If you haven’t yet caught wind of this year’s just announced Forbes’ 30 Under 30 List, here’s the summary: it. is. mammoth. For the fifth annual power ranking, the magazine rounded up 600 of the most influential young people in business, classed into 20 categories. To distill the dense must-read, we dug into industries we follow (media, fashion, entertainment, and food) to pick the 20 most exciting innovators, because, sure, you could read the Forbes profiles, but nothing beats the genuine glimpses of life you get through their ‘grams.
@mdotcallahan
Age: 27
List: Art & Style
Currently rethinking: the fast-paced world of home goods by hand-making quilts inspired by landscapes of the American West.
@oliviab33
Age: 21
List: Art & Style
Currently shaking up: the photography world, shooting her first major ad campaign for Converse at the tender age of 15. Since, Nike, Adidas and Hermes have come calling.
@azedejean_pierre
Age: 27
List: Art & Style
Innovating the: red carpet—the breakout fashion designer’s sculptural pieces have been worn by Solange and Michelle Obama.
@patrickwoodyard
Age: 29
List: Social Entrepreneurs
Changing up: ethically-produced accessories—his online retailer Nisolo not only employs craftspeople in Peru and Kenya but teaches free English classes.
@josephelguerra
Age: 25
List: Art & Style
Improving: your daily life through his work at Visibility where he and fellow honoree and partner Sina Sohrab, also 25, make tiny but meaningful improvements to everyday objects.
@ninafaulhaber
Age: 28
List: Retail & E-commerce
Elevating the world of: athletic apparel, placing an emphasis on aesthetics, drawing inspiration from her travels (and documenting them, of course, on her own feed).
@whitneytingle
Age: 29
List: Retail & E-commerce
Simplifying: organic food delivery—it’s a saturated market, but she and her cofounder Danielle DuBoise are billing their vegetarian meals as the “reverse cleanse” for its satiating dishes. Just yesterday, they announced a $4.8M series A round.
@juliesygiel
Age: 28
List: Retail & E-commerce
Coming soon to: a gym near you, if not already there. The Brown-educated chemical engineer and founder of Dear Kate developed a range of women’s workout gear made from fabric that prevents stains of all kinds.
@gregsewitz
Age: 25
List: Food & Drink
Serving innovation in the form of: protein made from bugs—crickets to be specific, which the Brown grad calls more sustainable and healthy than other energy bars out there.
@micahmelton
Age: 29
List: Food & Drink
Mixing up: cocktails at the Michelin-starred restaurant The Avery, where bartenders also train as chefs.
@kendalldabaghi
Age: 28
List: Media
Generating fresh: positive-focused content as the co-founder of A Plus, a digital journalism platform which counts a WSJ expert among its leaders.
@o_fishel
Age: 29
List: Art & Style
Preserving the craft of: hand-lettered art and book covers infused with humor and human life—his distinct sketch style has brightened NYC subway stations and newspapers, like The Boston Globe, too.
@sophiasw
Age: 28
List: Social Entrepreneurs
Revitalizing: the water supply in Africa and India, hiring in-country experts to create long-lasting solutions to drinking water shortages.
@annwang013
Age: 24
List: Social Entrepreneurs
Selling new ideas in: global shopping. Her pitch for an online marketplace for goods made in developing communities won her the first-ever Forbes Pressure Cooker prize: $400k to launch the biz.
@amaliaulman
Age: 26
List: Art & Style
Telling new stories in: the art world, and we mean story literally—a completely fake alter ego is what first got her noticed, and on panels at Art Basel. Fascinated by internet celebrities, she made one up and created an Instagram account which is now archived at the New Museum. Her multi-media creations are not to be missed.
