One of Philadelphia’s first female stockbrokers. The first woman real estate developer in America to renovate old factory buildings into historic condos. A woman not afraid to volunteer in one of the nation’s highest-security prisons. A woman who started one of the first websites to help seniors in need.
And a woman who didn’t know who she was until the age of eighty-two.
Meet Florence Klein, a trailblazer who grew up during the Second World War, decided one day at the age of twelve that she needed to take charge of her life, and lived it that way for the next seven decades.
Always impeccably dressed, Florence learned to keep her hat on—literally—as she navigated the male-dominated worlds of finance, real estate, and business while raising a family and following her dreams, no matter how utterly unorthodox they were.
In this candid memoir, Florence also shares her thoughts with a new generation of women and men about living a life of courage, purpose, inclusion, and kindness in a world that can be confusing and cruel.
Her remarkable life story proves that we each have what it takes to be trailblazers—and to encourage others to become them too.
Author Bio
Florence Klein was born in Philadelphia during the Great Depression. Refusing to be discouraged by social norms that typically restricted women at that time, she became one of Philadelphia’s first female stockbrokers, graduated from the Wharton School, and pursued careers in finance and real estate development. She has three children and lives on Bainbridge Island, Washington.
Florence Under the Hat 