Draft:Louisa Serene Schneider

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Louisa Serene Schneider (born 1976) is an American business executive and entrepreneur, and the founder and CEO of Rowan, Inc,[1][2][3] a nurse-led ear-piercing and jewelry company. She has held key roles in financial services, academia, and asset management, and currently serves on the board of OTC Markets Group, Inc.[4][5] and on the board of NextGenFace, a non-profit.[6]

Early life and education

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Schneider was born in North Carolina, and earned a Bachelor of Science in Political Science and French from Dartmouth College.[7][8] She has an MBA from Columbia Business School.[5][9]

Career

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Finance and academia

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Schneider started her career on Wall Street, working at JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley.[citation needed] After earning her MBA, Louisa returned to Wall Street with Morgan Stanley and traded retail (including the IPO of lululemon).[10] In 2008, Schneider returned to Columbia University and in 2010 became the Senior Director of the Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing at Columbia Business School,[9] where Bruce Greenwald was and is the academic director.[11] She oversaw operations, program development, and executive education, and began teaching a Columbia Executive Education course on value investing, which she continued until 2019.[citation needed] From 2015 to 2017, she served as Chief Administrative Officer and Head of Investor Relations at Alder Hill Management.[10][12]

Entrepreneurship: Founding Rowan

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Motivated by a need for a safe, celebratory piercing experience for her daughter,[13] Schneider created Rowan, launching in 2017 (formerly known as Pair Piercing).[14] The company prides itself on nurse-led ear piercings, hypoallergenic jewelry, and its proprietary Rowan Clinical Piercing Standard.[15] Rowan began as an at-home piercing service,[16][17] and then was located within Targets all over the United States.[18][19][16] The company opened their first brick-and-mortar store in Upper East Side, New York.[13][3]

The name is inspired by Rowan County, North Carolina, where Schneider grew up.[20] Rowan raised $4 million in seed funding[17][21] and raised a $20 million Series B with a $100 million valuation led by VMG Partners,[18] and included Kevin Durant's Thirty Five Ventures and Beechwood Capital.[22] They reported being at $100 million in run rate revenue at the end of 2024[14] and expect to end 2025 with 100 studios.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b Scott, Sarah. "This Mom Wished She Could Take Her Daughter to a Kid-Friendly Ear Piercing Studio—So She Created One". Parents. Retrieved 2025-09-03.
  2. ^ "The Rowan Story". Rowan, Inc. Retrieved 2025-09-03.
  3. ^ a b Jensen, Jennifer Liu,Tasia (2025-09-20). "48-year-old quit her high-paying Wall Street job to start a business from her attic—now it brings in $70 million a year". CNBC. Retrieved 2025-09-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ "OTC Markets | Official site of OTCQX, OTCQB, OTCID and Pink Limited Markets". www.otcmarkets.com. Retrieved 2025-09-03.
  5. ^ a b OTC Markets Group Inc. "OTC Markets Group Names Neal Wolkoff and Louisa Serene Schneider to the Board of Directors". www.prnewswire.com (Press release). Retrieved 2025-09-03.
  6. ^ "Board". www.nextgenface.org. Retrieved 2025-09-03.
  7. ^ "Louisa Serene - Women's Squash". Dartmouth College Athletics. Retrieved 2025-09-26.
  8. ^ "Class Note 2000 | Dartmouth Alumni Magazine". dartmouthalumnimagazine.com. Retrieved 2025-09-26.
  9. ^ a b "Louisa Schneider on the Value of an MBA Today | Columbia Business School". business.columbia.edu. 2013-07-19. Retrieved 2025-09-26.
  10. ^ a b "Louisa Schneider | Chief Executive Officer and Founder". Muraena.ai. Retrieved 2025-09-03.
  11. ^ "Bruce Greenwald | Columbia Business School". business.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2025-09-03.
  12. ^ "2024 Annual Shareholder Meeting Proxy Statement" (PDF). OTC Markets Group. November 27, 2024.
  13. ^ a b "Exploring Life & Business with Louisa Schneider of Rowan". VoyagePhoenix - Phoenix. 2025-08-13. Retrieved 2025-09-03.
  14. ^ a b Brody, Liz (Nov 12, 2024). "How Did a Hole-in-the-Wall Company Suddenly Pop Up, Like, Everywhere to the Tune of $100 Million? It's an Earful!". Entrepreneur.
  15. ^ "What is the Rowan Clinical Piercing Standard?". Rowan, Inc. Retrieved 2025-09-04.
  16. ^ a b Monteros, Maria (2024-02-22). "Rowan unveils plans to double its store count this year". Modern Retail. Retrieved 2025-09-04.
  17. ^ a b Segran, Elizabeth (July 23, 2019). "Peak Start Up Culture is Here - and It Draws Blood". Fast Company.
  18. ^ a b "Rowan Raises $20M to Elevate the Ear-Piercing Experience – AlleyWatch". Retrieved 2025-09-04.
  19. ^ "Q4 2021 Target Corp Earnings Call & Financial Community Meeting on March 01, 2022 / 2:00PM" (PDF). Target Corp. 2022-03-01. Retrieved 2025-08-04.
  20. ^ Hollaus, Olivia (2025-01-30). "Q&A with Rowan Founder and CEO Louisa Schneider". Boca Raton Magazine. Retrieved 2025-09-04.
  21. ^ "Rowan Founder on Elevating the Ear Piercing Experience". Women In Retail Leadership Circle. Retrieved 2025-09-04.
  22. ^ "Ear-Piercing Firm Rowan Valued at $100 Million in Funding Round". Bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on 2023-06-10. Retrieved 2025-09-04.