
Founder Stories
We're inspired by founders who are changing the way the world buys, sells, and thinks. Below, we cover the ups and downs of those who’ve built something from the ground up in hopes that through their challenges and victories, you can find purpose and inspiration for whatever idea you’ve been thinking about.


Community and Competition: Inside the Mind of a 19-Year-Old Founder

Ollies and Ocean Life: Inside the Mind of a 14-Year-Old Founder

If You Build It They Will Come—But It Might Not Be Who You Expected

Books and Big Dreams: Inside the Mind of a 19-Year-Old Founder

Overdraft: KOTN’s Founder Talks Hard Times and Soft Shirts

Cartoons and Coding: Inside the Mind of an 11-Year-Old Founder

Overdraft: How One Founder Built A Braiding Business—from her Living Room

Beezus and Boxer Shorts: Inside the Minds of Two School-Aged Founders

Overdraft: How this Eyewear Mogul Started a Business from a Backpack

Pecans and Politics: Inside the Mind of a 12-Year-Old Founder

Social Studies and Stationery: Inside the Mind of a 10-Year-Old Founder

Overdraft: How This Army Vet Fought His Way out of a Financial Ambush

Beagles and Basketball: Inside the Mind of a 12-Year-Old Founder

Vanguard: How A Tribe Called Red Brought Activism to the Dance Floor

Overdraft: The Dark Side of Overnight Success

Overdraft: How Native Poppy Bloomed—Even Through Its Founder’s Darkest Days

Sharks and Shooting Hoops: Inside the Minds of Two School-Aged Founders

Vanguard: This Latinx Bath Brand Is Bubbling with Nostalgia

How to Be a Boss: 18 Tips from This Is Us’ Randall and Beth Pearson

Bath Bombs and Batman: Inside the Mind of a 6-Year-Old Founder

Vanguard: The Unique Voice Behind Gender-fluid Wellness Products

How to Be a Boss: 10 Tips from Shrill

Outraged: T-shirts and the Ongoing Fight for Women’s Equality

STEM and Stargate Atlantis: Inside the Mind of a 11-Year-Old Founder

Vanguard: Meet the Nigerian Publisher Heating Up African Romance Novels

How to Be a Boss: 12 Tips from The Crown

Overdraft: Success for This Founder—at First—Simply Meant Surviving

Baseball and Black Panther: Inside the Mind of an 11-Year-Old Founder

Vanguard: This Artist Conjured a Magical World of Black Anime Characters

How to Be a Boss: 16 Tips from Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

Overdraft: Will His Family’s Food Business Turn into a Recipe for Success?

Sloths and Shiny Things: Inside the Mind of a 10-Year-Old Founder

Introducing Homework—A Series Taking You Inside the Minds of Kid Founders

Vanguard: How Northbound Leather Became a Thriving Fetish Wear Company

How to Be a Boss: 12 Tips from GLOW

How Tibetan Monks and Cross-Country Moves Inspired This Artist’s Journey

Vanguard: He Ditched a Government Job to Start a Skin-Care Line for Men of Color

How to Be a Boss: 19 Tips from Schitt’s Creek

Overdraft: She Spent Retirement Savings to Launch These Building Toys—Without Regret

“It’s Never Been a Fear of Mine to Try Things”

How an Ex-Financier Built a Beauty Behemoth from her Kitchen

Vanguard: The Lengths This Indigenous Jeweler Went to for Her Craft

How to Be a Boss: 16 Tips from Orange Is the New Black

Overdraft: When This Self-Made Beauty Boss Risked Everything

Behind the Curtain: How This Magician Turned an Art Form Into a Business

Vanguard: She Traded a Career in Law for High-Fashion Hijabs

How to Be a Boss: 19 Tips from Big Little Lies

These Brothers Run a Business—Between Football Practice and Playing with Lego
