Interview with Lily Born
Imagiroo
Lily Born - Founder at 10 years old
Chicago, USA
Lily, aged 16, was in 1st grade when she realised a positive change she could make to her grandfathers life all through a simple innovation. This invention, the spill-proof Kangaroo cup, went on to become an international success, selling tens of thousands cups globally. Today, Lily and her brand Imagiroo have been featured in media outlets all around the world, making her name as an innovator and entrepreneur. As a result, Lily is proof to young entrepreneurs everywhere that solving small local problems can have huge, beneficial outcomes, as well as giving evidence to the benefit of thinking big whilst starting small.
Impressed by her positive impact, Kebloom got in contact with Lily to ask a few questions about her business journey.
1) How would you best describe Imagiroo?
Imagiroo is the company my dad and I started to produce cups that are less likely to tip over or spill, called Kangaroo cups
“Starting a business isn't like school, its almost like you get F’s for months and months and then one day your idea works and it's the first time you get a passing grade.”
2) How old were you when you founded your business?
Well, I was 7 when I had the invention for the kangaroo cup originally, but we didn't found the business until I was 10 years old and we did our first crowd funding campaign
3) What inspired you to become an entrepreneur?
Well, when I was 7 I noticed my grandfather was spilling his drinks a lot so I invented the kangaroo cup to help him. Years later we realized other people needed those cups too and we decided to do a crowd funding campaign to sell them on the Internet and that's when I started as an entrepreneur, although I was really just looking to make some cups at the time.
4) Who supported you in creating/building your business?
My dad and a whole community of people, there was a potter who had a ceramic studio down the street from me, Andrea Horyn, she helped me a lot to build the first prototypes.
“You are going to need a lot of help and you have to be willing to ask for it.”
5) What advice would you give to aspiring young entrepreneurs?
Well, you are going to need a lot of help; you have to be willing to ask for it. And the second thing is to know that you'll fail a lot. Starting a business isn't like school, its almost like you get F’s for months and months and then one day your idea works and it's the first time you get a passing grade. Failure is just a part of starting a business I think.
6) To what extent would a platform like Kebloom have helped you achieve your dreams?
I think it could have been very helpful; it wasn't until later that I started to share with other entrepreneurs and it was very lonely before that.
7) What has been the best part about starting up a business?
Getting to help other people and getting all the positive feedback from those people, that really makes it worthwhile.
8) What skills have you developed since being an entrepreneur?
My confidence most of all. When I started this journey, I was so shy, I wouldn't order from a server at a restaurant. On this journey I've been in front of thousands of people on stage and went into the white house by myself to meet the president. That's not something I could have even imagined doing before this adventure.
About the Author:
Ellie McRae is the blogger, interviewer and content creator for Kebloom! When she’s not writing kick-ass articles, you’ll find her studying marketing and drinking copious amounts of coffee. Find out more about Ellie here.