5 Cool Mormon Women Entrepreneurs You Should Know About

You may have heard of companies like Uptown Cheapskate or 3DplusMe, but did you know that these companies were started by Mormon women?

While balancing family life, juggling college classes between business trips, and braving popular TV competitions, these women have fearlessly followed their vision for their future companions and become successful entrepreneurs. 

And though there are many cool, successful Mormon entrepreneurs, you should definitely know about these women and their inspiring stories. 

Image from uptowncheapskate.com

Before she left to serve in the Alaska Anchorage Mission, Chelsea Sloan began improving on the concept for a company that would purchase gently-used, designer clothing and then sell that clothing with a less-expensive price tag.

Sloan told her brother about the idea, and the day she got home from her mission, the two began working on what would become Uptown Cheapskate.

But it wasn't easy getting their business to take off. Sloan often had to rush from her classes at the University of Utah to her first Uptown Cheapskate location in Salt Lake City and sometimes missed classes with mandatory attendance for important business trips, according to bbc.com.

However, Sloan's hard work paid off.

In 2012, Sloan became the first woman to win the prestigious Global Student Entrepreneur Award, receiving $150,000 and services from the Entrepreneurs Organization to help her business, according to the Deseret News.

Today, Sloan and her brother own the Uptown Cheapskate franchise, which spans 19 states and continues to expand to new locations across the country. 

Image from anthologydiy.com

Some told the former editor-in-chief of WordPerfect Magazine, Lisa Bearnson, she should give up her idea of creating a magazine dedicated to scrapbookers, according to an article by the Deseret News.

They said it would take far more money than Bearnson had planned, and she could not do it with her current budget.

But Bearnson, who partnered with Don Lambson, continued with her magazine idea. The two worked from home, and Bearnson took out a second mortgage to make the magazine a reality, according to the Deseret News.

And in 1996, it all paid off when Bearnson and Lambson launched Creating Keepsakes, which would become a scrapbooking magazine phenomenon.

But Bearnson didn't stop there.

While editing and writing for the magazine, Bearnson appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, wrote 13 books, and appeared regularly on the QVC show Creating Keepsakes Scrapbooking. 

When she left the magazine in 2009, Bearnson began writing for her own website and later launched Anthology DIY, a do-it-yourself line of home decor, paper products, card making, and scrapbooking products.

Then in 2015, Bearnson also became the spokesperson for Youngevity’s memory keeping product category.

Image from utahvalley360.com

There were only three other women who graduated with Cydni Tetro in computer science at BYU in 1996, according to an UtahValley360 article. 

But entering a largely male-dominated field was not a problem for Tetro.

After graduating with 100 job interviews, Tetro accepted a job from Novell, a software services company that became a part of Micro Focus.

After obtaining her MBA, Tetro left Novell in 1999 and became involved with a few start-up companies including NextPage and FamilyLink. 

But Tetro noticed a huge demand for women in her industry to learn from each other and build networks. So in 2007, Tetro spearheaded the Women Tech Council, an organization that helps women in technology-based fields mentor each other. 

As Tetro's career progressed, she landed a job with Disney as a resident entrepreneur before starting her own business in 3D printing—3DplusMe.

And these are no ordinary 3D printers.

Using a face scanner, Tetro's 3D printers capture the likeliness of an individual and transfer it onto on object like a superhero action figure.

In less than two years and about six months on the market, Tetro obtained licensing deals with Marvel and Hasbro and featured her 3D printer at the World Series and the San Diego Comic-Con. 

In January 2016, the world's largest full-color 3D printing services company in the world, WhiteClouds, acquired 3DplusMe.

In 2014 Walmart, Sam's Club, Target, and Toys "R" Us launched the 3D printers. Then, for the 2015 holiday season, Target launched the product in its LA area stores. In addition, the product was offered at the 2016 NFL Super Bowl, 2016 MLB All-Star Game, and Yankee Stadium. 

Image from youtube.com

If you watch Cupcake Wars, you may think Megan Faulkner Brown's Sweet Tooth Fairy business sounds familiar. She did, after all, win first place—which included $10,000 and a chance to serve her cupcakes at the Los Angeles premiere of the musical Rock of Ages.

But Brown's business began before she whipped up 1,000 delicious cupcakes in a small amount of time to impress TV show judges.

► You'll also like: Meet the Sweet Tooth Fairy

Brown grew up crafting her baking skills at her mother's kitchen counter. Wanting to recreate the feeling of a family-friendly atmosphere, and with no formal training, Brown began her successful bakery business, Sweet Tooth Fairy, in 2009.

In an interview with LDS Living, Brown said customers often asked her why she did not compete on Cupcake Wars, and the show even contacted Brown to ask her to complete her application. And once she was accepted onto the show, Brown swept away the competition.

But her fame from winning a TV show did not take away from what Brown does best with her business—creating memories through delicious treats. 

Image courtesy of Mika Lawson

Mika Lawson grew up in upstate New York with a love of travel, theater, and dressing up, according to an interview with Startup Grind Utah. But when she had to wear a sweater over a dress in the middle of summer the night her future husband proposed to her, she decided something had to change in the modest fashion industry.

Determined to solve this problem herself, Lawson, who graduated from BYU in research and statistics, spent her spare time between work and home studying fashion merchandising, design, and fabrics on her own while pregnant with her first child. 

Drawing inspiration from Aubrey Hepburn, Lawson decided to create a feminine, classic line of clothing that made women feel good about what they were wearing. 

After about a year studying and planning, Lawson said in an interview with Startup Grind that felt she was ready to launch her modest clothing business, Mikarose.

Gradually, Lawson's business began to grow, with Lawson selling her line on her website, in boutiques, in her Orem location store, and at Costco. 

What began with three designs now includes sells tops, skirts, dresses, swimsuits, and accessories—illustrating Lawson's vision of a modest clothing business. 

There are many cool, successful, Mormon women entrepreneurs and this is not a comprehensive list. If you know of any cool Mormon women entrepreneurs, please share in the comments section. 

Lead image from utahvalley360.com