fashion designer
Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applied arts, applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by diverse cultures and different trends and has va ...
designer
A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exper ...
, and former
chief executive officer
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization.
CEOs find roles in variou ...
of Kendra Scott, LLC.
Early life and career
Kendra Scott was born in
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Kenosha () is a city in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Wisconsin, fourth-most populous city in Wisconsin, with a population of 99,986 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. S ...
. At age 16, her family moved to
Houston
Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
, Texas, where she graduated from Klein High School. Scott fell in love and "followed a boy" to
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...
, which she attended for one year before dropping out to move to
Austin, Texas
Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
, at age 19 to help with her ill stepfather.
Scott opened her first business, the Hat Box, which specializes in comfortable hats designed for women going through
chemotherapy
Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...
. Scott sold "comfortable but stylish" pieces and donated a portion of the proceeds to cancer research.
Before starting her own business, Scott started making
jewelry
Jewellery (or jewelry in American English) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment such as brooches, ring (jewellery), rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the ...
from home in
Austin, Texas
Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
.
Kendra Scott, LLC
Scott founded Kendra Scott LLC in 2002, designing her first collection with $500 in the spare bedroom of her home just after her oldest son was born. She walked from store to store around Austin, selling to local boutiques, and at the last boutique, she had to sell all of her samples to purchase enough materials to cover the orders she had made that first day.
In 2005, Scott's designs were chosen to accessorize
Oscar de la Renta
Óscar Arístides Renta Fiallo (22 July 1932 – 20 October 2014), known professionally as Oscar de la Renta, was a Dominican fashion designer. Born in Santo Domingo, he was trained by Cristóbal Balenciaga and Antonio del Castillo. De la Renta ...
's spring 2006 runway show. Scott's designs also appeared in Randolph Duke's 2007 runway show.
Due to the
2008 financial crisis
The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...
, she nearly had to close her company, but she received an order from
Nordstrom
Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American Luxury goods, luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original store operated exclusively as a shoe store, and a seco ...
for some of their stores; this gave her exposure and allowed her to expand her business.
Scott's first retail store opened on Austin's South Congress Avenue in 2010. In the same year, she began her e-commerce business and launched the brand's Color Bar experience.
In 2011 she opened her second store on
Rodeo Drive
Rodeo Drive () is a street in Beverly Hills, California, with its southern segment in the City of Los Angeles, known as one of the most expensive streets in the world. Its southern terminus is at Beverwil Drive, and its northern terminus is a ...
in Beverly Hills, but she had to close it after a while. In 2014 Scott opened stores around the South and Midwest while ignoring the fashion elite in New York and Los Angeles. Later, in 2016, she sold a minority stake in her company to the private equity firm Berkshire Partners at a valuation of $1 billion.
Valued at over $1 billion, her brand encompasses fashion jewelry, fine jewelry, home accessories, nail lacquer, and beauty products.
At the end of 2019, Scott had 102
retail stores
The retail format (also known as the retail formula) influences the consumer's store choice and addresses the consumer's expectations. At its most basic level, a retail format is a simple marketplace, that is; a location where goods and services ar ...
. In addition to an
e-commerce
E-commerce (electronic commerce) refers to commercial activities including the electronic buying or selling products and services which are conducted on online platforms or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile co ...
business, Scott's
merchandise
Merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of Product (business), products ("merch" colloquially) to a retail consumer. At a retail in-store level, merchandising refers to displaying products that are for sale in a creative w ...
is sold in London's
Selfridges
Selfridges, also known as Selfridges & Co., is a chain of upmarket department stores in the United Kingdom that is operated by Selfridges Retail Limited. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge in 1908. The historic Daniel Burnham-designed Self ...
,
Nordstrom
Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American Luxury goods, luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original store operated exclusively as a shoe store, and a seco ...
,
Neiman Marcus
Neiman Marcus is an American department store chain founded in 1907 in Dallas, Texas by Herbert Marcus, his sister Carrie Marcus Neiman, and her husband Abraham Lincoln Neiman. It has been owned by Saks Global, a Corporate spin-off, spin-o ...
,
Von Maur
Von Maur, Inc. ( ) is an American department store chain based in Davenport, Iowa. Founded in 1872, the chain operates over 36 locations across the United States, primarily in the Midwestern United States, Midwest.
History
Beginnings
In 1872 ...
,
Bloomingdale's
Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain founded in 1861 by Joseph Bloomingdale and Lyman Bloomingdale. It was acquired by Federated Department Stores in 1930, which purchased the Macy's department store chain in 1994, ...
, and over 1,000 specialty boutiques worldwide. 95 percent of her more than 2,000 staff are women. In February 2021, Scott stepped down as CEO, retaining the Executive Chairwoman title, and named Tom Nolan as Kendra Scott's CEO.
Scott invests in companies in Austin, Texas, such as
Helm Boots
Helm Boots is a brand of boots in the U.S. The company was founded in 2009 by Joshua Bingaman, and Tiff's Treats.
Philanthropy
Scott is a philanthropist with a history of supporting women's and children's causes. In 2015, Scott launched the Kendra Cares Program, which brings the company's customizable Color Bar jewelry experience to pediatric hospitals across the country. In 2017, Scott's company hosted more than 10,000 Kendra Gives Back across her stores. She gave the money to local causes and also donated more than 75,000 pieces of jewelry.
In 2019, Scott donated $1 million to
The University of Texas
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...
to launch the Kendra Scott Women's Entrepreneurial Leadership Institute. Since 2010 her company's program has given away $30 million.
reality television series
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...
''
Shark Tank
''Shark Tank'' is an American business Reality television#Investments, reality television series that premiered on August 9, 2009, on American Broadcasting Company, ABC.Hibberd, James (May 10, 2012)Dancing,' 'Bachelor,' and a bigger 'Shark Tank ...
''.
Recognition
Scott was awarded the EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2017 National Award and the Breakthrough Award from the
Accessories Council Excellence Awards
The Accessories Council Excellence Awards, known as the ACE Awards, were created in 1996 by the Accessories Council to pay homage to individuals and groups who have helped raise awareness of the accessories industry. Their purpose is to celebrate ...
. She is listed as #40 in
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
' list of America's Richest Self-Made Women 2019, been named Outstanding Mother of the Year by the Mother's Day Council, Texas Businesswoman of the Year by the Women's Chamber of Commerce, Top 100 Entrepreneurs of the Year by '' Upstart Business Journal'' and 2017 CEO of the Year by the ''
Austin Business Journal
American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes ''The Business Journals'', which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States with each market ...
''. In 2017 she was named the
Ernst & Young
EY, previously known as Ernst & Young, is a multinational corporation, multinational professional services partnership, network based in London, United Kingdom. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is one of the Big Four accounting firms, Big F ...
's National Entrepreneur of the Year.
She is a member of the
Council of Fashion Designers of America
The Council of Fashion Designers of America, Inc. (CFDA), founded in 1962 by publicist Eleanor Lambert, and headquartered in Manhattan, is a not-for-profit trade association comprising a membership of over 450 American fashion and accessor ...
.
In 2019 she became the 12th woman in the state who has been inducted into the Texas Business Hall of Fame.
In April 2020, Governor
Greg Abbott
Gregory Wayne Abbott ( ; born November 13, 1957) is an American politician, attorney, and jurist who has served since 2015 as the 48th governor of Texas. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served from 2002 to ...
named Scott to the Strike Force to Open Texas – a group "tasked with finding safe and effective ways to slowly reopen the state" amid the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
Personal life
Kendra Baumgartner married John Scott on June 24, 2000. They had two children before divorcing on August 22, 2006. She remarried on June 6, 2014, to Matt Davis in
Sedona, Arizona
Sedona ( ) is a city that straddles the county line between Coconino County, Arizona, Coconino and Yavapai County, Arizona, Yavapai counties in the northern Verde Valley region of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2010 United States Census, ...
. They have one child together. They divorced in September 2020.
She married her third husband, Thomas Evans in early 2022. No details found about their breakup but she went out publicly to the American Music Awards on May 26, 2025 with Zac Brown.