The last thing Lisa Skeete Tatum tells me is “Now is the time.” This simple-sounding declaration is true to her inspiring nature: After more than a decade of being a venture capitalist, Skeete Tatum knew she was ready for her next big thing. The only problem was that she had no idea what that thing […]

Filmmaker Sarah Gerber has followed one of the “Lost Boys” displaced during the Sudanese Civil War, as he returned to his village to build a school. She has also documented a woman whose coffee business totally transformed her mountain community in Honduras. The beauty lies not just in these incredible individuals’ stories, but also in […]

It seemed like an easy problem to solve, but Chao Zhang couldn’t seem to find the right person to take family portraits. Turns out her business school classmate Kinny Mu was having the exact same trouble. A light bulb went off, and a little over a year ago the two women joined forces to launch […]

Shaun Masavage says that an episode of the reality series Shark Tank gave him his light-bulb moment. “Someone was pitching a Breathometer, but not going about it the right way,” he recalls. Masavage wasn’t seeing what he know people would be looking for: a lower price and a convenient size and shape. “I looked at […]

In 2000, Austin Allan traveled to Spain for a few college credits. While studying in Madrid and then living in Barcelona, Allan fell in love with the warm people and their chilled soups. “It was a weird moment because I didn’t like tomatoes,” he admits. “I actually still don’t.” But the cold soups of his […]

With just a few custom designs under her belt, Dabney Lee founded her eponymous company in 2004. “That was a lifetime ago,” she says. “I was always a creator, doodling and dreaming of owning a stationery store.” Today she’s the president of Dabney Lee, a lifestyle brand that specializes in custom paper goods, home office products, […]

Lisa Pomerantz decided to follow Dave Matthews Band around Europe after college. Along the way, she got inspired to write a business plan that merged her passions of travel and music. “I wrote an incredibly embarrassing business plan,” she says of her company’s humble beginnings as a fan booking service. “It was so embarrassing that […]

It all started with a seemingly simple meeting for Kirk Reynolds, founder of Discover Outdoors and Kennedy Thorwarth (now Reynolds). She was itching to explore beyond the cityscape and take part in his adventure business. But when Kirk set eyes on the PR maven, he said, “I knew I was in trouble.” So how does […]

More than 3 billion people make a living on the ocean’s marine and coastal biodiversity livelihood, and 2.6 billion rely on our oceans for their main source of protein. The oceans also employ over more than 200 million people, and yet this invaluable resource is being threatened by climate change, acidification, pollution, and overfishing.  These […]

Kirk Reynolds has an interesting pair of titles for a New York City resident: Business owner and wilderness guide. Even after moving to the city, he couldn’t shake his upbringing in rural Missouri: long bike rides and hikes with his parents as a child. Although, Kirk explained, “being outdoors required more effort,” it didn’t stop […]