Slaughter, Charles
Founder, Living Goods
Chuck earned a BA in Architecture and an MBA from Yale. In 1991 he founded TravelSmith, a leading travel wear company, and grew it to over $100 million in catalog and online sales and 2 million customers. In affiliation with Golden Gate Capital he participated in the acquisition and turnaround of major consumer brands with combined sales over $2 billion. Chuck lead the turnaround of a system of franchised clinics serving the poor in Kenya.
This experience inspired him to create Living Goods, which operates networks of ‘Avon-like’ health entrepreneurs who go door-to-door teaching families how to improve their health and wealth and selling life-changing products, like treatments for malaria and diarrhea, fortified foods, clean cook stoves, and solar lights. Living Goods empowers agents with an innovative smart phone app that automates diagnosis, ensures prompt follow ups and provides real time data to every manager on any device. He serves on the boards of The Yale School of Management, Living Goods, and the Goldsmith Foundation, and is a former board member of Spiegel. He received an Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and is a World Economic Forum Social Entrepreneur of the Year.