Thursday, Sep 3, 2026 · 1 hr 8 min

Kendra Scott's 1st Business Failed. Her 2nd Became a Billion Dollar Company.

Show Notes

Kendra Scott started her first company to give hats to cancer patients. It failed. With $500, a spare bedroom, and a newborn baby, she started again, and this time built one of the most recognizable brands in America.

Kendra Scott sits down with me for a wide-ranging, funny, and unexpectedly emotional conversation — from getting bullied so badly in middle school she ate lunch in a bathroom stall, to the stepfather whose battle with brain cancer inspired her first (failed) business, to the ten years she spent unable to get a single investor to write her a check.

Kendra opens up about building Kendra Scott out of a spare bedroom with a newborn on her hip, why she named the company after herself almost by accident, the "worst boss" who taught her the most, and what it's really like behind the scenes as the newest full-time Shark on Shark Tank. She also talks candidly about launching her second brand, Yellow Rose, why she'll never franchise, and the advisor-turned-first-investor she lost far too soon.

All images from Kendra's Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/officialkendrascott/
https://www.instagram.com/kendrascott/
https://www.tiktok.com/@officialkendrascott
https://x.com/kendrascott
https://www.linkedin.com/company/kendra-scott

https://www.instagram.com/DanielLubetzky

https://www.tiktok.com/@daniellubetzky

https://x.com/DanielLubetzky

https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniellubetzky

https://daniellubetzky.com/

🙋🏻Become a Builder: https://buildersmovement.org/

Music: Amos Cochran https://www.editscoremusic.com/

Production: Straybird Studios https://www.straybird.studio/

Post Production: Jennell Lewis & Scott Convery

Social Media Production: https://www.edits-etc.com/

Build or Break Team:

Executive Producer & Host: Daniel Lubetzky