Nice Girls Win: Kelly Ehlers on Why Kindness Is a Business Strategy

In her new book, Nice Girls Win, founder Kelly Ehlers makes the case that women do not have to choose between kindness and power.

Nice Girls Win: How Kind Women Can Create the Lives They Deserve arrives during National Women’s Small Business Month with a message many founders need to hear. Author Kelly Ehlers, an award-winning founder and brand architect, argues that warmth and ambition were never opposites, and that the qualities women are often told to tone down can become their greatest advantage.

The Story Behind the Book

The book grew out of Ehlers’ own path. While scaling multimillion-dollar businesses, she navigated pregnancy discrimination and corporate gaslighting, experiences that forced her to rethink what it means to be “nice” at work.

Her conclusion is the foundation of the book. Being nice does not mean being quiet, and it does not mean waiting your turn.

Kindness, Reframed

Ehlers treats emotional intelligence as a strategic advantage, not a soft skill. Nice Girls Win shows women how to stop overgiving, set boundaries without guilt and claim what they deserve, all without sacrificing the warmth, empathy and authenticity that make them who they are.

For founders who have built their businesses on saying yes, that shift matters. Generosity can fuel a brand. Left unchecked, it can also drain the woman running it. The book offers a practical path to greater confidence, leadership and personal growth for women who are ready to keep their kindness and still take up space.

Ehlers frames the book as a permission slip, written for every woman who has lost sight of her own light. Its invitation is simple: reclaim your voice, set your boundaries and pursue the life you deserve.

A Builder’s Perspective

Ehlers writes from experience. She has spent more than 16 years turning emerging ideas into category-defining businesses, building at the intersection of influence, media and commerce. Whether scaling a global agency or launching a media company, her work has centered on one goal: helping brands earn attention, trust and lasting relevance.

She is known for spotting industry shifts before they happen. In Nice Girls Win, the shift she is pointing to is personal: a new picture of what a powerful woman looks like.

For more on protecting your energy as a founder, read Founder Burnout Is Real, And Bootstrapping Your Business Is Often Why and Bacon’s look at National Women’s Small Business Month.

Nice Girls Win is available now from Big Circles Media, LLC in hardcover, paperback, ebook and audiobook. Get your copy of Nice Girls Win here.