The co-lab career stories

Juliana is an executive level project manager with 11+ years of experience in retail operations, marketing, product development, product launches and experiential event execution. She is currently the Senior Program Manager of Marketing and Operations at SEPHORA, and has managed projects for a variety of fashion, jewelry, tech, creative and coaching businesses and thrives at working cross-function...

Naomi Usher is Founder and Creative Director of Studio Usher, a full-service design firm in New York City. Her commitment to the process is fervent, her energy is laser-focused, and her non-linear approach is as smart as it is provocative. It’s why she’s been sought after for two decades to create award-winning campaigns across a range of industries, from publishing and fashion to fine arts and no...

Sarah Sukumaran was born and raised in Queens, NY. She is the founder and CEO of Lilith NYC, a sneaker startup launching Summer 2021. Sarah started Lilith NYC, largely motivated by the fact that women are overlooked by the sneaker industry and that the industry forces a very one-dimensional view of how women are to show up in sneaker culture.  Most recently, she was Director of Product (Data...

Annelies spent 15 years of her career in fashion, having worked with a range of major designers including Karl Lagerfeld, and later founded a beachwear brand called Seilenna. Originally from Belgium, her career has spanned across the world, from the UK to New York. Annelies Is currently based in Portugal, and Is the Chief Creative Officer at FTD Flowers, a Chicago-based company. Listen along as fe...

Brazilian-Born Ana Lerario Geller is a Fashion designer and owner of New York City based Fiftytwo showroom. After starting her career at Marc Jacobs and working for over a decade in some of New York's top fashion houses, Ana embarked on her own business adventure helping young internatioal designers launch their brands in the American market. Currently living in Portugal, Ana continues to split he...

Jermaine Francis is a London based Photographer who works between projects and commissions, and has appeared in exhibitions at the National Portrait Gallery, International Centre of Photography, as well as i-D Magazine, 10 Magazine, British Journal of Photography, Beauty Papers, and Self Service. He recently published his latest book, Something that seems so Familiar becomes Distant, and appears i...

Heloise has an impressive background of working with photographers and visual content creators for the past 20+ years, combining her expertise of hiring the visual talent and representing the talent to tell a brand’s story. Beginning her career at The Andy Warhol Foundation and Ian Schrager Hotels, Heloise established herself at Art + Commerce—where for nearly a decade, she worked with various pre...

Laura Annetta Kaplan is the founder of ANNETTA, a collection of responsibly sourced and made fine jewelry, which launched in September 2020. Prior to opening her own business, her 20-year fashion career includes posts at European luxury houses Bottega Veneta, Alexander McQueen, and Stella McCartney, as well as senior merchant positions at Ralph Lauren and AllSaints, and President at Paul Andrew. L...

Shelly is the founder and curator of recently launched ehra, a direct to consumer collection of vintage jewelry, accessories and objects. "Where art and adornment intersect, ehra begins." ehra’s selection of vintage aims for a more mindful approach, starting with the reuse of existing parts. Each piece is expertly curated or recreated from vintage parts to sustain its life. Prior to that, Shelly l...

Alexa Steiner (she/her) works as a sustainability consultant focused on helping organizations uncover the opportunities that lie within sustainable innovation. She has worked across industries in fashion, government, and nonprofit sector. Though she works with clients across North America, she currently resides in beautiful BC, Canada and spends as much time outside with her pup, Rizzo. Listen alo...

Gabriella Ainslie directs operations, growth and sustainability as COO of Miranda Bennett Studio, an ethical, sustainable fashion brand. Her career has included positions at Christie’s Auction House, ABC Carpet & Home and URBN. She has also worked as a consultant to brands and retailers directing profitable growth through brand strategy and operational efficiencies. Listen along as fellow...

Amanda Vlavianos is a strategic and goal-oriented product development manager with extensive background in the luxury and contemporary apparel industry. Upon graduating from Rutgers University with a degree in English Literature, Amanda began her career with KARISMA, an embroidery company that partners with designers to bring embroidered and embellished apparel to life. While at KARISMA, she led p...

Ever wondered what a job in Trend Forecasting looks like? Abbey Cook is a lifestyle trend forecaster and creative consultant with over 15 years experience in developing cultural trends, storytelling and design forecasts for major brands and retailers. A graduate of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Abbey's lifelong love of fashion led her to her career path. Listen along as she talks with fellow...

Danielle Kayembe is a female futurist and serial entrepreneur who works on projects at the intersection of women, tech and social impact. Through her company GreyFire, she advises female founders in the US and emerging markets in Africa on scaling their businesses and raising capital. Danielle is an advisor to social impact startups and a mentor to Columbia University’s business accelerator, she h...

Erin Halper is the founder and CEO of The Upside, an award-winning community and accelerator for consultants who support and advance one another in business and beyond. Since launching The Upside in 2017, Erin has helped thousands of professionals build a respected consultancy practice that generates consistent clients and affords them the freedom and flexibility that come with being your own boss...

Lori Adelman is a Human Resources Executive with 20+ years of HR experience in the fashion industry. Lori started her career as a Human Resources Manager at Calvin Klein, and has held senior roles at numerous impressive brands like Cole Haan, DIOR, Condé Nast, Coach and currently, Tory Burch. Her extensive expertise spans Talent Acquisition across all departments from Creative, Stra...

Caroline Priebe is the Founder and Director of Sustainability at The Center for the Advancement of Garment Making, offering brands sustainable/circular business strategies, creative consulting and learning opportunities. An early adapter to sustainable design (1999), Caroline began her career strategically working for sustainable fashion pioneers including Zero + Maria Cornejo, Rogan, Loomstate, a...

Gabrielle Korn is a journalist and digital media expert. She worked in digital media for ten years, during which time she served as the editor-in-chief of Nylon and the director of fashion and culture at Refinery29. She is currently the editorial and publishing lead of Most, Netflix’s home for LGBTQ storytelling on social media. Her nonfiction debut, Everybody (Else) Is Perfect, was published by A...

Tyler McCall is the Editor-in-Chief of Fashionista.com , where she used to religiously leave comments while an undergrad at the University of Florida. She spends a lot of time wondering if the boys of One Direction are happy on hiatus and trying to find the perfect reaction GIFs of Blair Waldorf. She's also logged hours at Teen Vogue, Vogue Runway and WWD.  Tune in as Netflix's Editorial and...

Kimberly Dillon is the founder of Frigg, a beauty brand that tackles the impact of stress on the hair and skin. Frigg leverages cannabis, mushrooms, and adaptogens in all of their vegan formulas, with a mission to work with BIPOC farmers and vendors. Kimberly got her start in Cannabis as the CMO of Papa & Barkley, a Cannabis startup that she helped grow to a 30 Million dollar business in 2.5 y...

Niambi Cacchioli is the founder and lead formulator at Pholk Beauty. As an academic turned beauty activist, Niambi infuses Pholk with her love and knowledge of the African Diaspora's healing and herbalist traditions. Her calling is to welcome women of color into the natural skincare space by thinking about both lifestyle and skin needs and crafting a brand narrative that celebrates women of color...

Rachel Pearl is an experienced designer with a history of working in the footwear and fashion industry. Skilled in brand strategy, trend analysis, illustration, technical drawings, a variety of footwear products, and fit. Rachel is a graduate of Ars Sutoria as well as Parsons School of Design, and has worked for impressive brands like DKNY and Dansko. Listen along as fellow designer and co-lab mem...

Megan Oliver is a freelance designer, who was most recently a Senior Designer for DKNY Sport. A graduate of Purdue University, Megan has worked for impressive brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Elie Tahari and Cynthia Rowley, and is currently launching an ethically produced children's clothing line called League of Friends. Megan resides in Brooklyn with her family, and talks with fellow co-lab member an...

Arden Frank is an entrepreneur and creative with a passion for sustainability. An apparel and textiles graduate of the University of Texas, Arden was working as an analyst for Good Vision Consulting in Tel Aviv, Israel when the pandemic hit in March 2020. She soon found herself back in Atlanta, using the downtime of the pandemic to start Let's Be Frank, a company that hand makes and hand dyes tie-...

Amy Smilovic is the founder and creative director of Tibi, an iconic fashion brand she created almost 25 years ago. Originally from a small town off the coast of Georgia, Amy was raised around a family of artists. While an Advertising Executive at American Express, Amy began sourcing materials from Italy and France, ultimately starting Tibi - without a formal fashion background. Listen along as co...