This month Chris Luhur ’09 launched Scarpasa, an online shoe boutique that deals in stylish low heels and flats.“I hate going home from a fun event because my feet hurt from high heels. And stylish low-heeled shoes are not that easy to find, “she said. “Then one day I thought, why should it be this difficult? So I started Scarpasa - not just to make it easier to find these low-heeled shoes but also to encourage women to think about them as a good alternative to high heels.”
Luhur, who has been working on the venture since graduating from Wharton last summer, has taken every shoe on Scarpasa for a test drive to make sure that it meets her standards for comfort and “walk-ability”. But she swears they aren’t “boring grandma comfort shoes”. Her kicks come from the most stylish places on earth, like Italy, France and Spain, and include indie brands never before seen on this side of Atlantic.
Use the code WWIB for 10% off all purchases on Scarpasa.com through May 1.
After years in Buenos Aires, Amanda Knauer ‘11 still hadn’t found an online resource to inform her of the happenings in the city. So she jumped at the chance to invest in such a website and helped found YoQueVos (an Argentine expression meaning “If I were you”). YoQueVos, a beauty, fashion, and events email newsletter sent biweekly to women in Buenos Aires, launched in October of 2008 to 800 women. A year and a half later, the company now has nearly 20,000 subscribers. Being featured in a YoQueVos email is a boon to companies, delivering thousands of websites hits and driving sales unparalleled by other news media sources in Argentina. In December, YoQueVos hosted its first event featuring new and upcoming designers, which was co-sponsored by the City of Buenos Aires and Pepsi and attended by a crowd of 3,000.
Operating within a developing economy presents unique challenges to YoQueVos: inflation within Argentina hovers at around 30% a year, strict labor laws increase the risk of hiring employees, and internet development generally lags years behind that of the US. YoQueVos is now strategizing to explore opportunities to tap into its strong subscriber base within the e-commerce realm, still relatively new to Argentina. The Buenos Aires-based managing partner is looking for members of the Wharton Community interested in sharing their time and expertise with the growing venture. Please email contactos@yoquevos.com for more information.
When her older brother dared her to enter the Gobi March, a six-day 155 mile footrace in China’s Gobi desert, Taylor Duvall ‘11 accepted the challenge, trained for two weeks, and flew to China by herself. The race, named by TIME magazine as #2 on its list of the Top 10 Endurance Competitions in the world, took Duvall through Xinjiang Province, the hottest place in China and the world’s most distant point from an ocean. After running roughly a marathon a day for the first 4 days, Duvall fractured a bone in her knee. With more than 50 miles to go and a 20 pound pack to carry, she still finished the race. Her run helped raise money for Minds Matter, a non-profit that provides financial aid and mentoring to low-income students attending college.
Cindy Chan ‘08collected 3,000 pounds of makeup, skin care items, books and other small luxuries in order to make thousands of care packages for servicewomen stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Chan dubbed the project Operation Courage is Beautiful. She got help from Wharton alumnae Melissa Lo ‘08 and Anusha Seetharaman ’07, and used the resources of her company StyleSynch.com to collect donations and package the items. Based in San Diego, Operation Courage caught the attention of Congressmen Bob Filner and Duncan Hunter, as well as Mayor Jerry Saunders who declared the first week in November “Operation Courage is Beautiful Week”.
So far Operation Courage has delivered 160 care packages to servicewomen, but they still have more to give. Chan says, “We have plenty more products, but haven’t found enough recipients. We know they’re out there, we just need to find a way to reach them.”
Seattle has a reputation for being chilly both in terms of the weather and the social environment. That’s why Gayle Laakmann ‘11 founded Seattle Anti-Freeze, a group that is making it easier for young people to meet each other and make friends.
Laakmann and her business partner started by hosting theme parties with their friends, and friends of friends. The mailing list quickly mushroomed from a few hundred to over 3500 members, all by word of mouth and e-mail forwarding.
Now Seattle Anti-Freeze organizes running groups, ski trips, volunteer activities, and 10 large theme parties a year like December’s “Santa’s Saucy & Salacious Soused Soiree,” or last year’s Devils and Angels party. Costumed guests were dealt cards instructing them to take on a challenge, such as delivering a pickup line to a stranger. Everything is aimed at helping people meet each other and to keep ratios balanced, every guest is required to bring someone of the opposite gender. Whatever they’re doing is working, since Anti-Freeze’s events almost always sell out.
