Sarah Kauss
 | A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject. (July 2015) |
Sarah Kauss | |
|---|---|
| Born | Jupiter, Florida[1] |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | University of Colorado Boulder, Harvard Business School |
| Occupation | CEO of S'well |
| Website | iamsarahkauss |
Sarah Kauss is an American businesswoman. She is known as the founder and CEO of S'well, a stainless-steel bottle manufacturer, wholesaler and retailer.[3][4][5][6] Additionally, she is a member of the EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women program.[7]
Early life and education
Kauss received a bachelor's in accounting from the University of Colorado Boulder.[8] After receiving her bachelor's degree, Kauss worked as a CPA for Ernst & Young in Denver, Colorado and Los Angeles, California.[8][9] Kauss received her MBA from Harvard Business School.[10]
Career
In 2009, Kauss was inspired to create a more upscale and fashionable reusable water bottle, while hiking in Arizona with her mother.[10][11] Kauss founded S'well in 2010.[12] Harvard Business School, S'well's first customer, bought bottles from Kauss to give to incoming students.[8] Kauss partnered with her boyfriend, Jeff Peck, to launch a S'well boutique in December 2012 in Palm Beach on Worth Avenue.[13] In 2014, S'well's customers included Starbucks, Whole Foods Market, J. Crew and Neiman Marcus.[4][14] Fortune included Kauss on its 2014 40 under 40 list.[3] In November 2014, she was selected as a member of the 2014 class of EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women.[15] S'well has partnered with TED conferences and designers from Fashion week.[16] She has been featured in Entrepreneur magazine, Fortune magazine and on CNNMoney, and CNBC.[17] By May 2015, S'well had sold four million water bottles.[18][19] According to Forbes, S'well had over $100M in sales in 2016.[20] She also created an additional product line, S'ip by S'well.[21]
In 2016, S'well was listed first on the Women President's Organization list of fifty fastest-growing women-owned businesses.[22] In 2016, Kauss was named number 49 on the Business Insider 100 list, The Creators.[23][24] She was also recognized on Inc.'s "Most Impressive Women Entrepreneurs of 2016" list.[25] In 2018, Kauss was named one of Aspen Institute's Henry Crown Fellows. The fellowship trains entrepreneurs to build a better society by tackling world problems.[26]
Philanthropy
From 2010 to 2014, Kauss donated a portion of her company's profits to WaterAid, an organization that helps people without clean water sources.[5] The company partners with organizations such as American Forest, Drink Up, Fashion Targets Breast Cancer and No Shave November.[27] In 2015, her company donated $100,000 to UNICEF and partnered with its Tap Project to provide children with clean water.[28] Kauss is a mentor for the U.S. Department of State Global Women's Mentoring Partnership.[29]
References
- ^ "Meet Our Sponsor: Introducing S'Well Palm Beach". Palm Beach Lately.
- ^ Tindera, Michela. "From A 'Friends' Star To A Microneedling Founder: Four Women Entrepreneurs To Watch In 2017". Forbes.
- ^ a b "Fortune 40 Under 40". Retrieved March 13, 2015.
- ^ a b Daniel Roberts (October 27, 2014). "S'well Founder Sarah Kauss on Starting Up and Being a Female Entrepreneur". Retrieved March 13, 2015.
- ^ a b "When Style Over Substance Works". January 15, 2014. Retrieved March 13, 2015.
- ^ "Why Stainless Steel Bottles Only". Retrieved 2018-04-08.
- ^ "Want to Quit? Overcome Your Fear of Failure". March 15, 2015. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
- ^ a b c "How S'well swelled". October 9, 2014. Retrieved March 13, 2015.
- ^ "S'well CEO's best advice for changing careers". Fortune. April 18, 2015. Retrieved July 13, 2015.
- ^ a b "Making Eco-Friendly Eco-Chic – Sarah Kauss, CEO at S'Well Bottle". January 6, 2013. Retrieved March 13, 2015.
- ^ "How keeping a journal can help with productivity". Retrieved March 13, 2015.
- ^ "S'well founder Sarah Kauss on being a female entrepreneur". October 27, 2014. Retrieved March 13, 2015.
- ^ "What a 'S'well' idea: Stylish bottles benefit WaterAid". Retrieved March 13, 2015.
- ^ "S'well's founder is more than her gender". October 27, 2014. Retrieved March 13, 2015.
- ^ "Sarah Kauss: A thirst for excellence". Retrieved July 13, 2015.
- ^ "5 defining moments in the evolution of S'well". March 27, 2015. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
- ^ "Can you bottle success? S'well founder says 'yes'". June 5, 2015. Retrieved July 13, 2015.
- ^ Parija Kavilanz (May 22, 2015). "She's $10M closer to replacing plastic bottles". CNN Money. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
- ^ "Video: S'well Bottle CEO On Sustainability And Style". June 11, 2015. Retrieved July 13, 2015.
- ^ Sorvino, Chloe. "Why S'well Bottle Founder Sarah Kauss Is One Of America's Most Successful Self-Made Women". Forbes. Retrieved 2017-08-23.
- ^ Kobie, Nicole. "How S'well founder Sarah Kauss built her water bottle empire". Forbes.
- ^ Adams, Susan (April 21, 2016). "The Fastest-Growing Women-Owned Businesses". Forbes. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
- ^ Emmie Martin, Tanza Loudenback, Alexa Pipia (June 13, 2016). "Meet the top 100 business visionaries creating value for the world". Business Insider. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Tanza Loudenback (June 24, 2016). "The Creators". Business Insider. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
- ^ "THE MOST IMPRESSIVE WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS OF 2016". Inc.
- ^ Edgemon, Erin. "Birmingham-based Shipt founder named Aspen Institute fellow". AL.com.
- ^ "Show Your Support this Movember with These Charitable Products". Retrieved March 13, 2015.
- ^ "Unicef Tap Project launches mobile phone challenge in the US". February 18, 2015. Retrieved March 13, 2015.
- ^ Dunn, Laura (April 27, 2015). "Women in Business: Sarah Kauss, CEO & Founder, S'well". The Huffington Post. Retrieved November 29, 2015.