Megan Grassell Now: Yellowberry, the Bra Brand Built at 17

Biography

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.

Achievement Timeline

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

c. 2014

Founds Yellowberry after finding trainFounds Yellowberry after finding training bras padded and underwired

2014

Kickstarter campaign raises $42,000, aKickstarter campaign raises $42,000, above its $25,000 goal (TIME)

2014

Yellowberry becomes a full online retaYellowberry becomes a full online retailer of bras for young girls

Oct 2014

Named one of TIME's 25 Most InfluentiaNamed one of TIME's 25 Most Influential Teens at 19

Watch: Megan Grassell on camera

Build Relationships Early In Your Business Megan Grassell, YellowberryHonest Ecommerce

Historical Comparison

Person	Country	Milestone	Age / Stat
Rachel Zietz	United States	Founding Gladiator Lacrosse at 13	Age 13
Abby Kircher	United States	Founding Abby's Better nut butters at 15	Age 15
Noa Mintz	United States	At sixteen she was placing nannies with families in Manhattan and the Hamp	Age 16
Benjamin Stern	United States	One wash, one ball, no bottle. He was seventeen when Fortune put it on the	Age 17
Megan Grassell	United States	Founding Yellowberry, bras for young girls	Age 19

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.