User:Sjsnortheastern/sandbox

Early Life and Education
Jennifer Hyman grew up in New Rochelle, New York, and attended New Rochelle High School. She received her BA in social sciences from Harvard University in 2002.[2] Hyman was an active student at the University with involvement in campus organizations including being the Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard Crimson.[2] She later attended Harvard Business School, where she met co-founder of Rent the Runway Jennifer Fleiss, and graduated with an MBA in 2009.[2]

Career Before Rent the Runway
Before Hyman co-founded Rent the Runway, she worked as a senior sales manager at WeddingChannel.com, running an advertising sales team from 2005 to 2006. [4] Additionally, she was a director of business development at IMG where she worked to create new content and media businesses from 2006 to 2007. [4] She also worked for Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, where she helped create the company’s first wedding business, which was highlighted on the The Oprah Winfrey Show for its unique innovation.[4]

Pain Point, Innovation, and Impact
In November 2008, Hyman first had the idea for Rent the Runway after watching her sister, Becky, agonize over buying an expensive outfit for a wedding.Becky wanted a gorgeous dress that she could wear for the wedding, but she did not want to spend an absurd amount of money on a dress that would only be used once.[3] Hyman empathized with her sister and many women like her that wanted a high-quality dress but could not afford to pay such a large sum of money for one singular event. This caused Hyman to come up with the idea for Rent the Runway, comparing her idea to online streaming services and labeling it “Netflix for dresses”.[3] The business concept would ultimately allow women to rent high end dresses for affordable prices.[3] Hyman co-founded Rent the Runway in 2009 with her colleague Jennifer Fleiss.[4] They combined education and experience in business gave them the ability to successful run an innovative company that would transform the fashion industry. Hyman did not create a business plan or long term plan for the company, instead her and her cofounder decided to take direct action and learn along the way.[4] They started by testing the concept themselves, going to stores and buying dresses to distribute to women at local undergraduate campuses.[3] Hyman conducted different trials by going to different campuses and advertising the dresses in different ways. Ultimately, the women responded well to business even when it was articulated differently, and this provided her with proof of concept. [3]

Hyman set clear strategic priorities from the start of the business and leads the company in growing all areas of the business, including marketing, technology, product, logistics and analytics.[1] She wanted to promote an inclusive environment, and this translated into the makeup of the company, with 93% female and/or non-white employees, with 80% of leaders of the company being women.[4] Fashion designers were skeptical of the company at first, but this is what made the creators dig deeper and create a unique value proposition that differentiated the company from others in the fashion industry.[3] Hyman focused heavily on customer reactions and feedback in order to promote the business to investors. The customer validation of the concept through trials and videos is what ultimately gained investors and allowed the business to sustain itself in the market.[3] They have raised over 525 million dollars in capital and have gained over 11 million members since launching their company.[2] Rent the Runway is now estimated to be worth over 1 billion dollars.

Hyman participates in national conferences and panel discussions regarding topics covering the economy, women in business and company culture. Some of her past speaking engagements include NRF Foundation's "Retail’s Big Show", WWD's Digital Forum and the 99U Conference.[2] Hyman has spoken out publicly against sexual harassment in the tech industry and went public with her own experience on CNBC's Squawk Alley in July 2017.[2] Hyman helped start Project Entrepreneur in order to help female entrepreneurs throughout the U.S. gain access to resources and training that would help them create their own sustainable businesses.[5]Her work with the program has helped women accelerate their businesses, and winning founders from the program now receive $10,000 and a spot in the five-week accelerator program at Rent the Runway’s office.[5] In May 2018, Hyman published a New York Times op-ed titled "Treating Workers Fairly at Rent the Runway," in which she announced that the company would equalize benefits across its salaried and hourly employees. RTR team members in the company's warehouse and stores and on its customer service team receive the same parental leave, family sick leave, bereavement leave and sabbatical packages as the company's corporate employees.[2] Hyman serves on the Board of Directors of the Estée Lauder Companies,[9] and on the Women.nyc Advisory Board.[2]

Honors
“TIME 100” most influential people in the world 2019, Fortune Magazine’s “Trailblazers 2013,” “Executive Dream Team,” “Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs,” and “40 Under 40”; Forbes Magazine’s “Disruptors 2013”; Crain’s New York Business “40 Under 40”; Inc. Magazine’s “Top 30 Under 30”; Fast Company’s “Most Influential Women in Technology” and “Most Creative People in Business” ; an Ernst & Young “Entrepreneur of the Year” New York Area Regional finalist; the Tribeca Film Festival’s “Disruptive Innovation” award; Marie Claire’s New Guard and Fashionista.com’s “Most Influential People in New York Fashion.”[2]