Tom Nolan

CEO at Kendra Scott

Tom Nolan is the CEO of Austin-based jewelry brand Kendra Scott. He leads the business by balancing day-to-day functions and strategy with the integration of the brand’s core pillars of fashion, family and philanthropy into every consumer touchpoint.

Tom brings more than two decades of experience in brand building, management and results-driven strategic planning from a diverse range of businesses, including CondÃ© Nast, Ralph Lauren, and his own business, Prospect Brands, LLC. Tom’s commitment to innovation and excellence is clearly shown in his passion for serving others.

He currently holds numerous board and advisory positions for prestigious organizations like Mizzen and Main, Tommy John, Inc., and the Southern Golf Association, to name a few.

Why We Chose Him:

CEO Tom Nolan’s humility is his leadership superpower at Kendra Scott. Making jewelry the foundation for empowerment and philanthropy, he credits Kendra Scott herself -- whose founding story we’ve previously shared when we honored her in Empowerment: The Ultimate Social Capital -- noting that the underlying philosophy comes from the needs she brought to it as a single mom. “So, it’s evolved over the years. Kendra used to call it the ‘Sister Rule.’ When we were 99% female, it was easier to do that. But nowadays we have a lot more men working in the company, so it’s ‘Your Sister and Your Brother Rule’ -- The Golden Rule, if you will, right? Make sure to treat other people the way you want to be treated.”

How does he put that into practice? “It’s really having empathy for what people are going through. And understanding what people are going through in their personal lives. To be able to give them the comfort, and the safety if you will, to be able to live their best personal lives. It’s ultimately going to lead to them leading their best professional lives as well. We’ve seen that happen in spades.”

Empowerment is one of values Tom describes as pervasive to the organization. “I learned, personally, early on, the power of putting smart people around you and then really allowing those people to do their jobs. Also, kind of coming up through my career, you remember certain things along the way. And I always remember when I felt the boss didn’t trust me,” he shares. “I didn’t like the feeling that I didn’t have a voice at the table, I didn’t have a vote. And I wanted to make sure if I ever got put in a position of authority, I wanted to make sure that I’d hire people and allow them to do what they wanted to do and be great. â€¦ I love the quote that Harry Truman said: ‘You can accomplish anything in life as long as you don’t mind who takes credit for it.’”