Grow with Google stories

Claire Thorn

Uncovering career possibilities

After spending 20 years as a stay-at-home mom, military spouse Claire Thorn knew she was ready for a change, but didn’t quite know what that change could be. Claire became an early tester of an experimental tool by Grow with Google called Career Dreamer. All she had to do was answer a few simple questions about her background and interests, and Career Dreamer showed her how her life experiences could translate into valuable skills and new career opportunities.

Old School Boxing Center

Rolling with the punches

After retiring from the Marines, Ernest Johnson opened Old School Boxing Center in San Diego. Over the years he’s learned how to grow an online presence, and by adding the veteran-led badge to his Google My Business listing, he’s able to reach more clients in Google Maps and Search who are looking to support veteran-led businesses.

Sword & Plough

Threading through generations

Sisters Betsy Núñez and Emily Núñez Cavness grew up in a military family, and Emily was an officer in the U.S. Army for five years. Inspired by their entrepreneurial mother and grandmother, they founded Sword & Plough, which designs one-of-a-kind, made-in-the-USA bags and accessories, created from repurposed military surplus and durable military grade materials. They also support veteran jobs across the country through their veteran-owned manufacturing partners, brand ambassador program, and their own employees.

Danette Matthews

Ready for what's next

At the Academy of Music Production Education and Development (AMPED) in Louisville, KY, parents like Danette use the Applied Digital Skills curriculum to expand their skill sets, bolster their resumes, and power their job searches.

Jake Foreman

Building better futures

Jake Foreman of New Mexico Community Capital, a nonprofit organization based in Albuquerque, uses the Applied Digital Skills curriculum to help Native American entrepreneurs learn new skills to grow their businesses.

SERVICE BREWING COMPANY

On a mission

After retiring from the military, Kevin began brewing beer with the help of YouTube tutorials. Less than two years later, he and Meredith founded a successful craft brewery whose mission is to give back to veterans and their community.

STRIDER BIKES

Inspiring Riders Worldwide

As a bike enthusiast, Ryan McFarland couldn’t wait to share his love for riding with his two-year-old son. Instead of waiting for his son to grow old enough to use a traditional bike, Ryan invented a pedal-less bike that his toddler could ride immediately. He started Strider Bikes in 2007 and has since sold 2.5 million bikes worldwide, bringing joy to little riders in 78 countries. Today, international sales account for 60% of all Strider Bikes sold annually.

LOUISIANA CRAWFISH COMPANY

Bayou Without Borders

Louisiana Crawfish Company started out small 35 years ago. Now, this family business ships two million pounds of seafood all across the country. Here’s how they did it.

MELINDA WILLIAMS

Aspiring IT Support Specialist

After years working as a hairdresser and cosmetology teacher, Melinda decided to make a career change. She recently earned a Google IT Support Professional Certificate through her local community college, and is on her way to becoming an IT support specialist.

SHEARSHARE

Level-up Your Business

When Dr. Tye and Courtney Caldwell discovered that 40% of salon and barbershop space goes unused every day, they saw an opportunity. The husband-and-wife duo created ShearShare, an app that connects salon and barbershop owners to stylists who can fill empty chairs in their shops in more than 400 cities worldwide.

Civic Eagle

Immigrants, Activists, Founders

For Civic Eagle founder Damola Ogundipe, improving democracy wasn’t just a business opportunity—it was personal. Inspired by years of attempting to navigate our legal system as an undocumented immigrant in Minnesota, Damola created Enview, an app designed to make legislation accessible and transparent. Now, advocacy groups (as wells as interested voters) can discover and track legislation, and pin-point the exact areas that they need to focus on to make real social and legislative change.

Possip

Find a Founder Community

Possip is an app that prompts parents for weekly feedback on how schools and teachers are doing and then turns that parent engagement into data that schools use to track trends, solve problems, and bring joy to teachers and parents.

DALEY COLLEGE

Bringing new opportunities to Chicago

At the Gateway Program at Richard J. Daley College in Chicago, students like Rutilia and Ulises uses Google's Applied Digital Skills curriculum to build practical computer skills that can help them prepare and succeed in new jobs.

Ladyfingers Letterpress

Drawing from experience

Wife-and-wife team Morgan and Arley founded Ladyfingers Letterpress in Colorado Springs after their own wedding invitation went viral. As they grew, they learned to use digital tools to reach new customers near and far. Now they ship their hand-printed greeting cards worldwide, with half of their sales originating from their website.

OSCAR MIKE

On the move

Marine veteran Noah Currier learned to use digital tools to grow his online apparel company Oscar Mike. As revenue increases, it’s used to fund his Oscar Mike Foundation which keeps injured veterans on the move through adaptive sports.

Okabashi

The next step in American made

Making shoes is Sara's passion. Making them in America is her mission. The web is making it simpler for her to connect with more customers, and Google is helping.

KELLY GRIVNER-KELLY

Build a career that works for you

As a military spouse, Kelly moved 5 times over 6 years, which made it difficult to build a long-term career despite her education and work experience. This changed when she found a job as a program manager where she can work from home–and stay on remotely after her next move.

Borgatti's Pasta

Keeping their dream alive

Chris’ grandparents opened Borgatti’s in 1935. As customers started retiring and moving out of their Bronx neighborhood, they asked Chris and his wife Joan when they would start shipping. So Joan learned to put up a website, and now they ship their handmade pasta all over the country.

Pietro Handbags

Carrying a legacy

Pierre opened a handbag factory after immigrating to America. Decades later, when stores and little boutiques that were buying from them started going out of business, his son Alex learned to use digital tools to reach customers online.

Olivet Institutional Baptist Church

Building Bridges

Olivet Institutional Baptist Church, and its Pastor Jawanza Colvin, partnered with Google to bring IT Support training to people in the neighborhood of Fairfax, Ohio.

Missouri Star Quilt

Quilting a community together

Jenny Doan turned a home-grown shop into the number one provider of precut quilting fabrics.

Daniel Sotoamaya

From military life to civilian life

U.S. Army veteran Daniel worked with Grow with Google and the USO for support during his transition to civilian life and was one of the first people to test Google’s military code job search tool (MOS, AFSC, NEC, etc).

Fire Dept. Coffee

Serving our heroes

Rockford firefighter Luke Schneider and his wife Kate learned to use digital tools to make the Fire Dept. Coffee website their storefront. Since then, they’ve shipped coffee all over the world and donated a portion of every order to firefighter and military charities.

Glam Doll Donuts

Making it from scratch

After learning how to make donuts online, Teresa and Arwyn left their waitressing jobs to open Glam Doll Donuts. As more donut shops started popping up around Minneapolis, the pair learned to use digital tools to bring new customers into their stores and grow their business.

Daniel Anderson

IT Support Specialist

With the help of Google's IT Support Professional Certificate, Daniel Anderson grew his love for technology into a career helping other people.

Moment Skis

The biggest little ski company

After turning their passion for powder days into a business, Luke and Casey learned to use digital tools to sell their handmade skis to customers all over the world.

Prosperity Candle

Lighting the way for their employees

Ted Barber began Prosperity Candle with the mission of employing refugee women who, through federal programs, have relocated from war zones to America. Over the years, the company learned to use digital tools to reach customers across the country and around the world, and help train women working with them from afar.

Rev. Morgan-Thomas

Preserving an artform

Rev. Georgiette Morgan-Thomas put off her plans for retirement and purchased the S & S Hat Company in Philadelphia, PA when it announced its closure in 2015. Together with her son, Robert, she started American Hats in 2016, and turned to the web to help reinvigorate the business.

Zkano

Knitting a new way

Gina Locklear and her parents helped their hometown’s beloved sock business thrive in a new age.

Sara Blevins

Learning to code

Sara always had a passion for technology, but she didn’t always have access to it in the rural town where she grew up. She recently received a Developer Scholarship from Google, and is pursuing her dream of becoming a web developer.

Mason’s Creamery

Serving the community

Mason’s Creamery started as a mobile ice cream business. But through a lot of hard work and the help of digital tools, Jesse and Helen turned a 60-year-old boarded up ice cream shop into a neighbourhood hub.

MY DESSERT BAR

One-woman show

After closing down her bakery, Shennice Cleckley learned how to grow her business by bringing her sweets online.

Bit Source

Appalachian ingenuity

Rusty, Lynn, Justin and Payton created new opportunities in their hometown by teaching coal miners how to code.

Langston’s Western Wear

Retail cowboy

Brian Barber found a way to keep growing his family’s century-old retail business.

Janus Motorcycles

Building a dream

Richard and Devin started building motorcycles with the help of local Amish craftsmen. As their business has grown, they’ve found a way to sell their bikes across the country.

goodwill

Finding second chances at Goodwill

Kevin Jefferson goes from bartender to full time IT professional with Goodwill’s help.

Knotzland

Self-taught CEO

Nisha Blackwell found a way to turn salvaged fabric into handcrafted bowties and a growing business.

5 Generation Bakers

Remaking a legacy

Scott Baker stays nimble in the 21st century while maintaining his bakery’s 19th-century roots.

Kandi Young

Teaching for tomorrow

Kandi Young uses the Applied Digital Skills curriculum to get practical knowledge into the hands of her students.