Denise Chumlea is a 4th generation Austinite and a proud graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. Hoping to stay near family and friends, she was determined to find a career in fashion in her own backyard. Denise joined forces with Kendra in 2005 and has helped take Kendra Scott from a local startup to a global, multi-million dollar brand. After wearing numerous hats throughout her tenure at KS, Denise fell in love with product development, leading her to the position of Vice President of Design. When she isn’t traveling across the world for work, she loves to hike the Greenbelt with her husband Matt and their dog Cassie, or play a round of golf at one of the many courses around Austin.

My Challenge

Denise’s Big Brave challenge is to complete a painting and have it featured locally.

“I’m so involved with my job and building the business that I’m afraid I’ve let go of what inspired me to get into jewelry design in the first place. I’m a creative person at heart and painting has been a longtime hobby of mine, but I haven’t picked up a paintbrush in years. For my Big Brave I’m going to challenge myself to not only complete a painting, but work to get it featured locally. A person’s art is very personal, and this is something I never thought I could do. But by putting my art on display for the world (or just Austin) to judge, I’m going to show girls that by building their confidence they can learn to step out of their comfort zone. Who knows what great things can happen!”

100% of all Big Brave donations will go directly towards benefitting GENaustin.