Megan Grassell — Wunderkind-Biografie

Biografie

The gap she found in a shop

The founding observation was a retail one. TIME reported that Grassell was perturbed by what was on offer for young girls: training bras built with padding and underwires, designed to imitate adult lingerie rather than to fit a child comfortably. She set out to make something plainer.

Yellowberry was the result. TIME describes it as a full online retailer selling colourful bras for young girls under names like Junebug and Sugar Cookie, which is a deliberate piece of positioning: product names drawn from a child's vocabulary rather than from the language of adult underwear.

The Kickstarter that funded it

Grassell asked the public for $25,000. She raised $42,000, a figure TIME cited when it listed her in October 2014.

Crowdfunding did two things for a teenage founder that conventional finance would not. It provided capital without requiring a credit history or a guarantor, and it supplied proof of demand, because the people who funded the campaign were the customers. For an apparel business, where the largest early cost is producing inventory before anyone has bought it, that sequence matters more than the size of the sum.

Why the product was an argument

Yellowberry sold bras, but it also made a claim about an industry: that the market had drifted towards selling adult styling to children and that parents were buying it for lack of an alternative. That framing is why a small apparel launch attracted national attention. The company was reported as a critique with a catalogue attached.

It also explains the Kickstarter's success. Contributors were not only pre-ordering a garment; many were endorsing a position. TIME's own explanation of its list, that it weighed accolades, social-media reach and the ability to drive news coverage, describes exactly the kind of story a product-with-an-argument generates.

What TIME's list was

TIME's 25 Most Influential Teens of 2014 was assembled by weighing social-media followings, cultural accolades and business acumen, and the entries were ordered from youngest to oldest. Grassell, at 19, sat at the older end.

Such a list is a measure of attention rather than of achievement, and it is worth reading as one. Inclusion confirms that a teenager's work was visible nationally in a given year. It does not certify revenue, longevity or impact, none of which TIME attempted to audit.

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Where Megan Grassell is now

The sources used for this page stop in October 2014, with Yellowberry trading as an online retailer and its founder on a national list. They do not record the company's later revenue, ownership or status, and no personal net worth figure for Grassell appears in them.

Nor is her home state given in the entry used here, and no Wikipedia article was identified. What is documented is narrow and solid: a 19-year-old who identified a gap in a children's product category, funded a response through Kickstarter, and was recognised nationally for it in the same year.

Chronik der Leistungen

Megan Grassell — every milestone on this page, in order.

c. 2014

Gründet Yellowberry nach EntdeckungGründet Yellowberry nach der Entdeckung, dass Trainings-BHs gepolstert und mit Bügeln versehen sind

2014

Kickstarter-Kampagne sammeltKickstarter-Kampagne sammelt 42.000 $, über dem 25.000 $ Ziel (TIME)

2014

Yellowberry wird ein vollständiger Online-HändlerYellowberry wird ein vollständiger Online-Händler für BHs für junge Mädchen

Oct 2014

Ernannt zu einem der 25Ernannt zu einem von TIME's 25 einflussreichsten Teenagern mit 19 Jahren

Watch: Megan Grassell on camera

Build Relationships Early In Your Business Megan Grassell, YellowberryHonest Ecommerce

Historischer Vergleich

Person	Land	Meilenstein	Alter / Wert
Rachel Zietz	Vereinigte Staaten	Gründung von Gladiator Lacrosse mit 13	13 Jahre
Abby Kircher	Vereinigte Staaten	Gründung von Abby's Better Nussbutter mit 15	15 Jahre
Noa Mintz	Vereinigte Staaten	Mit sechzehn vermittelte sie Nannys an Familien in Manhattan und den Hamptons	16 Jahre
Benjamin Stern	Vereinigte Staaten	Ein Waschgang, eine Kugel, keine Flasche. Er war siebzehn, als Fortune es auf die	17 Jahre
Megan Grassell	Vereinigte Staaten	Gründung von Yellowberry, BHs für junge Mädchen	19 Jahre

What is documented — and what is not

✓ Documented

Founded Yellowberry, selling bras for young girls, after finding existing products padded and underwired (TIME)
Kickstarter raised $42,000 against a $25,000 goal (TIME)
Named one of TIME's 25 Most Influential Teens in October 2014 at 19 (TIME)

? Unverified, disputed or wrong

No date of birth or home state in the source used here
No revenue, ownership or company-status reporting after 2014
No verified personal net worth figure

Questions people ask about Megan Grassell

How old is Megan Grassell?

TIME listed her at 19 in October 2014, placing her birth around 1995. No date of birth appears in the source used here.

What is Yellowberry?

A company Grassell founded to sell bras for young girls without the padding and underwires she found on comparable products.

How much did Yellowberry raise?

Her Kickstarter campaign raised $42,000 against a $25,000 goal, as reported by TIME.

Why did she start the company?

TIME reports she was perturbed that most training bras for young girls were overly sexualised, with padding and underwires, and wanted a more comfortable alternative.