From Scratch with Jessica Harris

Essie started her eponymous brand in 1981 with $10,000 after working in the hosiery business. When Essie launched, there were very few companies making nail polish, and nail salons were rare. Essie nail polish is now available in roughly 25,000 salons in more than 100 countries. The company was bought by L’Oreal in 201

Walker & Company makes beauty and health products for people of color. Prior, Tristan was the first African American entrepreneur in residence at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. He is also the founder of Code2040, a program that connects Black and Latino coders with Silicon Valley startups for summer inte

Luis is an inventor and computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon. He is one of the creators of CAPTCHA, a system that allows websites to determine whether you’re a human or a computer. CAPTCHAs are wavy, distorted words that people need to type out when they’re submitting a form to a website. Luis’ company ReCAPTC

Robert Stephens started making computer tech-support house calls on his dirt bike while he was a college student at the University of Minnesota in 1994. He’d arrive to a customer’s house on time, take off his shoes, wear a clean uniform, and fix the problem. His cheeky “law enforcement” marketing theme caught people’s

Martine is a pioneer in the satellite industry, launching companies including Geostar, PanAmSat, and Sirius Satellite Radio. She also founded United Therapeutics, a pharmaceutical company focused on cardiopulmonary disorders. In 2013, she became the highest paid female CEO in America. Martine is a helicopter pilot and

Andrew launched Theory, a contemporary clothing company, in 1997 with co-founder Eli Tahari. Theory used the stretchy fabric lycra to create a more modern, slender look initially for young professional women. Theory was sold in 2003 to the Japanese company Fast Retailing and IPO’ed in 2005. In addition to his role at T