by Julia Paulus

When Ann Kastendieck was in her early 20s and working at Washington University as an accountant, two of her more experienced female co-workers taught her not to assume the role of the helpless female but instead to present herself as an equal and expect to be treated as such.

Kastendieck carried this lesson with her while she sharpened her accounting skills and especially when she took a job as a controller in the equally male-dominated chemical industry.

Through her job at chemical company Industrial Specialties Inc., Kastendieck found out V.L. Clark Chemical Co. was for sale. “I had always wanted to own my own business,” she says. “I thought with my education and experience I could do it, so I jumped on the opportunity and ran with it.”

In 1991, the year Kastendieck bought the business, the company’s sales were $20,000. In 2009, V.L. Clark had revenue of $7 million. This growth is party driven by Kastendieck’s desire to persevere as a woman in the chemical industry.

“There were always those people out there who wouldn’t do business with me because I’m a woman,” she says. “But those are the people who ended up helping me because they make me even more determined to find suppliers who will work with me and build relationships with my customers.”

Kastendieck also grew her business by going international. “We started out as a commodity chemical company, selling for high volume and low profits,” she says. “Things began to change when we created a website. We were contacted by a gentleman in China who helped us to begin importing. He spoke fluent Chinese and was our go-between.”

Kastendieck says her hard work and determination also have been critical to her success. “I’ve also been lucky,” she says. “Sometimes things have fallen in my lap, and you have to run with it.”