Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen, Marketing Empire

As cheesy as it may seem, I was totally a member of a Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen fan club circa 1996. I only remember this because I have a magnet that came in a packet I received. I can't find anything about it anywhere. This could be because it was before massive use of the internet, and the packet I received was probably based on an advertisement I saw in a BOP magazine or the like. Don't deny it, you totally read those teeny bopper magazines at age 11 too!
Anyway, these girls are truly a professional inspiration to any entrepreneur. They created an entire brand around themselves and made sure they got paid handsomely for all their work.

The created Dualstar to produce their entire line of movies (even if they were made for tv or straight to dvd, of which i probably owned them all).

They worked on straight to store brands, first with Walmart, now with J.C. Penny. They had their clothing, footwear, hair care, and cosmetics.

Not to even mention their toy lines through Mattel.

Now they've launched a runway line. All-in-all, they seem to have remained well-rounded, confident and business savvy. That, or they've had amazing people surrounding them from the beginning; I'll split it, and say a little of both. Either way, I'm impressed.