Bert Jacobs

Bert Jacobs is co-founder and Chief Executive Optimist of The Life is Good Company. The Boston, MA-based lifestyle brand spreads the power of optimism and helps kids in need by donating 10 percent of its net profits to The Life is good Kids Foundation.   In 1994, with a combined sum of just $78 in the bank, Bert and his brother John officially launched Life is good. Today, over 4,500 retailers nationwide carry Life is good products, as well as stores in over 30 countries around the world. Surprisingly, Life is good does not spend anything on advertising and rely purely on consumer word-of-mouth. Bert, John, and Life is good are living proof that "Optimism can take you anywhere."
 
Believing that consumers are influenced by too much "negative media," Life is good chooses to focus on what is right with the world vs. what is wrong. The connection with the Life is good community is at the heart of the company's success. With a social following of 1.8 million optimists and growing, consumers value its unique art house designs, optimistic and inspiring messages and deep commitment to its social mission of helping children overcome poverty, violence and illness through the nonprofit Life is good Kids Foundation.
 
Bert has been awarded honorary doctorates from several universities for entrepreneurship, business innovation and philanthropy. Both he and the company have been featured on CNNMoney, CNBC's Business Nation, ABC News Nightline, NBC's The Today Show, and in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Inc., and Men's Health, among others.