admin Blending the ideals of sustainability with a coveted sense of style and panache is an audacious and imaginative endeavour. Few are equipped with the master vision needed to bring such ideals to fruition. Sarah Kauss exemplifies the elixir of excellence needed to ace this arena. She successfully ideated S’well as the perfect blend between sustainability and style. Today, S’well stands as a testament to her relentless drive to ideate environmentally conscious products that make a difference in the world.
Fusing Sustainability with Style
When Sarah started S’well in 2010, her vision and mission for the venture were quite simple. She aimed at eradicating the circulation of single-use plastic bottles. By effectively amalgamating her eye for perfection and flair with the need to be environmentally conscious, Sarah was able to create the world’s first reusable hydration accessory. This resulted in the creation of a beautiful form that fused function with fashion while simultaneously contributing to a noble cause. It was through her hard work, dedication, and thirst for excellence that she was able to build S’well from the ground up.
At S’well, we hope to be a spark for change — the inspiration to live a little more sustainably in an unsustainable world – Sarah Kauss
Building the Brand
S’well has earned the distinction of securing a distinctive niche in the market through the unmatched dedication of its Founder and Executive Chairwoman, Sarah Kauss, Sarah is a consumer products leader with a track record in launching companies, building multi-million dollar successful brands, and assembling high-performance senior leadership teams. After earning a BS in accounting from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and an MBA from Harvard Business School, Sarah initially began her career as a certified public accountant. As a successful global entrepreneur and product design expert, she has extensive experience in partnering with multinational corporations to become more sustainable and meet environmental goals. Prior to beginning the venture with her own savings of $30k, Sarah was an international real estate developer with a publicly traded real estate equity investment trust where she spent six years with increasing responsibility leading large international collaborations and partnerships.
Crafting Sustainable Products
Sarah started S’well with their iconic 17-ounce bottles, quickly progressing beyond simply bottles and hydration into food, barware, and accessories. Her flair for variation soon led her to create these designs in different colors, prints, patterns, and textures. Sustainable S’well accessories like handles, caps, cleaning gears now add flamboyance to the spirit of environmental consciousness. All S’well products are designed keeping in mind the cornerstone of longevity and sustainability.
Recognizing the Spirit of Excellence
Sarah’s entrepreneurial journey has been covered extensively by Inc., Fortune, Forbes, Bloomberg, NPR, and more. Her audacious spirit has been accredited with several notable awards. She has been recognized as a Fortune’s “40 Under 40” honoree, EY Entrepreneurial Winning Woman, and awarded the Harvard Business School Club of New York’s Entrepreneurship Award. Under Sarah’s leadership, S’well was named #1 Fastest-Growing, women-led company by the Women Presidents’ Organization. It was also honored with the Brand Design Award by Inc. magazine and placed on the Inc. 500 List (top 100) of fastest-growing, privately-held companies.
Every S’well purchased counts towards displacing millions of plastic bottles and also helps the company pledge millions of dollars to organizations that help communities around the world – Sarah Kauss
Dispelling Knowledge
As a daring businesswoman, Sarah dons multiple hats and aces multiple domains. She sits on the UNICEF USA New York Regional Board and is also an Entrepreneur in Residence at the Harvard Business School and a mentor in the Fortune-State Department Global Mentoring Program. Sarah is a member of the 2018 Class of Henry Crown Fellows and a member of the 2020 Class of Braddock Scholars within the Aspen Global Leadership Network at the Aspen Institute.
Securing an Edge in the Market
Curating a distinctive brand niche in an overtly competitive marketplace is not an easy task. It is definitely not one suited for the faint-hearted. Sarah’s audacious decision to begin a venture that was relatively new in the market back in 2010 is truly laudable. Moreover, her desire to do more for the planet by leveraging the power of design is a sentiment few bring to tangible fruition. The success of S’well is symbolic of Sarah’s grit as a daring businesswoman. It exemplifies her triumph over the myriad challenges involved in guiding the brand through both thick and thin.
Curating Responsible Businesses
Sarah has managed to not only excel as a leader in the field of business but has also aced the domain of leading a team with an environmentally conscious outlook. In a time when the scarce resources available to humanity are already on the verge of depletion products like those curated by Sarah can make all the difference. By simply investing in a reusable bottle or bowl, one can positively contribute towards the preservation of our planet.
As Sarah mentions, “We strive to positively transform the world, not only through our products, but through consistent action and giving back when we can.”Every S’well purchased counts towards displacing millions of plastic bottles and also helps the company pledge millions of dollars to organizations that help communities around the world. As a daring business woman, she has dared to dream differently. As an early advocate of the importance of ESG, Sarah integrated values and impact within S’well right from its inception. Today, S’well is a Certified B Corp with a wide range of products that have helped displace more than 4 billion single-use plastic bottles.
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