I chose to research a sock brand called Bombas. This business sparked my interest because they have a very unique story and vision for their company. They make extremely high-quality socks with support and thick, tear-proof material. They have gone through trial and error with their design and have looked to other sock brands to differentiate themselves from your run-of-the-mill sock. They provide socks in various patterns colors, lengths, and sizes. While they are a brand that provides socks that are better than their competition, that is not the only thing that sets them apart. For every pair of Bombas a customer orders, they donate a pair. The easiest option for them would be to drop off all the socks to a random charity to distribute, but instead, they choose to partner with specific organizations that combat homelessness. These donations make a huge impact on the people receiving them.  These homeless people describe feeling less than human, and receiving a pair of brand new, high-quality socks makes them feel valued, as opposed to how they usually get people’s leftover unwanted clothing. This brand has become wildly successful because it makes people feel good. They make the customers feel good by donating a pair with every pair bought, and they make the homeless feel good by gifting a brand new pair of socks. This business model has proven to be very successful for them. People want to buy, and they are able to make a real difference in the life of someone who is in a cycle of homelessness.

Me & The Bees Lemonade, founded by young entrepreneur Mikaila, found its beginnings when Mikaila was just four years old. She was stung by a bee one day, and then two weeks later, was stung by another bee! Despite the pain of the bee stings, Mikaila took an interest in bees from that point on. She mixed that new interest and a business idea she was doing on the side, to make Me & the Bees Lemonade! She was already making and selling lemonade, and in adding honey to the mix, she had a new and innovative product! This is an example of a mashup. She took two things that usually might not go together in a traditional sense and combined them to make a new product out of two things that people already like. This is a very innovative process. Additionally, Mikaila used what she was interested in, honey bees and their effects on the environment, and added it to an existing idea, lemonade. When an entrepreneur is passionate about what they are producing, people can tell. Customers are interested in what producers are passionate about. She has also affiliated herself with the Healthy Hive Foundation, which is a nonprofit charity that aims to save bees. Mikaila has also written her own book, Bee Fearless, Dream Like a Kid. Mikaila is an extremely innovative entrepreneur. She did not just stick with her original idea about selling lemonade, but she pivoted and added honey into the mix, differentiating herself from the competition. Since then she has also built her personal brand greatly using social media, by writing her book, and by partnering with charities, all while continuing her education in high school. Mikalia is still very young, and it will be awesome to see hoe she continues to build herself and her cause up in the future.

My good friend and teammate Alex Anderson is the CEO of Radiate Truth, a Christian apparel organization that specializes in hats. She is an amazing entrepreneur in this realm, seeing as she uses her environment as an advantage to her company. Alex attends Grove City, a Christian college, where many of the students openly profess their faith and walk with the Lord. When Alex started this business up, she knew she had her first customer pool right in her backyard. Alex is also very involved at school as a member of the women’s volleyball team and active in her sorority, so she had supportive friends, teammates, and sisters by her side. Many of these people bought her hats in the beginning stages of her operation, and some volunteered to help by modeling her hats for the Radiate Truth Instagram that she runs to promote her business. Many entrepreneurs have no support when they first start up, and they have to convince people to care about their product, but this is where Alex differentiates herself. She is so loved by her community that those around her want to see her succeed and are there to support her from start to finish.

Eve Gay is making strides in the fine jewelry industry with her business STONED. Her company was founded during the pandemic, while she was a senior at Pepperdine University. She has a passion for fine jewelry and creates designs that are timeless, luxurious, and innovative to accommodate to the tastes of the modern man or woman. This business displays innovation by impressing upon the customer that all stones are put through a rigorous process to ensure that they come from an ethical background. She also separates herself from other jewelry businesses by ensuring that the quality of her jewelry will stand the test of time and can become family heirlooms passed down from generation to generation. By adding the familial aspect to her jewelry, Eve creates a story within her product. People love products with a story. STONED represents deep family ties, and that is the type of story that appeals to her target demographic. Her website states that each piece is not just a high-quality, luxury piece of jewelry, but it represents the living legacy of those who wore it before you. Initially, Eve found that she was at a disadvantage in the fine jewelry industry seeing as she is not a generational jeweler and has no background in jewelry. She combatted this disadvantage by utilizing social media to seek out more experienced experts and asking for help. She found a mentor who has since given her advice and influenced her business. One of her obvious strengths is social media, so she took that and ran with it, growing her business immensely through her social media platforms.

Daisy Pops is an innovative cake pop business that had its beginnings in 2011 by math teacher Amy Munca. She started by making cake pops for friends and family for various occasions. She then had her three kids, and her cake pop adventures were put on the back burner. Once her kids reached pre-school age, she whipped the cake pop-making back out and gave them as teacher gifts. Her kids’ teachers absolutely loved them, suggesting she should sell them.  Later, she made cake pops as a side hustle, while still working as a math teacher and raising her kids. This process lasted a while, until life as we knew changed dramatically. In 2020, Covid hit, and Amy’s job changed entirely. She could no longer see her students face to face but rather had to go into remote teaching. This transition made her question whether she loved teaching or if she just lived being around people and making an impact. After a lot of prayers and support, she decided to quit her teaching job and take up cake pops full-time. The story of Amy and her business is one of the things that make it a great venture. This is also a highly innovative business, seeing as Amy and her husband have crossed over to using 3D printing to make her cake pops, decreasing production time significantly. She has also innovated by opening her own Pop Shop. Her business was successful enough to then make a capital investment as large as a shop to make and sell cake pops out of. She also innovated by producing make-your-own cake pop packs that were very popular during the pandemic, as there was much less contact involved. Amy is an inspiration in that she had her life, she had her job, and she had a plan, and then entrepreneurship called and she answered, becoming wildly successful and making an impact in the cake-pop world.

The Giving keys resonate with many people across LA and beyond. It is a business that employs people in need of a second chance to stamp affirming words onto keys to then be put on necklaces. Some of the words that they stamp are abundance, believe, breathe, create, dream, faith, fearless, grace, hope, inspire, love, strength, and warrior. These keys can be bought and given per the struggle the receiver is going through. They started with a musician wearing a key around her neck on tour, when one day she decided to stamp words on them. This business tells a story, and that is why people take part in it. People have a story with their key, depending on the context in which they received the key. This business also is a giving business. If you have a key, you can give it away to someone else who needs the word of encouragement. They employ people who are transitioning out of homelessness, giving them their humanity back and teaching them that they are worthy and loved. That is another brilliant part of this business idea, as it makes people feel good to buy one and support those who have made it. People love stories, and this business utilizes that belief on every level. From the people who make them, to the people to buy them, to the people who receive them from a friend, family member, or even a total stranger. This ingenious business idea has made a real impact on people and has given many hope in hard times. It also has created community and strengthened bonds among friends and others.