mission-driven-business
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Karissa Bodnar and the Business of Keeping a Promise
She began with false lashes, a one-bedroom apartment and a promise to make beauty useful beyond the mirror. The company grew; the promise became the operating system.
Laurel Myers Built the Grown-Up Version of CBD - Then the Market Grew Up Too
She helped turn a chaotic ingredient boom into a lesson in trust, standards, and the stubbornly unglamorous work of building a consumer brand.
James Schmachtenberger Built a Career by Refusing the Obvious Door
He left school, bought a college at 18, organized an unruly industry and built Qualia. The useful lesson is not rebellion for its own sake - it is his habit of turning curiosity into institutions.
Dave Spandorfer Built Janji for the Long Run
A hot 10K, a borrowed business education and years spent fixing the product turned a student idea into Janji. Now its co-founder is testing what a mission-led running brand can promise next.
Shiza Shahid
Shiza Shahid is a Pakistani-American entrepreneur, investor, and activist. She co-founded the Malala Fund with Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai and served as its founding CEO, then went on to co-found and co-lead Our Place, the cookware brand behind the viral Always Pan. She also founded NOW Ventures, an early-stage fund backing mission-driven founders. Her work braids together social impact, immigrant identity, and the everyday ritual of cooking.