Caleb McCandliss
Title: Founder and CEO
Company: CarChap
Age: 20
Caleb McCandliss created the CarChap, a holster that keeps lip balm upright, so it melts and solidifies back into the tube, preventing messes that can ruin car interiors, purses and clothing.
“Originally, CarChap was designed to solve this problem, but we discovered an additional benefit — users were able to finish their lip balm for the first time as the product helped them keep track of it, reducing loss,” McCandliss said.
A California native and Grand Canyon University engineering student, McCandliss cofounded the company with his mother, Shelly, who has been instrumental in supporting his entrepreneurial endeavors, he said.
To date, the family-run business has sold more than 20,000 CarChaps via its Shopify storefront, Amazon, Etsy and the TikTok shop.
In addition, McCandliss took home second place and $1,500 in GCU’s Canyon Challenge in 2023 for the CarChap invention. Car and Driver and Good Housekeeping magazines have highlighted the CarChap in lists of best-selling car accessories.
The company is in discussions with retailers to potentially sell the CarChap in brick-and-mortar stores, McCandliss said.
Read about the rest of this year's honorees here.
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