Immigrant of the Week: Jennifer Rubio

One of my favorite podcasts is How I Built This With Guy Raz. This NPR podcast interviews famous entrepreneurs and business founders from well-known companies across the United States and the world. This immigrant of the day five-part series is brought to you from some of the best episodes featured from the podcast.

If you open any tabloid, website, newspaper today, chances are you will see a celebrity whisking off to their next destination with an Away bag in hand. Philippines-born founder, Jennifer Rubio, was a part of some of the most well-known brands in America today before founding Away such as Neutrogena, Warby Parker, and Casper.

Rubio moved to the United States at the age of seven but was always moving around. She lived in 7 cities and three continents growing up. Three years after ending up in Zurich with a broken suitcase and no good suggestions for a replacement, she decided to build her own luggage company with her co-founder Steph Korey.

Today Away is valued at $2 billion and is one of the few venture-backed companies worth over a billion dollars with female founders. Not only is Jen Rubio, a successful immigrant business founder, but also an inspirational female figure in the saturated male field of entrepreneurship.

— Contributed by Eden Siskind