#20 Jess Ekstrom - Hustle, Hope & Headbands

Jess Ekstrom.
2012.
Raleigh.
I am relentless
I am compassionate.
I am not giving up
BE purposeful.

Badass Quotes:
> “I could go all in without any fear in the beginning because I didn’t know any better.” 
> “My gut was telling me a lot of things.” 
> “I thought of it as a dead end or a U-turn.” 
> “There is always this battle between achievement and alignment for me.”
> “Success is not what it looks like to others, it’s what it feels like to you.”

Podcast Intro:
Jess Ekstrom is a social entrepreneur who started Headbands of Hope, a non-profit organization that gives a free headband away to a kid with cancer for every one that is sold. Headbands of Hope has donated headbands to every single children’s hospital in the united states. Jess was born a businesswoman – she sold her American girl dolls when she was done playing with them and swapped her clothes online to rotate her closet without spending any additional money. She is funny. She is open. She is a problem solver. And she is a proud, hardworking, outspoken and, I might add, incredible - millennial. 

Official Bio:
Jess is the founder and CEO of Headbands of Hope, a company she started as a junior in college in 2012. For every headband sold, a headband is given to a child with cancer. The company has been featured on the TODAY Show, Vanity Fair, Seventeen, Good Morning America and more. But more importantly, they've donated over 200,000 headbands to every children's hospital in the United States and 15 countries. Jess is also a professional speaker, author, and writer for Entrepreneur and The Huffington Post. [more ...]

Biggest Takeaways:
> What millennials are really like
> Problem she wanted to solve 
> Where she gets her persistence from
> Whether achievement or alignment is more important 
> How she really feels about headbands
> What is Jess’s next hard thing 

Major Conversation Highlights:
> Her $10,000 lesson learned
> How Tom’s founder inspired Headbands for Hope 
> Pressures of a young social entrepreneur
> Her first visit with an inspirational kid 
> Who she looks up to 
> Jess’s 7-line pitch

Social Media:
Instagram - @jess_ekstrom
Instagram - @headbandsofhope

More Info:
Resilience & Resourcefulness

Additional Links:
Jess Ekstrom – Speaking
Headbands for Hope