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.
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.
Watch: Megan Grassell on camera
| 인물 | 국가 | 이정표 | 나이 / 기록 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rachel Zietz | 미국 | 13세에 Gladiator Lacrosse 창업 | 13세 |
| Abby Kircher | 미국 | 15세에 Abby's Better 견과류 버터 회사 창업 | 15세 |
| Noa Mintz | 미국 | 16세에 맨해튼과 햄튼 지역 가정을 위한 베이비시터 연결 사업 운영 | 16세 |
| Benjamin Stern | 미국 | 한 번의 세척, 하나의 볼, 병 없는 분유 용기 고안. 17세에 포춘지 보도 | 17세 |
| Megan Grassell | 미국 | 소녀용 브래지어 Yellowberry 창업 | 19세 |
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.
What is Megan Grassell's net worth?
No source used here states a net worth. The only published financial figure is the $42,000 Kickstarter total.
Where is Megan Grassell now?
The sources used here end in 2014. They do not record the company's later status or what she did next.
Is Megan Grassell on Wikipedia?
No Wikipedia article on her was identified in the research behind this page.
How was the TIME list chosen?
TIME said it analysed social-media followings, cultural accolades and business acumen, listing the teens from youngest to oldest.
Quick quiz: how well do you know Megan’s story?
How much did Yellowberry's Kickstarter raise?
What problem did Grassell set out to fix?
Which magazine named her among its most influential teens?
Sources
- The 25 Most Influential Teens of 2014 — TIME, 2014-10-13
Checked by the Geniuses.club editorial team. Ages are given as of September 2026.
