Speaker Spotlight: Ben & Laura Harrison

CEO and COO of Jonas Paul Eyewear

We had the opportunity to hear from Ben and Laura Harrison, who are the founders of Jonas Paul Eyewear and currently serve as the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer. We loved hearing about the company’s inspiring journey, driven by the founders’ personal experience with their son, Jonas, who was born blind. This story sparked a passion to create a brand dedicated to providing quality eyewear for children. Jonas Paul’s glasses are designed to Look Good, Feel Good, and Do Good. The company’s mission also includes the “Buy Sight Give Sight” initiative, donating 1% of proceeds to prevent childhood blindness, with over 1.3 million people impacted by the initiative so far.

We were inspired to hear about the beginnings of the company, which was very similar to many of the startups in the room. Jonas Paul was founded in 2013 and started in a basement with a small capital investment and few frame styles. Since then, Jonas Paul has expanded into numerous retail chains, like Walmart, and has become the leader in the children’s eyeglasses market. The company has over 4,250 retail partners and has produced nearly two million units! As a bonus to end the presentation, we even got to hear about the future of Jonas Paul, with expansions into adult eyewear and their other ventures to become a “house of brands.”

Jonas Paul continues to embrace the mission to equip those called to make a positive difference, inspired by the words of Rick Yancey: “God doesn’t call the equipped. God equips the called.”

After the talk, we networked around the room, with entrepreneurs asking the Harrisons more questions and talking with other working professionals, including a cardiac surgeon and a med tech innovator that also shared their professional story earlier in the night.

Meet the Authors

This newsletter is compiled by Daniel John and Naomi Ross, both students in their senior year at Calvin from Calvin Startup Garage leadership team. Daniel is founder of BiliRoo, a medical device company seeking to treat neonatal jaundice in limited-resource settings. Naomi is creating a tech business that will help thrift stores increase operational efficiency through volunteer empowerment. These students are just two of the many that are doing God’s work outside the classroom through business.