Business Ownership Act eliminated state laws requiring a husband or other male relative to co-sign a woman’s business loan - and expanded support for women entrepreneurs. Not that long ago, a woman’s ability to access credit could depend on a man’s signature instead of her own ambition and ability to build. 🤯 Think of all the businesses, ideas, and inventions that may not have had the chance to exist before then. I’m a big believer that the more women-owned businesses we have i...