Kendra Scott (born March 27, 1974) is an American

fashion designer Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashi ...

. She is the executive chairwoman,

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 exp ...

, and former

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

of Kendra Scott, LLC. In 2017, she was named

Ernst & Young Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational corporation, multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Delo ...

's National Entrepreneur of the Year.

Early life and career

Kendra Scott was born in

Kenosha, Wisconsin Kenosha () is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Kenosha County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986 which made it the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Keno ...

. At age 16, her family moved to

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

, Texas, where she graduated from

Klein High School Klein High School is a public high school located in Klein, Texas, United States, located approximately from Downtown Houston. It serves grades 9– 12 in the Klein Independent School District. The current principal of Klein High School is Bran ...

. Scott fell in love and "followed a boy" to

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

, which she attended for one year before dropping out to move to

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

, 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 to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemothe ...

. 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 (British English, UK) or jewelry (American English, U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, ring (jewellery), rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be at ...

from home in

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 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. Because of the

financial crisis of 2007–2008 Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of ...

, she nearly had to close her company, but she received an order from

Nordstrom Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original Wallin & Nordstrom store operated exclusively as a shoe store, a ...

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 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 are ...

. In addition to an

e-commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the activity of electronically buying or selling of products on online services or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain mana ...

business, Scott's

merchandise Merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of products to a retail consumer. At a retail in-store level, merchandising refers to displaying products that are for sale in a creative way that entices customers to purchase more ...

is also sold in London's

Selfridges Selfridges, also known as Selfridges & Co., is a chain of high-end department stores in the United Kingdom that is operated by Selfridges Retail Limited, part of the Selfridges Group of department stores. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridg ...

Neiman Marcus Neiman Marcus Group, Inc. is an American integrated luxury retailer headquartered in Dallas, Texas, which owns Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Horchow, and Last Call. Since September 2021, NMG has been owned by a group of investment compan ...

, Von Maur,

Bloomingdale's Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain; it was founded in New York City by Joseph B. and Lyman G. Bloomingdale in 1861. A third brother, Emanuel Watson Bloomingdale, was also involved in the business. It became a divi ...

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, Darbie Angell dinnerware 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 research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

to launch the Kendra Scott Women's Entrepreneurial Leadership Institute. Since 2010 her company's program has given away $30 million.

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 owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

' 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, Hemmings Motor New ...

''. 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 accessory ...

. 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 former jurist serving as the 48th governor of Texas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 50th attorney general of Texas from 2002 ...

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, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

Personal life

Kendra Scott, née Baumgartner married John Scott on June 24, 2000. They had two children before divorcing on August 22, 2006. Scott remarried on June 6, 2014, to Matt Davis in

Sedona, Arizona Sedona is a city that straddles the county line between Coconino and Yavapai counties in the northern Verde Valley region of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2010 census, its population was 10,031. It is within the Coconino Nation ...

. They have one child together. They divorced in September 2020.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Kendra American jewelry designers Companies based in Austin, Texas American retail chief executives People from Kenosha, Wisconsin American women chief executives Artists from Austin, Texas Artists from Wisconsin 1974 births Living people Klein High School alumni 21st-century American businesswomen Women jewellers 21st-century American philanthropists 21st-century women philanthropists Businesspeople from Wisconsin Businesspeople from Austin, Texas