Lauren Bush, granddaughter of former President George W. Bush, was born in Denver, Colorado but was raised in Houston, Texas. She grew up in the spotlight, earning an internship with the NBC sitcom, Friends, and modeling. After graduating from Princeton University with a B.A. in anthropology and a certificate in photography, she signed with Elite Model Management. Although she loves modeling and fashion, her heart was pulling her in a different direction.
At the age of 26, Lauren Bush launched FEED Projects, which is a social enterprise. Emerging after Lauren traveled the world with World Food Programme, FEED believes what people choose to buy has the power to change the world. FEED offers everything from accessories to home goods, while working directly with artisans to provide sustainable lives for the partnership and families.
As of October of 2017, FEED Projects has donated over 100 million meals through their sales and fundraisers. Through her work with FEED, Lauren Bush was the first National Lady Godiva Honoree and in 2013, she accepted the Advocacy Award from the World of Children Awards. She was also named Fortune‘s 2009 Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs, the 2010 Accessories Council Humanitarian Award, 2011 Stevie Award for Best Non-Profit Executive, and named Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneurs.
Lauren Bush has impacted lives worldwide; she understood not only how to directly help feed hungry children worldwide, but how to create jobs for artisan individuals to provide an income for them and their families. She took two causes that she felt passionate about and figured out how to provide for both of them within one business.
Many young women looking to make a difference in this world can look to Lauren Bush. While incorporating her passion for fashion and feeding the hungry, she has helped to change the lives of many while being an inspiration for young, loving entrepreneurs everywhere.
(and used their health plan just as much, they like to say). With their credit cards they used all they could to personally finance their dream of living the good life.
Susan Gregg-Koger, a CMU alum, is the CEO and co-founder of Modcloth.com. She began this business over 15 years ago in 2002 by collecting and selling vintage clothing online. This company all started the summer before her freshman year of college, as a way to support her passion for thrifting. Here we see the idea of how one can use their passion to start a unique business.
Attention all men, I have a question for you. Have you ever felt like your personality has been restricted by the professional clothes you wear? When it is the time to suit up, do you feel like you look like every other man putting on a suit? I would like to introduce to you Moziah Bridges, the designer of Mo’s Bows.
Thomas created her jewelry line in 2005 when she was 16 years old, her after school obsession becoming a profitable business with unique accessories. While at Fred Segal, she randomly met a buyer who wanted her jewelry in all of their stores around the country. That was the first step for Luv AJ on the road of becoming a global empire. A student under famous designers such as Rachel Pally, Christina Ehrlich, and Estee Stanley, Thomas learned how to best create unique jewelry that appeals to lots of different crowds. Now, Luv AJ has boutiques all over the country and the jewelry is popular with a lot of celebrities. People like Beyoncé, Bella Hadid, Kylie Jenner, Emily Ratajkowski, and Emma Roberts all praise Luv AJ and the unique heavy chains and spikes unique to that line.
that really shows an entrepreneurial mind. Forbes describes Thomas as a “digital native”, manipulating social media trends to bring her designs and products to the forefront of the market. From the start, Thomas used Instagram to immerse her brand in the world. She uses her talent for design to create an amazing Instagram page for her products that visual appealing. “Our Instagram grid is a mix of close up shots of ears, necks, and hands, lookbook and campaign imagery, photos of influencers and celebrities wearing the jewelry, and flat lays,” she says.
Thomas’ innovation with social media marketing and networking has paid off, big time. Yet she doesn’t rest on her success. She continues to build new relationships to increase her reach. Sometimes she directly messages influences to build a relationship, sometimes she gets referrals from others she’s worked with. Either way, she strives to create partnerships with new people to open up new markets. With products at $100 or lower, her line is spiking in popularity.