Florence Sender (b. January 25, 1943 – d. October 19, 2012
[ Obituary: Florence Sender. Tributes.com]) was an American
entrepreneur. She founded or served as a director of a number of companies. Sender taught at the MIT Sloan School of Management and co-founded its MIT Entrepreneurship Center.
Career in business
Sender founded, directed, or participated in a number of notable business ventures. She was described as a "serial entrepreneur."
[Albion, Mark S. True to Yourself: Leading a Values-Based Business. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. 2006. p. 38. [2]]
Nibbles International
In 1978, Sender founded Nibbles International, a seller of all-natural cheese spreads and snacks that Sender developed and that were produced and distributed by
Beatrice Foods. For her work with Nibbles, she was recognized in 1987 as a runner-up for
Inc. magazine's "hottest entrepreneur in America."
[Richman, Tom. "The Hottest Entrepreneur In America." Inc.. 1 February 1987. [3]] The French food company
Bongrain purchased Nibbles in 1988.
[Friedman, Marty. "Spread the word: new varieties of cheese." Dairy Foods. May 1990. [4]]
Be Fine Food skincare line
In 2006, Sender founded Be Fine, a Newton, Massachusetts-based maker of food-based skincare products.
[Murphy, Jen. "Farm-fresh Beauty." Food & Wine. September 2008. [5] ] Be Fine's line, which is formulated entirely from food products,
["Vegan Beauty Products: 'Be Fine' Skincare Made of Food." Trendhunter Magazine. [6]] has been distributed by retailers including
CVS Pharmacy,
Duane Reade, and
Rite Aid.
["Ride the wave of green business, sustainably." ukfast. 11 September 2008. [7]] The company has been cited as an example of a green, sustainable enterprise.
ClickR
Sender was founder and CEO of
ClickR, LLC, a 2010 retail start-up that she founded with her husband, Noam Sender.
["Florence Sender’s Latest Start-up Clicks in at $1.5M." citybizlist.com. 17 April 2010. [8]] ClickR announced in September 2010 that it would launch a new skincare line in October 2010.
[Press release: "clickR Skin Care Launches Complete Line For Acne and Blemish Prone Youthful Skin." 24 September 2010.[9]] Sephora began selling the start-up's products in January 2011.
[Field, Adrian. "Sephora Launches New 'ClickR' Skin Care Line." Huffington Post.18 January 2011. [10]] ClickR describes its products as "completely vegan" and designed to avoid irritating sensitive skin.
[Press release: "clickR: New Skin Care Collection Clicks with Youthful Skin." 24 September 2010.[11]] In January 2011, the company announced that actor
Cam Gigandet had signed on as a spokesperson for the brand, and characterized him as the "first official male spokesperson for a beauty brand."
Work in education
From 1989 to 1997, Sender was an Executive Director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management, where she taught MBA students.
[Goodison, Donna. "Call it food for the skin: Local co. looks healthy." Boston Herald. 16 March 2007. [12] ] Sender also lectured at
Tufts University.
["Tufts Initiative for Leadership and International Perspective: 1999-2000." Tufts University. [13]]
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