Andi Atteberry, is the founder of Blingsting! Blingsting is a pepper spray container with a feminine makeover. The idea started in her home with her family! Andi’s father often brought home pepper spray for her family members. Personal safety was emphasized, and taking precautions was encouraged.

Blingsting is different because it has a feminine flare. It is a can of pepper spray with a rhinestone case and a heart-shaped nozzle. It is special for girls, and encourages personal safety. Blingsting is being sold across the country. They are selling it in hardware and hunting stores! Some high end stores in Los Angeles have also picked up the product. The business is growing!

I am impressed by Blingsting. The Blingsting team was able to take something very masculine and make it attractive to women. Personal safety precautions are never bad, and you might as well look cute while protecting yourself!

More information and photos can be found at http://www.blingsting.com/

Man Can, started by 14 year old, Hart Main, is a small business focused on men being men. While watching his sister sell girly scented candles for a school fundraiser, Hart Main had an idea! He decided that there was a lack of manly scented candles on the market.

Main put up one hundred dollars toward the business, and his parents put up 200 dollars toward the business. As a group, they developed scents such as Campfire, Bacon, Sawdust, Fresh Cut Grass, and Grandpa’s Pipe. Currently ManCans are sold in 60 stores across the country. About 9,000 candles have been sold!

I admire Hart because of his age and ability to see a new branch for a product! I would look for his candles! His innovation and mindset for business will take him far.

Two Harvard graduates, Hayley Barna and Katia Beauchamp, started a business called Birchbox. Their idea was to get women to subscribe monthly to boxes of beauty products that get mailed directly to their homes. These boxes contain four or five sample size products for the women to try!

This business offers a unique experience and service for consumers. People who subscribe get to try new products and and to replenish products that they already love. This business also allows founders to connect new consumers with a variety of brands and products.

Birchbox is a very popular business.  Few women want to purchase a lot of products in search for their next favorite brand. Sifting through products and trying new products can be expensive and time consuming. Birchbox provides women with the opportunity to try a variety of products that are trusted and popular already.

To get their business off the ground, Birchbox founders emailed beauty product manufacturers for sample size products to send to people during a beta test. While this was a difficult task, the hard work paid off! The company has grown greatly, there are currently 500 brand partners, 400,000 paid subscribers, and about 150 people working for Birchbox.

This is not a random experiment for beauty products. Customers put in their preferences or needs- dry skin, curly hair, etc. These preferences are taken into account and then the samples that are shipped are particular to their needs. Also, Birchbox subscribers can shop at the website! It really is a full service business.

http://www.birchbox.com/

Maddie Bradshaw is a young adolescent with an affinity for creativity and design. She came up with her business idea when she experienced difficulty finding magnets for her locker in the fifth grade. She decided she could make her own!

Maddie creates and designs Snap Caps, a bottle cap necklace. It is interchangeable! This opens up many opportunities for children to trade with each other, or just create their own collection. The company was started by Maddie, her sister Margot, and their mother. The three of them make up the m3 girl design team!

Currently, Maddie and her company are located in Dallas, Texas. In 2008, she accrued 1.6 million dollars in revenue. She currently employs 25 people. In addition to her Snap Caps, Maddie also has written a book for young children hoping to start their own business. Entreprenurial information is given in an easy to read and understand way for young kids .

Young entrepreneurs, especially girls, should look to Maddie for inspiration. She was 13 when she started her company! All it takes is some creativity, hard work, and determination to turn dreams into reality.

More information can be found at, http://www.m3girldesigns.com/