Gabby Bows is our February Amber Grant Recipient

Last week announced our February finalists and now we’re happy to finally introduce you to our February Qualification Grant winner, Gabby & Rozalynn Goodwin, Founders of Gabby Bows.

Read our interview with them below to learn more about how Gabby Bows and Gabby’s Double-Face Double-Snap Barrette.

Video Transcript

WN: For those who don’t know what GaBBY Bows is, could you tell us a little bit about it and how it got started?
MS: Gabrielle “GaBBY” and I solved the age-old problem of disappearing girls’ hair barrettes by inventing The Double-Face Double-Snap Barrette by GaBBY. GaBBY Bows won’t slip out of the hair, so they secure girls’ hairstyles… And moms’ peace of mind.

NO MORE LOST BOWS!

GaBBY Bows are engineered to prevent hair slippage and work for all hair types.

It all began with a Twitter rant about how GaBBY could not keep barrettes in her hair and a reply from our pastor suggesting we solve the problem–a suggestion I initially dismissed. GaBBY was just five when she started daily insisting we make a barrette that works. That broken record in pigtails, and her dream to see them in stores pushed me into entrepreneurship when I didn’t think I had the skills or the time. We started the business when she was seven years old.

WN: How much has GaBBY Bows grown since starting the business?
MS: GaBBY began selling her invention at gabbybows.com. We have NEVER lost a GaBBY Bow and have saved families in all 50 states and eight countries time, money and frustration-reducing barrette bills by 75%. GaBBY has doubled her sales each year and sold more than 17,000 packs of GaBBY Bows in just three years of business.Her story has been featured on The Real, The Tom Joyner Morning Show and The Today Show, and in Kiplinger Magazine, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Free Enterprise Magazine, JET, Essence and Madamnoire.

Gabrielle was named a 2015 South Carolina Young Entrepreneur of the Year, the youngest to ever receive this award. GaBBY Bows was also named the 2016 Outstanding Diverse Business of the Year by the SCORE Foundation, one of 15 national finalists for the 2015 U.S. Small Business Administration InnovateHER Competition, and a 2016 SCORE and Sam’s Club American Small Business Champion.

WN: Do you plan to keep selling exclusively online? Or do you have future plans to sell to retailer stores?
MS: GaBBY dreams of having her barrettes in stores around the world and in January she received purchase orders from 50 Once Upon a Child stores across the US. This grant is so timely!

WN: What’s the next step for GaBBY Bows?
MS: GaBBY recently raised $28,000 on Kickstarter to fund her new designs and colors which will come to market in June of this year. We also hope to bring on more Once Upon a Child stores this year. GaBBY’s story will also be shared through a children’s book this summer. She was chosen as one of four kidpreneurs across the country Entrepreneur Kid will feature in the book series.

WN: Does Gabby have any advice for other young entrepreneurs?
MS: “Persevere and NEVER give up! Obstacles will be in your way, but you have to never give up to go through them.” – Gabby

If you’d like to vote for Gabby & Rozalynn to win the $1,000 Amber Grant, you can vote for them here.

And thanks for reading! Remember that we award a grant every month – if interested, please apply today.