You may not have heard of Jacqueline Gold, but you have heard of her businesses. Even if you've never shopped in Ann Summers or Knickerbox, you know they're there and you know people who have. Gold is the woman at the helm of them both, and she made them into what they are today.
An icon and pioneer in the business world, Gold took over Ann Summers as a small business from her father, and saw its potential as a brand that reflected female empowerment rather than just another tacky sex shop, which is how it had been run previously. She adopted an ethos of it being run 'by women, for women', with women represented at management level right through the company. Her autobiography 'Good Vibration's, published in the mid-90s, was a bestseller, and she followed it up with a sequel in 2007. Universally respected as a businesswoman, she runs advice columns for business owners in several British newspapers.