This burgeoning entrepreneur’s fascination with beauty products and fashion can be traced back to her adolescent years when Kimberly experimented with her mother’s makeup which made her feel glamorous. The imaginative play became the foundation spark for this fashionista’s business idea and future success.
Having secured a Marketing degree from Hofstra University in 2015, this entrepreneur founded Sitting Beauty Magazine in 2021. This online publication offers women with disabilities resources and tips on accessible fashion. Kimberly credits connecting with fellow women with disabilities on social media during the pandemic, who were trying to identify styles that cater to female wheelchair users, for giving her the idea to create a venture that could fill this fashion niche.
Looking for resources to assist her with launching her business, this savvy young woman applied to The Viscardi Center’s IdeaSpark program, a collaboration with Iona University’s Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation that helps individuals with disabilities develop an entrepreneurial mindset and gain skills needed to start or grow a business. In 2023 after winning IdeaSparks’ Pitchfest competition and obtaining an equity-free cash grant that helped cover some of the startup costs for Sitting Beauty, things began to flourish. Since then, Kimberly has published ten issues, with more to come.
An active networker, she has also connected with people in the adaptive fashion industry, including Mindy Scheier, founder of Runway of Dreams. She also has spoken at Viscardi events about her entrepreneurial journey and has been involved with selecting applicants for new IdeaSpark cohorts. Kimberly’s valuable advice for those considering starting a business of their own is to find something they are passionate about and do their research to see if the product/service would help others. “If you believe in your idea, keep working to make it happen and be open to pivoting to build your business for success.”
What does she see for the future? Expanding Sitting Beauty into a podcast that delves deeper into conversations surrounding living with a disability and writing articles about other industries and how they can be more inclusive for the disabled community.