Kendra Scott, a local business right out of Austin, Texas, started her business, Kendra Scott Designs, in the jewelry industry in 2002.
She has made jewelry for her family and friends as gifts, but never really thought of opening her own store until she was on bed rest after giving birth to her son. She started her business from an extra bedroom in her home with only $500. The jewelry industry irritated her because it was either super expensive prices or cheap prices but low-quality designs. Since this irritated her she started making jewelry in the middle range between expensive and cheap. By starting her business between those price ranges, she could be very successful in her new venture because she had a specific target market set.
Since her first store opened in 2010 on South Congress Avenue in Austin, Texas, it has continued to be a fast-growing venture in the Austin area. Kendra Scott is a well-known brand all across the United States and is continuing to build stores in different cities and states.
According to an article about Kendra Scott, she believes “It’s the struggle that makes us stronger” (Jones, 2015, p.1). The struggles she mentioned in that sentence is referring to the obstacles she had to overcome was the amount of funding she started with, hiring the right employees, and trying again when her first business failed. Since she started out with only $500 it made it difficult to grow quickly and made it more stressful during the first year of operations.
Hiring the right people was also an obstacle she had to overcome because, “the importance of hiring the right people who not only have great talent but also share the same passion and vision you have for your company and fit in with your company culture” (Pope, 2014, p.1). An applicant may look good on paper but it is very important to make sure that person fits into your company’s culture and wants the same things as you for the company. If not, that person will be more likely to slack off and not do the best job they could if they fit in your company better. She even admitted that hiring the right people, “was a lesson I had to learn the hard way” (Pope, 2014, p.1).
Even though her first business failed, it gave her the experience she needed to start her second venture. Being able to have the experience she had with her first business, helped her when her second business took off quickly. Even though Kendra Scott’s first business failed, she feels that the failure helped her success of her second.
Kendra Scott overcame these obstacles and continue to be a successful business by overcoming the little bumps in the road. She overcame hiring the right people by a learning experience when she made a mistake of hiring someone that did not fit her company.
Kendra Scott is a role model to many women entrepreneurs because even though her first business failed, she did not give up and went out and started a second venture that has been extremely successful. Kendra Scott is also able to see her mistakes as learning experiences because everyone is going to make mistakes so why not learn from them and know what to do next time.
Another thing about Kendra Scott is that she always puts her family first. Even though Kendra Scott is the Chief Executive Officer of a multimillion dollar company, she is a mom first (Ibrahim, 2013, p.2). Being a mother of two boys, making jewelry, and being the CEO keeps her busy but she is doing what she loves and that is what matters “. . .even if that means staying up until 1 am working after they’ve gone to sleep,” (Ibrahim, 2013, p.2). Putting family first does not only apply to her but to her employees as well.
Kendra Scott is also big on giving to the less fortunate which is something I truly love about her. Giving back is “just part of who she is and how she was raised,” (Meet Kendra Scott, 2015, p.4). Many young entrepreneurs like to have someone to look up to, and if you are a woman she is a great person to choose as your role model.
She makes a wonderful role model for aspiring female entrepreneurs who want to have a family but also dream of one day owning their own business and being successful just like Kendra Scott.
She shows them that their dream is possible with a little hard work and dedication.
Sources
Entis, L. (2015, April 13). From an Extra Bedroom to 20 Stores and Counting: How Kendra Scott Created a Multimillion-Dollar Jewelry Empire. Retrieved April 13, 2017, from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/244921
Ibrahim, J. (2013, July 15). How one ‘mompreneur’ turned $500 into millions. Retrieved April 13, 2017, from http://www.cnbc.com/id/100724099
Jones, M. (2015, November 12). 5 Secrets From Powerhouse Jewelry Designer Kendra Scott. Retrieved April 24, 2017, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeljones/2015/11/12/5secretsfromkendrascott/#4fb5f09b6e43
Meet Kendra Scott, Homemade Millionaire. (2016, April 10). Retrieved April 24, 2017, from http://www.success.com/article/meet-kendra-scott-homemade-millionaire
Pope, C. (2014, June 6) Entrepreneur Of The Year: Kendra Scott. Retrieved April 24, 2017, from http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/print-edition/2014/06/06/entrepreneur-of-the-year-kendra-scott.html
