Kennedy Joy Foristall

Founder and CEO of Raide, 22

Making fashion sustainable, accessible, and collaborative is the motivation that inspired Kennedy Joy Foristall to launch Raide, a clothing rental marketplace app for college communities. The app offers a secure way to rent personal clothing, and Foristall says she’s proud of the community she and her team have built as a result.

What was a time you failed and how did you learn from it?
Before Raide, I launched a few start-up ventures that never quite took off. At the time, they felt like failures, but in hindsight, they were learning experiences. I realized how much I loved the process of building, and I learned to listen more closely to my users. As entrepreneurs, it’s easy to fall in love with our ideas, but the real magic happens when you put ego aside and truly serve your community.

Is there a great next opportunity that you are excited about?
This fall, Raide is expanding to over 20 new schools—and that’s just the beginning. We’re not just scaling an app, we’re building a cultural shift toward collaboration, sustainability, and community-first fashion.

What is the accomplishment you’re most proud of?
Building Raide, a clothing rental marketplace app that connects college communities and makes fashion more sustainable, accessible, and collaborative. The idea came from a very real problem I was facing: new events every week, standing in front of my closet feeling like I had nothing to wear, and constantly raiding my friends’ closets for something new. One day, I realized that just because they didn’t have what I was looking for didn’t mean someone else on campus didn’t. Women have been borrowing clothes for ages, Raide just makes borrowing better by creating a frictionless, secure way to find what you need right within your college community. What started as a personal solution has grown into a movement, and I’m most proud of the community we’ve built and the team that powers it every day.

How do you hope to make an impact within your community?
I want to change the way college students think about fashion- both in how we consume it and how we can build from it. Raide was created in large part to combat the environmental impact of fast fashion, which is responsible for nearly 10% of global carbon emissions. But along the way, it’s evolved into something even more powerful: a dynamic community offering all college women the chance to become entrepreneurs. Our top lenders are turning their closets into income, building confidence, learning how to market themselves, and gaining hands-on business experience. It’s been incredible to watch this domino effect- not just by choosing more sustainable options, but by taking control of their own financial futures. That’s the kind of ripple effect I want to continue to grow.

What advice would you give to young people/entrepreneurs with a similar trajectory to yours? 
Just launch. Don’t wait for the perfect pitch deck, the ideal timing, or the most polished version of your idea- those things will evolve with time. If you have a vision, build it. You’ll learn more by doing than by planning, and momentum is everything when you’re starting out.