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SHEspeaks: Failing Forward in Entrepreneurship
October 16 @ 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Location:
Crum Auditorium in the Robert Rowling Hall on UT Austin Campus
About this Session:
SHEspeaks: Failing Forward in Entrepreneurship
Save the date for our KS WELI SHEspeaks: Failing Forward in Entrepreneurship event. Join us for an inspiring fireside chat with Jennifer Hyman, Co-Founder and CEO of Rent the Runway, followed by her moderation of a panel featuring remarkable women founders and leaders. They’ll share their stories of resilience in entrepreneurship and offer insights on navigating business pivots and more.
About the Speakers:
Jennifer Hyman, Co-Founder & CEO of Rent the Runway
Jennifer Hyman is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Rent the Runway, a company that is disrupting the trillion-dollar fashion industry and changing the way women get dressed through the Closet in the Cloud, the world’s first and largest shared designer closet. In her role, Jennifer sets the strategic priorities and leads the company in growing all areas of the business, including marketing, technology, merchandising, supply chain and data science. She co-founded Rent the Runway in 2009 and its mission has been the same ever since: to power women to feel their best every day. The brand offers women the ability to subscribe, rent items a-la-carte and shop resale from hundreds of designer partners, driven by a two-sided discovery engine that connects deeply engaged customers and differentiated brand partners on a powerful platform built around its brand, data, logistics and technology. Jennifer serves on the Board of Directors of The Estée Lauder Companies and Zalando, and also is a Founding Member of the NYSE Board Advisory Council, a Member of the Women.nyc Advisory Board and a Member of the Launch with GS Advisory Council for Goldman Sachs. She received her BA from Harvard University cum laude and MBA from Harvard Business School and lives in Brooklyn with her husband and three children Aurora, Selene, and Desi.
April Dominguez, Former Founder and CEO
April Dominguez is a Native American & Latinx founder & former CEO of HANDSOME App – the leading platform for hairstylists and barbers to find community, career advice and mentorship, that grew to nearly 50K members. Prior to Handsome, she was the 5th hire at an investment startup that raised and deployed $130M in Joint Venture Capital. She led Handsome in raising nearly $3M in funding, when only 0.4% of venture capital dollars go to Latina Female Founders. She was one of the first 100 Latinas to raise over $1M in funding as of 2021 and she was the first ever Latinx recipient of the Google for Startups Latino Founders Fund $100K cash award. April has been featured in TechCrunch, Business Insider, American Salon, Modern Salon, DocSend and recognized as a Top 50 Startup to Watch and Austin A-List Finalist. Her mission is to inspire and represent the Underdog.
Maggie Brown, Founder and CEO of Recess Pickleball
Maggie Brown is the founder and CEO of Recess Pickleball, a dynamic lifestyle pickleball brand based in Austin, Texas. Since the company’s founding in 2021, Maggie has been the driving force behind its explosive growth, transforming it from a pandemic passion project to a renowned pickleball gear company with a focus on quality and design. Prior to establishing Recess Pickleball, Maggie worked in strategic partnerships for Uber, where she played an instrumental role in growing the food delivery market. Maggie also served as Vice President of Action in Africa, a nonprofit and community-based organization that operates a thriving community center in Uganda. Maggie graduated from The University of Texas at Austin, where she received her B.S. in International Relations and Affairs in 2016. When she’s not busy leading Recess, Maggie loves traveling, being outside, and hosting dinner parties.
Rajaa Grar
A seasoned C-suite executive with a 20-year marketing and business career in the US and globally at Fortune 100 companies, i.e., Starbucks, Kellogg’s, and Amazon. Credited with transforming and catapulting niche brands into household names; i.e: Paula’s Choice Skincare and C4 Energy , leading them to successful strategic outcomes and skyrocketing valuations in 2020 and 2022. Rajaa is currently a venture partner with early-stage consumer VC Springdale Ventures, based in Austin.