Why she traded a promotion for her purpose?
I am so excited to introduce the series "Women Who Version Up" where we hear the stories, advice and career paths of incredible women. We are kicking off with my very talented, ambitious and fearless best friend Jeriann Gumila. Sign up here for more unfiltered stories from more incredible women.
From the time she was little, Jeriann has always been building. Her lemonade stand quickly grew beyond paper cups. She upsold cookies, recruited neighborhood kids to run shifts, and even “franchised” down the block. It wasn’t about pocket change. It was about leading, organizing, and spotting opportunities where others saw only a sidewalk stand.
At Wharton, that spark never left her. Jeriann co-founded Candid Beauty, a startup championing inclusivity in cosmetics. But after graduation, she took the “safe and secure” route at BCG, but her heart kept pulling her back to the world of building.
The real turning point came when she left consulting to what was then a relatively new e-commerce startup Whatnot (it is now worth ~$5B!) With a promotion already in hand, she could have chosen the safe, predictable path but instead, she embraced uncertainty and her identity as a builder.
It was on the other side of risk and leaving the safe path that she discovered her greatest growth. Jeriann is now known in the builder community as THE person who successfully launched an entire e-commerce category at only 26.