Left: The LTK platform powers creator-guided shopping; Right: Amber Venz Box [Photos: LTK]
Dallas-based LTK helped create the creator economy when it launched in 2011, launching a new category that monetized Instagram and allowed lifestyle creators to become entrepreneurs. It was valued at $2 billion just 10 years later. But when Venz Box first started the company, she had only $236 in her bank account, according to Fortune Magazine.