11/18/2016 Introducing Entrepreneur Barbie

ENTREPRENEURS

Introducing Entrepreneur Barbie

LINDA LACINA
ENTREPRENEUR STAFF

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FEBRUARY 17, 2014

If the startup world needed more proof it was in fashion, here's more: This year,
Barbie becomes an entrepreneur. (What type of business, you ask? That's not
important. Just go with it.)

At Toy Fair this week, Mattel announced that an entrepreneur doll would join its I
Can Be career line as its Career of the Year. The entrepreneur doll sports a sleek

pink shift dress and carries a tiny tablet and smartphone. Her hair is styled in a

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11/18/2016 Introducing Entrepreneur Barbie

poo er version of the ponytail the original Barbie wore in her debut at this toy expo
55 years ago.

The iconic fashion doll has held more than 150 of careers during her reign, many of
them ceiling breakers. She was an astronaut before any American, male or female,
had landed on the moon. She became president in 1992, a title were still waiting
for a real-life woman to share.

In all likelihood, shes been an entrepreneur before. With playsets like travel
agencies, fashion ateliers and even a McDonald's dotting the collection over the
years, one would hope she ran those operations and wasn't just a worker bee.
Really, the entrepreneur doll seems the latest evolution of the career doll thats
been part of the line since 1963. With nearly 8.6 million female business owners,
its not a stretch that the new career for women is one she forges herself.

Of course, when Career Girl Barbie launched in her tweed suit and elbow length
gloves, career girl were still considered dirty words. In her heyday, Barbie was
often the lone toy in the girl aisle introducing girls to choices they might not
otherwise think they had. When she graduated in the early 60s, only 42.5 percent
of women 25 and older held high school degrees. Only 5.8 percent of women in that
age group held a bachelor's degree.

Recently, though, like any woman of a certain age, Barbie has been experiencing a
sort of midlife crisis. Doll sales have declined signi cantly since their height in the
1990s, and year-over-year sales were down 13 percent in 2013. The lows seemed to
even take a toll on her personal life. In 2004, she left Ken for a surfer named Blaine
-- only to take Ken back two years later.

Related: Got a Career or Business Question? Ask Barbie.

Jobwise, shes been in somewhat of a career rut. Shes held the same nurturing jobs

again and again. Instead of introducing girls to worlds they wouldnt know, Barbie
re ected what they saw every day, embodying pediatricians, vets and teachers. In
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one year alone Barbie was a Dog Sitter, Dog Walker and a Dog Trainer. As a career
lowpoint, Dog Walker Barbie came with a scooper and trashcan for the magnets her
dog left behind.

In recent years, toymakers have been under pressure to o er a wider range of toy
options for girls. As these pressures have mounted, Barbies I Can Be line has
included a handful of dolls that return the line to its roots, showcasing jobs that
dont usually see the doll aisle. In the past ve years, Barbie has been an architect,
a computer engineer and a news anchor. This year, for the rst time, Barbie
becomes a detective.

While these developments are encouraging, we note that Dog Walker Barbie has
been relaunched in 2014 as Potty Trainin Ta y. We cant judge Barbie for taking
whatever work she can get in a slow-growth economy. That said, this year also
launches a rst-ever Girl Scout Barbie who comes ready for sales with tiny boxes of
cookies. Hopefully the dog walkers more entrepreneurial cohorts can teach her a
little something about being her own boss.

Related: Where Mobile Apps and the Toy Industry Collide

LINDA LACINA |
Linda Lacina is the managing editorat Entrepreneur.com. Her work has
appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Smart Money, Dow Jones MarketWatch
and Family Circle. Email her at llacina@entrepreneur.com. Follow her at
@lindalacina on Twitt... Read more

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