Kendra Scott quotes: the fashion designer talks humble beginnings, family, philanthropy, female empowerment, and more.
“My mother describes the secret of success as ‘hard work, honesty, and determination.’ My family’s work ethic rubbed off on me.”
“You can’t let failure control your entire future.”
“Entrepreneurs need to be willing to try their ideas even though they may not succeed. It is important to surround oneself with people who believe in you to get support during difficult times.”
“I can’t tell you how many times I was told no. I can’t tell you how many times people said, ‘Oh you’ll never make it.'”
“You’ve gotta figure out who’s playing in your sandbox and you have to be unique and stand apart from everybody else.”
“It’s the struggle that makes us stronger.”
“If you look at the struggles in your life, they have all happened because there’s something amazing waiting for you. There is an open window. This moment is going to make you stronger in the future.”
“I held onto the idea that my failure was a moment of impact that would alter my life for the better. And it did. That store was the greatest gift that ever happened to me. I’ve been able to run a business so much differently and so much smarter because I had that tough experience. It was an MBA in the school of hard knocks. It’s an incredible university.”
“I believe the failure of my first business was instrumental in the success of my second one. Experience is something that you can’t teach. That feeling of how are you going to make payroll? How are you going to pay your rent? How are you spacing out paying your vendors? Those are things you can never learn in a book. That knot in your stomach that wakes you up in the middle of the night is something that, unless you’ve lived it, you don’t understand how to navigate through.”
“And when you get yourself in a business, I think having that basis and remembering that knot, remembering what it feels like, has made me be so thoughtful and so careful about how we’ve grown and what we’ve done.”
“Failure also gives you a determination that you can get through anything. No matter what comes at you, you can get through it. You will overcome. There is a reason this is happening, and the sun will shine again. It’s crucial to focus on how you can move forward in a positive way.”
“We’ve just grown, and we’ve struggled together. When things were going great, we celebrated together. When things were going hard, we held hands and said, ‘What do we have to do today to get over this hump?'”
“I put all my chips on the table, and it’s go big or go home.”
“That was really a tipping point… having a product that was just different enough to be easily attributable to my brand was the root of my collection’s popularity.”
“Create reasons for people to come and shop.”
“Engage with your customers. You have to talk to them. Use social media to communicate with the customer.”
“It doesn’t matter how great your product is, your company will not grow and you’re not going to thrive if you can’t keep and make people happy.”
“It’s about creating a unique experience. Everything we do is about our customer.”
“I’m not afraid to ask for help. I think that entrepreneurs should know that that’s not a sign of weakness—that’s an incredible sign of strength.”
“Don’t hire people who are just like you. Now, they need to have your core values, they need to share your heart, but they need to have different skill sets and when you build a team of diversity like that, with a variety of skill sets, my loathe is what they love. And when everyone’s doing what they love, that’s when you start to scale. The more time I’m spending on things I’m great at, the better our company is.”
“I understand the value of surrounding myself with talented people.”
“We have a large team that works a lot of hours together, so interpersonal relationships, communication, teamwork—all of those things become absolutely critical. You cannot run this fast without having folks who are committed to working through good times, but also working through issues together. Everybody has to have a common purpose and a common goal, similar to a family.”
“If you can keep and retain wonderful, valuable employees, that’s smart business.”
“I’m a girl from Kenosha, Wisconsin, you know? I mean, who would’ve thought I’d be a fashion designer? I hope that we create a company that gives every single person the feeling that we’re finding their best in them.”
“I love being a private company. I don’t ever want to be forced to not do the things I need to do to keep this company moving in the right direction because I need to make a quarterly result.”
“I built my business from a spare bedroom into a multi-million-dollar jewelry empire with more than 40 stand-alone Kendra Scott stores. Throughout my journey, I keep family, philanthropy, and a memory of my humble beginnings at the center of my world.”
“When I started the company out of my bedroom, it really was those three things: I wanted to be a present mother, I wanted to be in fashion because that’s what I’d loved since I was young, and I wanted to do something good for my community. I didn’t write a big plan to build a billion-dollar fashion empire, I just knew it would be a success if I were able to do those three things.”
“Those values and seeing what family meant—and it doesn’t always mean your blood family, it could be a neighbor in need or a friend—we always had room at the table and I think that’s such a big part of these Midwest values.”
“I created a company that allowed me to be a mom and that was my number one priority from day one.”
“How does family fit into my life as an entrepreneur? There aren’t any easy answers. I work at it every day. Some days are better than others.”
“When I became a mom and they handed me that little baby, I knew at that moment that nothing was more important than being able to be present for him. And if I could figure out a way to create a business that allowed not just me, but other men and women, to be present in their families and do what they love and be able to give back, that would be success.”
“Work doesn’t feel like work to me because it is my passion. So working around the clock, while being a mom, is such a thrill and a dream come true for me.”
“Starting out with an open and giving heart helps build an amazing culture.”
“All I can say is when you give, you receive a hundred times more in return.”
“In our world today, there are still so many barriers that women face—whether cultural, financial or self-imposed. My mission as a woman, a founder, and an entrepreneur, is to break down those barriers and clear the path for other female leaders to follow—to empower women to achieve their dreams, whatever that may be, and pass on the wisdom I’ve learned through my own journey.”
“Being a woman, we have a huge advantage, and it’s hard sometimes to hear that when a lot of doors can be slammed in our faces and we’re told no, but we have instinct. We have a gut instinct that can really tell you if someone around you is good or bad, and I say we should use that.”
“My goal through all the work I do is to empower other female leaders to have confidence in their vision, and give them the tools they need to bring that vision to life.”
“I think when women join forces, when they hold hands, they’re unstoppable. I can attest to that.”
“I hope our daughters, our granddaughters will start to walk into board rooms where the majority of people in there will look just like them.”
“How will you make an impact in the world around you? I believe that there has never been a better moment to be a woman in our world, relentlessly pursuing her dreams. There is shattered glass everywhere these days created by women who are making history, from Kamala Harris taking her seat as the first female Vice President, to Sarah Thomas becoming the first woman to officiate the NFL Super Bowl. Female empowerment is more than a day; it’s a movement, and that movement is growing. These women are just a few who are helping set the tone for the rest of the world that women are capable of doing and being absolutely anything they put their minds to—and that to me is exhilarating. As one of my favorite quotes from Ayn Rand says, ‘The question isn’t who’s going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me?’ So my question to you is, ‘What will you set your mind to this year?'”
“I hope that someday you have the opportunity to look back and thank the women who helped build your dream, and you do the same to pass the baton to others. Remember, we women are so much stronger when we stand together.”
“I feel like the luckiest person alive. I really do. I wake up every day, and I can’t believe I’m living this life. It is a dream. It’s actually bigger than I could’ve dreamed. And now I’m actually dreaming much bigger. Now I feel like we’ve just scratched the surface.”
