Discover how thriving entrepreneurs transformed their small businesses into industry success stories.
Founders: Heather Hasson (fashion designer) and Trina Spear (ex-investment banker)
The Spark: In 2013, Hasson watched her nurse friend struggle with boxy, scratchy scrubs during a coffee meeting. Inspired by this, The FIGS was born. “Why do athletes get performance gear, but lifesavers don’t?” she wondered. That night, she sketched designs for modern scrubs on a napkin.
On a humid Hong Kong night in 2008, Johnny Mak and Ross Adrian Yip sat hunched over laptops, surrounded by stacks of shoeboxes and the hum of city life. They weren’t sneaker moguls-yet. But they were sneakerheads with a vision: to break down the barriers of exclusivity and make sneaker culture accessible to everyone, not just the few who could score rare drops or pay luxury prices. This is the story of how KICKS CREW sprinted from a grassroots dream to a global powerhouse, reshaping the sneaker marketplace for millions.
continue readingIn 2021, British model and body positivity advocate Iskra Lawrence stood on a beach, her skin glowing from the ocean mist, when she had an epiphany: Why can’t body care feel this liberating? Years earlier, Lawrence had battled body dysmorphia and disordered eating, but her journey to self-acceptance revealed a gap in the market. While luxury skincare thrived, body care remained stale, unsustainable, and exclusionary. This is The Saltair Revolution
continue readingIn 2007, childhood friends Danny Harris and Marco DeGeorge traded corporate careers for yoga mats, driven by a shared belief: “Clothing should fuel movement, and movement should fuel consciousness.” Harris, recovering from anxiety, and DeGeorge, healing a back injury, discovered yoga’s transformative power. Their eureka moment? Premium yoga wear that merged performance with runway-ready style-a gap in the $58B athleisure market. This is The Alo Yoga Revolution.
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