Trajectory of a fourth-generation female entrepreneur as seen through a monomyth lens – Casa Ermelinda Freitas

Abstract As family business research has expanded and evolved there has been a growing need to incorporate new methodological approaches in the field. This article introduces the use of Campbell’s monomyth as a technique for narrative smoothing when structuring interview data, particularly that relating to entrepreneurial trajectories. The authors exemplify its use by applying it as a lens to characterize the trajectory of a fourth-generation woman entrepreneur, a wine producer in rural Portugal, and they discuss insights provided by this approach. The case analyzed is also presented as an exemplar of a narrative featuring a successful lifestyle entrepreneur as hero, one that demonstrates an alternative model to the common image of entrepreneur as a tech-savvy male would-be millionaire.