this founder dropped out of

this founder dropped out of college to build a billion dollar jewelry brand. Welcome back to my series Founder Files where I dive into founders and their stories. Kendra Scott dropped out of Texas A&M at 19 to help her stepfather who was battling cancer to help pay medical bills. She started the Hat Box, which was a boutique selling comfortable and stylish hats for women while running the store. She realized that the handmade jewelry that she put on the side kept selling out. So in 2002 with $500 and a three month old baby, she launched her own jewelry brand at home, making bold colorful pieces with semi-precious stones. She packed her samples in tea boxes and went store to store pitching her jewelry. And on day one, for the first few years, she sold out. The brand was growing through wholesale, but in 2008 when she was just days away from shutting down her own business, a local banker who was also a customer agreed to extend her line of credit after she pitched a pivot. Instead of selling through others, she would open her own store. So in 2010 she opened her first store in Austin. This space wasn't just a store. It had a Color Bar where customers could design their own jewelry pieces and even doubled as an event space. By 2014, there were dozens of Kendra Scott stores. In 2016, Berkshire Partners invested in the company that pushed its valuation to over a billion dollars. And Kendra became one of the few female founders that hit unicorn status while retaining majority of her company. By 2019, Kendra Scott had opened over 100 stores, hitting over 500 million annual revenue. In 2021, she stepped down as CEO to become the executive chairwoman and chief creative officer. She also joined Shark Tank as a guest investor and launched a Woman's Entrepreneurship Lab in 2024. They brought on a new partnership with 65 Equity Partners. Who should I cover next?