11/25/2025
In 1889, her husband died and left her a failing company. The bank said sell. Her family said sell. She said "watch me build an empire." March 1889. Grand Rapids, Michigan. Anna Bissell watched her husband die from pneumonia in their bedroom. He was 45. She was 42.
Melville left her with five children to raise alone, a struggling carpet sweeper factory teetering on bankruptcy, and a choice no woman had ever faced.
Everyone—family, friends, business associates, the banks—told her the same thing: Sell the company. Take whatever you can get. Retreat into quiet widowhood like a proper lady.
It was 1889. Women couldn't vote in most states. They couldn't serve on juries. In many places, they couldn't control their own money or property. Female business leadership was so rare it was practically mythological. The boardrooms were closed. The banks were skeptical. Society was hostile. Anna Bissell didn't care.
She walked into that boardroom and took the helm. Not as a temporary caretaker. Not as a figurehead while men made the real decisions.
She was going to run this company. And she was going to make it legendary.
She served on boards for children's homes and hospitals. She became the first female trustee of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The only woman in the National Hardware Men's Association for years. One of her children later wrote: "Her chief joy was to find homes for destitute children. She has placed four hundred at least." Four hundred children found families because of Anna Bissell.
Anna ran Bissell as CEO from 1889 to 1919—thirty years. Then she served as board chairman until her death in 1934 at age 87. She raised five children as a single mother. She built a struggling factory into an international brand.
She pioneered labor practices that wouldn't become standard for decades.
She proved that compassion and capitalism could coexist.
Today, Bissell is still a family company, still headquartered in Grand Rapids. It holds about 20% of the North American floor care market and is worth approximately $1 billion.
In 2016, a seven-foot bronze statue of Anna Bissell was unveiled in downtown Grand Rapids. But her real monument isn't made of bronze. It's every pension plan. Every workers' compensation policy. Every female CEO who followed her path. In 1889, the world told Anna Bissell to step aside because women couldn't lead. She stepped up instead. And swept away every argument against her. Not by being ruthless. Not by becoming like the men who tried to keep her out. By being exactly who she was: brilliant, compassionate, and absolutely unstoppable. The world said women couldn't build empires. Anna Bissell built one anyway—and made sure it lifted everyone up along the way. Anna Bissell (1846-1934) Teacher. Salesperson. CEO. Pioneer. America's first female CEO of a major manufacturing company.
She didn't just break the glass ceiling. She swept it clean.