Teenage CEO Gabby Goodwin is a senior who just graduated, with eight prestigious universities offering her merit scholarships totaling over $1 million, including four full rides.
Goodwin recently revealed her decision to attend Vanderbilt University on Instagram, after expressing her gratitude for all of the other institutions’ scholarships.
Together with her mother, Rozalynn, Goodwin created the first and only anti-slip double-face double-snap barrette, GaBBY Bows, when she was seven years old. She is the owner of three U.S. patents for the product.
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They established and began selling the barrettes through their online store, gabbybows.com, in February 2014. Over the years, the mother-daughter team has sold over a million GaBBY Bows directly to customers in sixteen countries and all 50 U.S. states.
They founded the Mommy and Me Entrepreneurship Academy, which has helped over 50 girls in 16 states launch their own businesses.
The teen also recently signed a book deal with HarperCollins, and Naturally Me at the Confidence Salon, her debut children’s book, was released on May 27 everywhere books are sold. This picture book, which draws inspiration from Goodwin’s actual Confidence Salon, encourages young readers to discover their own confidence, accept their inherent beauty, and pursue their goals.
“Confidence has always been important to me. I wouldn’t have been able to start my business at age seven or publish a book at seventeen without it,” Goodwin said, according to Black News. “I want girls like me to be able to see themselves in my book and find the confidence to follow their dreams just like I did.”
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With its practical advice, depiction of one’s own voice, colorful artwork by Princess Karibo, and a compassionate, inspirational message, Naturally Me at the Confidence Salon gives girls the resources they need to accept their uniqueness and gain confidence. Along with celebrating diversity, natural beauty, and power and creativity, the book also teaches kids about a range of natural hairstyles.
As reported by Canvas Rebel, Goodwin was the youngest recipient of the 2015 South Carolina Young Entrepreneur of the Year award. The business won the 2016 SCORE Foundation Outstanding Diverse Business of the Year award and was recognized as an American Small Business Champion by Sam’s Club and SCORE.
Additionally, Goodwin was recognized as the 2022 U.S. Small Business Administration Young Entrepreneur of the Year for the state of South Carolina, a 2020 Women Founders Foundation Network Fast Pitch Junior Judge, the 2019 SpeakerCon Teen Speaker of the Year, and more. In 2021, Marcus Lemonis and Gayle King surprised her with a $200,000 investment.
“My mom used to spend 15-20 minutes every morning styling my hair in pigtails, braids and twists with barrettes before pre-school. When she picked me up from school, I was missing half of my barrettes and my hair was all out of place,” Goodwin said of the idea behind her invention.
She and her mother decided to make a bow. “We sat, studied, tested and compared different barrettes and the idea came to create the first double-face double-snap barrette we would soon call GaBBY Bows.”
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