As our focus on woman entrepreneurs continues, we’re pleased to introduce Hannah Chung, Co-founder of Sproutel, as our featured October businesswoman.
Full name: Hannah Chung
Founder of:
- Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer, Sproutel
- Co-founder, Design for America
HQ location: Providence, RI
Contact: @hchung
Favorite quote: "Technology never entertains an audience on its own. It’s what you do with the technology." – John Lasseter
Background Info:
Hannah is a maker and a doodler. She loves to take an idea to an actual product/system that is intuitive and simple. She is also passionate about inventing an educational model that fosters creativity using design and technology. Hannah is currently co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of Sproutel, the creator of Jerry the Bear – an interactive learning aid for children with type 1 diabetes. She was named one of Inc Magazine’s “Top 15 Women to Watch in Tech” (2012), one of the Better World by Design's Hall of Fame, "5 Female Founders to Watch" by Women 2.0 (2014), and one of "Female Game Changers" by Women@TheFrontier from Singularity University & NASA. In 2013, she has recently won the Perfect Pitch competition at Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit where Warren Buffet was one of the judges. Hannah has recently been named as one of the honored makers by the White House. Before co-founding Sproutel, Hannah has co-founded Design for America – an award winning national student organization that helps students solve local social problems through design thinking. She earned her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Northwestern University.
What made you what you are?
I founded Design for America when I was a freshman in college. DFA grew from 1 studio at Northwestern University in 2009 to 22 studios across the nation this year. Working with my mentors and people at DFA taught me how to think big and how to build a community of like minded people. This journey taught me the importance of finding purpose in every work I do.
Advice you would give to other entrepreneurs?
I think all entrepreneurs should be social entrepreneurs.
Entrepreneur you most admire and why?
It's hard to choose one… I admire my mom. Even though she is not an entrepreneur in the business sense, she sacrificed a lot and helped me become who I am today. In technology, I would love to meet Elon Musk (SpaceX) and John Lasseter (Pixar). Elon Musk's approach in creating disruptive technology to change the world is awesome. John Lasseter's approach in bridging technology, animation, and art to create amazing feature films like Toy Story is amazing (I'm also a huge Pixar fan).
Most embarrassing moment?
I don't think I have a particular embarrassing moment. I have tons of funny moments.
Favorite thing about your office
Letters and drawings from kids on our walls. Those were sent to Jerry the Bear!