Jen Rubio’s entrepreneurial spirit showed up early. Born in the Philippines and raised in New Jersey from the age of seven, she wasn’t just playing with lemonade stands—she was acquiring them. She famously bought a stand from another kid for $20 borrowed from her dad. ROI unknown, but safe to say it sparked something.
Jen’s path wasn’t straight. She attended Penn State but dropped out just shy of graduating for a full-time gig at Neutrogena. (A classic founder move, right?) After bouncing through various roles, she landed at Warby Parker in 2011 as head of social media—one of the first 15 employees. It was there she met Steph Korey Goodwin, Warby Parker’s head of supply chain, a Brown grad with a Columbia MBA.
Their big break came from, of all things, a broken suitcase. In an airport in Switzerland, Jen’s luggage gave up on life, spilling her stuff everywhere. She patched it together with tape but realized one thing: good, stylish, affordable luggage didn’t really exist.
So, she called Steph.
With $150,000 from friends and family, they hired an industrial designer, flew to China with their suitcase blueprint, and launched Away.
Their first product? The Carry-On suitcase. Hard shell. Four wheels. Built-in battery pack. It took 20 prototypes to perfect, but they nailed it. Even before they shipped a single product, their pre-orders flew in, proving massive demand.
Raising $2.5 million pre-launch, they shipped their first cases in 2016 and made $12 million in year one. Away dominated Instagram with stylish, wanderlust-filled ads, selling $150 million worth of luggage annually by 2018.
In 2019, Away raised $100 million at a $1.4 billion valuation. But 2020 hit hard. COVID decimated travel, and Away’s sales dropped 90%. As if that wasn’t enough, a scandal erupted when Steph was accused of fostering a toxic work environment, leading to her stepping down.
Today, Jen leads Away, proving that even in crowded markets, innovation wins. They didn’t invent the suitcase—they just made the best one.