Jess Ekstrom was 20 when she did an internship with a wish-granting organization for children with cancer. She saw how much young girls were affected by losing their hair from chemotherapy, and how much they enjoyed wearing headbands because they didn’t have hair. This inspired her to start Headbands of Hope, which began selling headbands  and would donate a headband to a child with cancer as well as $1 to cancer research for each headband sold. Headbands for Hope now also sells buffs, necklaces, bracelets, and many other items, and for each item sold, a headband is given to a child with cancer.

Jess was CEO of Headbands for Hope for half of her college career, and talks about how being an entrepreneur in college is very convenient in her Entrepreneur Magazine article. She was able to make her class assignments relate directly to her business so she could receive professional feedback that allowed her to have clear direction on how to improve her business. She is a great example of what Michael Kobold said in class when he visited – you can never start too early.

Jess also does public speaking at colleges and corporations. In her college keynote, she emphasizes that there is no need to put off a business until after college and it is beneficial to start as soon as possible. Her blog is also very interesting, I recommend you check it out!