Brothers Bert and John Jacobs were on a mission to create and sell the best t-shirts they could. At the time, selling t-shirts was very uncommon and an untraditional path to take.

In 1989, they created their first tee shirt. For five years, they traveled the East Coast, trying to convince people, mainly college students, to buy their shirts. And for five years, they didn’t receive much positive feedback. They traveled in their van, living off the meager profits they made. Finally, after years and years of trial and failure, the brothers found the breakthrough that they were looking for. John drew a smiley stick figure and added a positive message to their shirts, and the rest was history. 

“We were searching for so many years for, ‘What do we stand for?'” John says. “Then when we put out this new design, the response was so immediate. It was exactly what we had hoped for.” Under the name Life is Good, they rebranded and relaunched their company, and within three years, they surpassed $1 million in sales. They named their famous smiley stick figure Jake, which means “everything’s all right.” 

Today, Life is Good has expanded its product line beyond t-shirts and has $100 million in sales. They sell in 4,500 stores and have 160 employees. The brothers dedicate all of their success to their mom, who taught them to spread optimism to everyone. “We want to spread this message and help people understand the depth of what that means,” John said. “It’s not that life is easy or life is perfect. It’s that life is good.”

Ingvar was born in rural Sweden and by the age of five, was selling matchbooks, and by the age of ten, was selling pens, pencils, and Christmas tree decorations. When he turned 17, he had a decent amount of money from his sales and because he was doing well in school, his father rewarded him with money.
He founded IKEA that year using those savings and started out very small, selling things such as pens, wallets, watches and picture frames. In 1945, he started selling supplies out of a milk truck, and two years after, he started selling furniture. To reach big cities, Ingvar created IKEA’s iconic catalog that showed what supplies he was selling. At first, customers were skeptical about the quality because of how low the pricing was for the goods.
In 1955, manufacturers boycotted IKEA because of its low prices. Ingvar responded to this boycott by bringing in production and design in-house. Through doing this, he developed the flatpack concept and sold his products in-store. His main goal was to produce good quality furniture for an affordable price, and once that was communicated to customers, his business started expanding worldwide. Stores opened in Norway in 1963 and in Denmark in 1969. From there, it expanded to numerous locations in Europe, as well as Japan, Australia, the U.S, and Canada.
As of 2020, there are 433 stores in 38 countries. As for its founder, Ingvar Kumprad, he grew up humble and was humble for all of his life, despite his enormous wealth. He died in 2018 at the age of 91.

Although North Face is a brand mainly revolving around cold weather, the idea for the brand started near a sunny beach in California. Doug Tompkins, a young climber, used his savings of $5,000 to start a revolution. He put it all towards a small shop in San Francisco, which would later become a massive trading post. He called it The North Face. Many people asked why that name, and he would respond, “The south face is the most often climbed, the snow is softer, and the sunlight makes it warmer. I prefer the more difficult side. The hard, icy face. The North Face is a more difficult challenge. I take that route in life.”

In the beginning, he was an outdoor salesman, convincing anyone who walked by that they needed a sleeping bag or climbing gear. He sold a wide variety of things, but kept making money while he continued to climb and go on adventures with his friend Yvon Chouinard, who would later found Patagonia.

Tompkins’ store really gained popularity when he performed stunts to promote the company. He would do things that would intrigue people, such as when a North Face employee rappelled down a skyscraper. This gained the attention of the media, and attracted more customers. He also advertised his products and put on parties for his customers. To make the parties even more exciting, he hired a band called the Grateful Dead to perform. After these events, the shoppers were invested, and the North Face was officially on the map. Doug opened more stores, and orders continued to pour in. But all the fame and popularity soon got to him. He loved his company, but he loved his climbing and adventuring even more.

He sold the North Face in 1967 and started a 6 month road trip to climb in Patagonia. Little did he know that this trip would change his life – but that’s another story.

Today, the North Face is a massive company known by most people. They sell about everything outdoorsy you could think of – backpacks, jackets, footwear, gear for skiing, hiking, and running, and so much more. They are a sustainable brand and work with non-profit companies and organizations.

Although Doug Tompkins did not continue to run the North Face, he took an idea that he was passionate about and created a huge company that continues to inspire customers today.

https://www.thenorthface.com/en-us

The design behind the million dollar company, Thread Wallets, actually started out as an accident. McKenzie Bauer’s husband, Cody, was body surfing in Hawaii, and had lost his wallet. Until Cody could get a new one, McKenzie sewed him a sleeve made out of a stretchy fabric to hold his cards and cash. Cody ended up using his “wallet” all the time after that. Everytime he pulled it out, people kept asking where he got it. The couple was already thinking about building their own business, so this little sewn sleeve kickstarted an idea. Cody had already started a little on-the-side business selling soccer socks. Noticing the demand and popularity of the wallets, the Bauers decided to toss out their idea of selling soccer socks and devote all their time to Thread Wallets. In the beginning, McKenzie was doing all the sewing for the wallets. But as the business began to grow rapidly, they hired a manufacturer to do the developing. One of the biggest assets of sales for Thread Wallets was Facebook. More specifically, Facebook Marketplace. An ad feature was created on Marketplace that allowed the Bauers to advertise their products. This brought in a 41 percent increase in return on ad spend year over year.

Today, Thread Wallets sells much more than just wallets. They sell lanyards, phone cases, backpacks, fanny packs, cross body bags, tote bags, and much more. What started out as an accidental business idea turned into a million dollar company that keeps on growing. Thread Wallets promotes simplicity and practicality while maintaining style through something as small as your wallet.

Thread Wallets’ story reveals that an idea can come to you when you are least expecting it. The Bauers were looking to start a business, but did not expect to find it making wallets. Their journey shows that any small idea can turn into a big one.

Thread Wallets: https://www.threadwallets.com/