Author Archive for Elaina Kimpel

Bizchair

Posted by Elaina Kimpel 
· Sunday, December 14th, 2014 
· 2 Comments

Now you have heard story from story of people starting business from their garage, well Sean Belnick is way different; he started his from his bedroom.  The only thing this 14 year old had was $500 and a great idea he got from his Stepdad.  His Stepdad worked in the office furniture business and Belnick always heard him talk about the lack of quality of office chairs for a good price.  Like all great entrepreneurs he saw a problem and thought of a way to fix it.

His idea for fixing it was locking himself up in his room until he came up with BizChair.  Although his business started small by selling chairs from his house, the word spread about how amazing BizChair’s prices and great quality chairs, Belnick had to get a new place.  After he raised up enough money, he was able to open up a new place.

Over the years, Belnick had become more and more successful and is doing great today!  Bizchair not sells office chairs, but, he sells office furniture, restaurant furniture, school furniture, home furniture and more.  For something today we would think so simple to sell and that anyone could do it, Sean Belnick thought of the idea right on time and is now making lots of money.  Thanks for reading, happy blogging!

2 Comments
Categories : Millennial Enrepreneuers, Technology, Uncategorized, Websites

Dream Closet?

Posted by Elaina Kimpel 
· Saturday, November 15th, 2014 
· 5 Comments

Now ladies, how many times have you seen a dress watching the VMA’s, Red Carpet Awards, Counrty Music Awards, or any other awards show that you wish you could just wear it for one night?  Are you jealous of the guys being able to rent their tuxes for one night and returning it the next day while you have to buy a dress that you probably won’t even wear again?  Would you love the idea of getting expensive dresses for cheap by only renting them for a night?  Well Jennifer Hyman was thinking the exact same thing and thought of a way to fix that.  She created Rent the Runway.  On the website it says:

“Rent the Runway is a fashion company with a technology soul. Powered by a transformative business model, proprietary technology, a unique reverse-logistics operation and some of the smartest people on earth, we’re in a position to challenge old systems and rewrite new rules. By giving people access to remarkable luxury experiences, we’re changing the meaning of ownership — and revolutionizing retail in the process.”

Hyman compares her business to one of your best friends, only with a much bigger closet.  I don’t know about you but I always love borrowing my friends clothes.  Once you get online the overall all process is really simple.  You can start by setting up the date for which you need the dress, accessories if you would like too, then look through their collection for your rental day.  Next narrow it down by designer, price, length, or whatever you like to find the perfect outfit.  After that you book the outfit for a 4 or 8 day rental period and it should come in 1 or 2 days before your event.  For that one night you can feel like a princess and return it the next day in their pre-paid envelope they already provided you with.  You don’t even have to dry clean it or anything because they will take care of that for you.  The only thing Rent the Runway asks you to do is to upload a photo online and review the dress on their website so others can see how fabulous the dress was.

When Hyman first suggested her idea of Rent the Runway to a boardroom full of partners at a big-time Boston venture capital firm, one of the of the men interrupted her and said, “You are just too cute. You get this big closet and get to play with all these dresses and can wear whatever you want. This must be so much fun!”  Thinking that comment would stop her from making Rent the Runway, this only made her want to pursue the idea even more and I’m glad she did.  Rent the Runway is such a creative and innovative idea because no one has done this before.  I have always been interested in the idea of clothing and fashion for starting my own business so it is an inspiration for myself that even though she was shut down at first, she kept going and created something amazing.  I will for sure be using Rent the Runway for different special occasions in the up coming future and suggesting it to all the girls I know.  Thanks for reading and happy blogging!

5 Comments
Categories : Apparel/Accessories, Beauty, Fashion, Great Ideas, Millennial Enrepreneuers, Technology, Uncategorized

Gianna Fair Trade

Posted by Elaina Kimpel 
· Friday, October 31st, 2014 
· 3 Comments

Gianna’s life wasn’t all smiles in the beginning like you see her now.  When she was young her parents were divorced and she ended up living in a woman’s shelter for a while.  Even though she did not know at the time, through the shelter was where she would find her passion for women’s empowerment and equality.  Gianna knew education was her way out of the poverty and studied hard so she could get out.  She worked so hard that she went to college at the age of 16 and was the first of her family to go.  After she graduated she move to San Francisco and worked in commercial insurance. However, she wasn’t doing what she loved.  She wanted to help empower women abroad and women who had similar situations to her mother.  So in 2005, Gianna Fair Trade was created.

Gianna Fair Trade is a website where people are able to buy scarves and shawls, home accents, and living room and bedroom pillows.  A lot of these items are made buy woman all over the world.  Her website tells us, “We work with severely disadvantaged artisans around the world who typically live in rural poor villages or urban slums. GIANNA provides sustainable opportunities for meaningful work and on-going support, giving artisans a means to improve their lives and achieve their dreams.”  Gianna travels to go meet with different groups around the world and if they truly have a passion to work hard and improve their lives and the lives in their communities, she discusses what their needs, fair trade, and other matters specific to their village are and then decides whether to work with them or not.  Whenever you buy an item, the woman who made the product receive between 25 percent and 58 percent of the retail prices of their products.  You are not only helping Gianna and her business, but you are helping send someone’s child to school, helping someone get food, or helping a person around the world in another way.

Although there are only a few things that are being sold, what Gianna Fair Trade does have is very stylish and cute for woman who are interested in scarves and shawls, home accents, and living room and bedroom pillows.  My sister is getting married soon so maybe I’ll have to buy her something off of there so I can not only help my sister’s sense of style, but help another woman or community around the world in need.  I found the website to be easy to navigate around and I could find anything I wanted without a problem.  Definitely check it out and have your mother’s and grandmother’s look at it too!  Thanks for reading, happy blogging!

3 Comments
Categories : Apparel/Accessories, Fashion, Millennial Enrepreneuers, Uncategorized

Miss O & Friends

Posted by Elaina Kimpel 
· Wednesday, October 15th, 2014 
· 1 Comment

Miss O & Friends is a website that is directed towards girls who are in middle school.  Miss O & Friends was started by a girl named Juliette Brindak when she was the age of 10 with the help of her mother and father.  It all started when she was on her way home from vacation and she was drawing little cartoons of girls that she called “Cool Girls”.  Her mother was a graphic designer so she thought it would be fun to take the drawings and put them on the computer for her.  On Juliette’s little sister’s birthday, her mom blew up the drawings so all of her little sister’s friends could see what they had been working on and have “Miss O-like” characters for them.  They absolutely loved them.

When Juliette was 13 years old, her sister was 8 and was going to be a middle schooler in the near future.  Juliette was aware of how stressful middle school could be and didn’t want her sister to have to deal with all of the struggles that it brought.  She wanted to come up with a place where girls could go and feel relaxed, take their mind off the drama of school, and help them through the difficult years to come.  That is when the real idea of Miss O & Friends came into play.  Since her mom was a graphic designer and her father knew a little bit about business, Miss O & Friends was launched in April 2005.

Now you might be asking, “What is Miss O & Friends even about”?  Well, it is a place where young girls can play games, take quizzes, and participate in different online contests.  You are also able to see what is trending in the world and listen to the music that is popular today.  Overall, it’s a great place for middle school girls to keep their mind off of what is going on in school.

After exploring the website for a little while and looking around, I am a little jealous and wish I knew about this when I was younger.  Miss O & Friends has a lot of very cool things to do for young girls and it is creative.  It would have been a great place to go and explore when I was having trouble in my middle school years.  If you have a younger sister, I would totally recommend you tell her about Miss O & friends because there are a lot of cool things for her to do on here.  Happy Blogging!

1 Comment
Categories : Millennial Enrepreneuers, Uncategorized

Stinky Feet Gurlz?

Posted by Elaina Kimpel 
· Friday, October 3rd, 2014 
· 4 Comments

When I first came across the name “Stinky Feet Gurlz” I was like “Yes! Something that I can put in my track shoes for when it rains and they are smelly”.  Little did I know that this company had nothing at all to do with smelly shoes or feet at all.  Stinky Feet Gurlz is a business that was created by Asya Gonzalez at the 14 that involves apparel and accessory items.  These items are fun, simple, and cute clothes and accessories is designs based off of the 1940’s.  These clothes and accessories include t-shirts and a different variety of knitted hats.

Aside from the clothing and accessories, Gonzalez reaches out to people all over the country.  She speaks to large groups of students and teachers about following their dreams with Independent Youth; a peer-to-peer mentorship program that empowers today’s teens to become tomorrow’s business leaders.  She also is actively involved in being a teen radio host that gives teens advice and talks about almost anything.

Other than running her own business at a young age, talking to people about following their dreams, and speaking on a radio show, another thing that makes Gonzalez unique is that she donates a little bit from ever sale to her charity She Is Worth It!.  This charity is about bringing people aware of child sex slavery.  She Is Worth It’s goal is to “have an educational program in EVERY school across America exposing the dangers of trafficking, warning girls that these Pimps are calling themselves “boyfriends” and what our youth and our public MUST know to alert to the issues.”  I think this is so awesome because after recently watching that video about this topic last week, it is a true motivation to see that someone so young is supporting such a great cause.

If you think any of Asya Gonzalez items are cute, I think you should definitely invest in her products!  Not only are you supporting her growing business and getting cute items, you are supporting to the cause of raising awareness about human trafficking.  Happy Blogging!

4 Comments
Categories : Apparel/Accessories, Beauty, Fashion, Great Ideas, Jewelry, Millennial Enrepreneuers, Uncategorized

One White Shoe

Posted by Elaina Kimpel 
· Tuesday, September 16th, 2014 
· 2 Comments

1507458_877937265568676_1394788366489788893_oIf I know anything about my best friend Katie Schallick it is that she is a hipster. Before skinny jeans came into style, she would safety pin her regular jeans so they would be tight around her legs. After other girls saw what she had done, a majority of girls in our grade followed her example and started to wear “skinny jeans” as well. Another thing she did was bring back the style of having bangs because she was simply “bored of being like everyone else”. This then lead to being different by drawing on her shoes. It all started back in sixth grade when Katie was bored in science class and decided she would draw on her brand new Converse.  Even though she knew she her parents would yell at her later, all she wanted to do was express herself by drawing on her shoes. Soon after that, people were stopping her in the hallways, calling her home phone, messaging her on AIM,  and asking her about drawing on their shoes. This was the beginning of One White Shoe.

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What makes Katie Schallick’s idea unique is the fact that she took something as simple as drawing on her shoes and turned it into a business at the age of 12 years old. This makes it creative because I do not know of another business that involves a person drawing or painting on shoes for profit. She took something that was boring, or without life you could say, and gave it color; she made plain white shoes fun.

Katie is an inspiration to me because it blows my mind that she was only 12 years old and she started a business. She showed me that anyone can start a business at any age and you can be very successful. All you need is an idea, some creativity, and your future business possibilities are endless.

If you desire to get your own pair of shoes done by Katie Schallick, you can best reach her at her Facebook page and email her from there. Happy Blogging!

2 Comments
Categories : Apparel/Accessories, Fashion, Uncategorized