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Alexis Maybank & Alexandra Wilkis Wilson

Most Powerful Mom Entrepreneurs

Co-founders of Gilt Groupe

Children: Maybank is mom to son, 1; Wilson is mom to son, 1

Twitter: @GiltFounder and @GiltAlexandra

Alexis Maybank and Alexandra Wilkis Wilson forever changed online shopping when they launched Gilt Groupe in 2007. The site offers ‘flash’ sales of women’s, men’s and children’s apparel and accessories at a discount for a limited amount of time. Maybank and Wilson met in Harvard Business School. They seized on the idea of selling “aspirational” luxury to shoppers and wanted to bring the sample sale experience, a New York tradition, to consumers on the web. Wilson says, “I love knowing that we are building a business that is truly innovative and is changing the way that our members shop.” It has become a tradition in certain offices since Gilt launched for women to crowd around their computers at lunch time when Gilt sales go live to vie for discounted Christian Louboutin shoes, Alexander Wang bags or whatever is being offered that day. As of 2010, the company was generating over $500 million in revenue annually, and analysts suggest that the company is worth $1 billion. Aside from launching one of the most successful e-commerce ventures on the web today, Maybank and Wilson are both new moms.