How are fashion designer Tory Burch and a financial tool used for centuries in developing countries transforming the American economy?

One small business at a time.

Burch, who runs one of the nation's fastest-growing companies, and her team of business experts, came to Chicago Wednesday to mentor a group of women running their own small businesses.

Burch knows the struggle well. As a single mother, she started her fashion empire at her kitchen table. Years later, she has about 1,000 employees, 61 US retail stores, and revenues expected to top $500 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. Burch has also launched a foundation designed to provide economic empowerment to women and their families, hoping to grow a flourishing crop of women-owned businesses nationwide. Those businesses can create jobs and transform families and communities.

"This is so important, " she told the group.

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