Woman Owned: The Growth Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs

The CEO Reading List That Built a 7-Figure Business

Mar 3, 2026

A founder’s seven-book reading list that shaped leadership, power, and profit thinking. Topics include accepting female leadership, designing a saleable company, and frameworks for reclaiming founder time. Conversations cover validating offers, onboarding to reduce churn, rethinking abundance, and disciplined sales strategies to build sustainable revenue.

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INSIGHT

Daily Reading Drives Faster CEO Growth

Regular daily reading dramatically expands thinking and accelerates leadership growth.
Eleanor reads at least 40 minutes daily (30 min morning, 15 min evening) and often finishes 3–10 books monthly.

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ANECDOTE

Journalism Habit Sparked A Rigorous Reading Routine

Eleanor's reading habit began from her journalism background and a leader's remark that books open new thinking.
That advice pushed her to a disciplined routine and to build a YouTube channel sharing those learnings.

insights

INSIGHT

Make Peace With Power To Lead Fully

Women leaders must reconcile being powerful with not being universally liked to access full leadership capacity.
Mary Beard's Women and Power traces historical examples that helped Eleanor make peace with her own power as a CEO.

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Why Reading Transforms Leadership

02:19 • 2min

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Women and Power: Making Peace with Power

03:55 • 1min

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Built to Sell: Designing a Saleable Business

05:18 • 1min

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Buy Back Your Time: Scale Your Capacity

06:45 • 2min

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The Soul of Money: Rethinking Abundance

09:13 • 2min

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The Mom Test: Build Offers People Want

11:10 • 1min

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Onboarding Matters: Reduce Churn, Increase Revenue

12:37 • 1min

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The Ultimate Sales Machine: Prioritize Selling

Based on two lectures, Mary Beard traces misogyny's roots from ancient texts like Homer's Odyssey to modern examples such as Hillary Clinton and online trolling. She argues that public speech has long been defined as male, excluding women, and that powerful women are often attacked or forced to adopt masculine traits. Instead of women mimicking men, Beard calls for redefining power to include collaborative, non-hierarchical forms, drawing on examples like the Black Lives Matter founders.

#2489

• Mentioned in 18 episodes

The Soul of Money

Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Life

Lynne Twist

In 'The Soul of Money,' Lynne Twist delves into the psychological, spiritual, and practical aspects of money and its impact on our lives. She argues that our relationship with money is deeply intertwined with our values, sense of purpose, and overall well-being. The book provides guidance on how to reevaluate and transform this relationship to achieve greater fulfillment and alignment with one's true values.

#1197

• Mentioned in 33 episodes

The Ultimate Sales Machine

Turbocharge Your Business with the 12 Key Strategies of Top Performers

Chet Holmes

Amanda Holmes

In 'The Ultimate Sales Machine', Chet Holmes outlines 12 essential strategies for running a successful business. The book emphasizes the importance of systems and processes in sales success, teaching employees to work smarter, leveraging marketing effectively, and perfecting every sales interaction. The updated edition, contributed to by Amanda Holmes, includes new material relevant to modern business, such as core story frameworks and the use of modern marketing mediums. The book offers practical tools, real-life examples, and proven strategies to help businesses achieve significant improvements in sales performance and overall success.

#457

• Mentioned in 64 episodes

The mom test

How to talk to customers and learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you

Rob Fitzpatrick

This book emphasizes the importance of asking the right questions to customers to gather genuine data and avoid wasting resources. It advises entrepreneurs to focus on understanding customers' problems and current solutions rather than pitching their own ideas. The book provides practical advice on how to conduct effective customer conversations, avoid biased feedback, and transition into sales. It is widely recommended for entrepreneurs seeking product market fit and is used in various educational and entrepreneurial programs.

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Onboarding Matters

How Successful Companies Transform New Customers into Loyal Champions

Donna Weber

#681

• Mentioned in 49 episodes

Built to sell

Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You

John Warrillow

In 'Built to Sell', John Warrillow provides practical advice on creating a business that can operate independently of its owner. The book is structured around a story where a business owner, Alex, is guided by his mentor Ted to transform his marketing agency into a sellable business. Key lessons include running the company as if it will last forever but being ready to sell at any moment, focusing on a specific, non-customizable product or service, creating a positive cash flow cycle, and hiring a sales team to remove the owner from the sales process. The book emphasizes the importance of making the business repeatable, valuable, and teachable to attract potential buyers.

#69

• Mentioned in 222 episodes

Buy Back Your Time

Dan Martell

Buy Back Your Time is a definitive guide for entrepreneurs at every level, teaching them how to scale their business quickly while avoiding burnout. The book introduces the 'Buy Back Principle,' which emphasizes hiring people to do repetitive and low-value tasks, allowing entrepreneurs to focus on high-value activities that bring energy and fulfillment. Dan Martell provides practical steps, frameworks like the 'replacement ladder' and 'DRIP matrix,' and strategies for outsourcing, automation, and prioritization to enhance both professional and personal life. The book is structured around key frameworks and tools, making it a valuable resource for entrepreneurs looking to achieve a better work-life balance and build a thriving business empire.

If you want to grow a powerful company, you need powerful thinking, and books are one of the fastest ways to access it.

In this episode, Eleanor shares the seven business books that have most shaped her leadership, decision-making, and ability to scale into the top 1% of women entrepreneurs globally. These are not trendy titles or surface-level reads. They are foundational works that influenced how she thinks about power, profit architecture, capacity, abundance, product design, onboarding, and sales.

Listen in today as Eleanor breaks down why each book matters, what it unlocked in her own company, and how these ideas can help ambitious women CEOs scale sustainably. If you are serious about building a high-growth company with strength, profitability, and strategic depth, this reading list will expand how you think and operate.

Get full show notes and more information here: https://safimedia.co/WO90

Connect with Eleanor on LinkedIn or Instagram: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanorbeaton/

https://www.instagram.com/eleanorbeaton/?hl=en

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