Designer • Developer • Entrepreneur

April Carter Grant’s career started at a small full-service agency in Chicago’s advertising industry.

In 1999, April declined an employment offer from Starbelly, Groupon co-founder Brad Keywell’s previous venture, to join the creative team of a games manufacturer. Soon after, Starbelly sold for $100 million in cash and $140 million in stock, making their small staff small fortunes... and she realized the allure of the startup.

Lesson learned, April moved to Miami to establish the creative department of a startup travel agency, which expanded from 15 to over 50 employees within 18 months.

The fatigue of back-to-back hurricanes Wilma and Katrina prompted a 2005 move to LA, where she eventually joined startup Escom as the first employee. The domain alone sold three years later, in November 2010, for a record $13 million.

In addition to founding Sugarsock, a creative consultancy focused on helping small businesses launch, April is co-founder of NYC-based Stylene—a B2C discovery, marketing, and sales platform—and a creative advisor for Acclarus Ventures.

April has been a featured speaker for UCLA Summer Discovery and was invited to demonstrate Adobe CS3 products at the Adobe Creative License Conference. She is published author, editor, photographer, and illustrator. She also writes music and makes a damn fine pie.