How Former Supermodel Kathy Ireland Built a Multi-Billion-Dollar Company by Instilling Trust Into a Brand Name

Kathy Ireland became one of America’s richest self-made women through a licensing empire that first started with selling socks.

Kathy Ireland is the chair, CEO, and chief designer of her private company, kathy ireland Worldwide. Her business success has earned her a spot in the Licensing Hall of Fame and American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame. Courtesy of Jon Carrasco

It all started with selling rocks. When Kathy Ireland was 4 years old, she collected rocks, painted them, and, with her sister, took them door to door in a little wagon. The going price was 5 cents apiece.

That entrepreneurial drive “was in my DNA,” she told American Essence. With her parents’ encouragement, she ran with it, putting up lemonade stands, washing neighbors’ cars, and designing jewelry—whatever she could find to do.