Kendra Scott
Philanthropist and Founder & Executive Chairwoman of Kendra Scott, LLC
SPEAKER FEE RANGE: $40,000–$94,000 [FEE NOTE]
TRAVELS FROM: Texas
RELATED TOPICS: CEO & Executive, Design & Fashion, Entrepreneur, Humanitarian & Philanthropy, Women in Business, Youth Advocacy
•Kendra Scott is Executive Chairwoman and Founder of Kendra Scott, LLC, an American fashion and lifestyle brand with over 100 stand-alone retail stores across the United States. Her products are sold internationally in the finest specialty and department stores, as well as online.
•With just $500, she built the brand into a billion-dollar company spanning fashion jewelry, fine jewelry, home, and beauty.
•Her memoir Born to Shine: Do Good, Find Your Joy, and Build a Life You Love details her journey to becoming a self-made billionaire while also building a life rooted in joy, purpose, and doing good.
•An active philanthropist with a history of supporting women and children’s causes, the company has given back over $40 million to local, national, and international causes.
•Kendra was inducted into the Texas Business Hall of Fame and awarded Texas Businesswoman of the Year by the Women’s Chamber of Commerce.
•She was listed by Forbes as one of America's Richest Self-Made Women and named among the Top 100 Entrepreneurs of the Year by Upstart Business Journal.
•Other awards include the EY Entrepreneur of the Year National Award, the Breakthrough Award from the Accessories Council Excellence Awards, Outstanding Mother of the Year by the Mother’s Day Council, and Best CEO by Austin Business Journal.
•With just $500, she built the brand into a billion-dollar company spanning fashion jewelry, fine jewelry, home, and beauty.
•Her memoir Born to Shine: Do Good, Find Your Joy, and Build a Life You Love details her journey to becoming a self-made billionaire while also building a life rooted in joy, purpose, and doing good.
•An active philanthropist with a history of supporting women and children’s causes, the company has given back over $40 million to local, national, and international causes.
•Kendra was inducted into the Texas Business Hall of Fame and awarded Texas Businesswoman of the Year by the Women’s Chamber of Commerce.
•She was listed by Forbes as one of America's Richest Self-Made Women and named among the Top 100 Entrepreneurs of the Year by Upstart Business Journal.
•Other awards include the EY Entrepreneur of the Year National Award, the Breakthrough Award from the Accessories Council Excellence Awards, Outstanding Mother of the Year by the Mother’s Day Council, and Best CEO by Austin Business Journal.
Kendra Scott is a talented designer, loving mom, passionate philanthropist and driven entrepreneur.
As a creative mind with a love of natural gemstones, Kendra designed her first collection of jewelry in 2002 with just $500. Determined to maintain growth and preserve the vision of her business, Kendra waited over 10 years to accept outside investments. She has since grown the company to a billion-dollar valuation with over 100 stores nationwide and a thriving e-commerce and wholesale business. According to a 2018 PitchBook study, Kendra is among only 16 women in the United States to carry the title of founder of a company valued at one billion dollars.
Inspired by the guidance she received during the early days of her business, Kendra actively seeks out opportunities to mentor and support other entrepreneurs, especially women leaders. Beginning September 2019, she is proud to give new life to this passion through a new program at the University of Texas at Austin: The Kendra Scott Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Institute. Uniquely positioned to address the challenges women often face in business, this program will build a pipeline of courageous, creative female leaders who will change the world – in business and beyond.
With Family and Fashion as two core pillars of her business, Kendra maintains a focus on her other core pillar of Philanthropy in all she does. Since 2010, the company has given back over $30 million to local, national and international causes. In 2018 alone, the company gave over $5 million in monetary donations, almost $10 million in in-kind donations, over 2,000 volunteer hours to philanthropic organizations, and partnered with more than 8,000 philanthropic organizations nationwide.
As a creative mind with a love of natural gemstones, Kendra designed her first collection of jewelry in 2002 with just $500. Determined to maintain growth and preserve the vision of her business, Kendra waited over 10 years to accept outside investments. She has since grown the company to a billion-dollar valuation with over 100 stores nationwide and a thriving e-commerce and wholesale business. According to a 2018 PitchBook study, Kendra is among only 16 women in the United States to carry the title of founder of a company valued at one billion dollars.
Inspired by the guidance she received during the early days of her business, Kendra actively seeks out opportunities to mentor and support other entrepreneurs, especially women leaders. Beginning September 2019, she is proud to give new life to this passion through a new program at the University of Texas at Austin: The Kendra Scott Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Institute. Uniquely positioned to address the challenges women often face in business, this program will build a pipeline of courageous, creative female leaders who will change the world – in business and beyond.
With Family and Fashion as two core pillars of her business, Kendra maintains a focus on her other core pillar of Philanthropy in all she does. Since 2010, the company has given back over $30 million to local, national and international causes. In 2018 alone, the company gave over $5 million in monetary donations, almost $10 million in in-kind donations, over 2,000 volunteer hours to philanthropic organizations, and partnered with more than 8,000 philanthropic organizations nationwide.
- Born to Shine: Kendra Scott’s Journey to Doing Good, Finding Joy, and Building a Life She Loves
By any measure, Kendra Scott is a woman who has it all: a self-made billionaire, a generous philanthropist, and a mother of three with a squad of strong female friendships. Sounds pretty perfect, right? But perfection is a myth that doesn’t serve any of us. Perfection isn’t just a lie, it’s exhausting, and Kendra is tired of it.
In this conversation, Kendra takes audiences on a journey of personal stories and hard-earned life lessons, from her humble beginnings as an awkward, bullied young girl in small-town Wisconsin to launching a business in her spare bedroom with $500. Despite pitfalls, missteps, and failures, Kendra discusses how she built a life—and a career—rooted in joy, purpose, and doing good. Audiences will walk away inspired to embrace both the messiness and the magic that life has in store for them.
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