COLUMBUS, Ohio — More and more women are working. April's jobs report shows more than three quarters of women in the U.S. between the ages of 25 and 54 are employed.

“We have great knowledge, great ideas, great education, and we’re putting it to use,” said Mary McCarthy, a founding member of the Ohio Women’s Coalition. 

McCarthy has been an entrepreneur for years. As the president and CEO of the Women’s Small Business Accelerator, she sees firsthand women entering the workforce and starting their own businesses. She believes more women are working now because they are no longer feeling held back.

“We’re dealing with our families and, you know, we have to balance and sometimes we deal with self-esteem issues or, you know; roadblocks, perceived or not,that we can hold ourselves back,” said McCarthy. 

Options like working from home and video call meetings have made joining the workforce much easier for women.

“You know, there’s so many options that you can do now. There’s a 24-hour day and we don’t have the same boundaries that we used to have. We can be more creative and more flexible and fit a lot more in and be more efficient as we’re fitting it in,” said McCarthy. 

As a successful entrepreneur, McCarthy said the best way to start working or start your own business is to just ask for help.

“We think we can do it all and we will just push through it and we don’t ask for help. So stop at that moment and say, ‘What do you need and who can help you?’ And ask,” said McCarthy. 

And as more women join the workforce, McCarthy believes everyone will reap the benefits.

“One, we are really fulfilling ourselves, two economy. Both of them impact what we’re trying to accomplish,” said McCarthy.