Syama Bunten CEO of Scaling Retail and Host of Getting Rich Together, an expander podcast for women on money and wealth. For over a decade at she's been working with first time founders as a Co-CEO to launch scalable businesses. Prior to, Syama worked at Barneys New York, and Gucci building intrapreneurial divisions. Syama's won a number of awards including 2023 Positive Leadership Award from the Leadership Institute, 2022 Thought Leadership Award for Evangelizing Female Entrepreneurs and 2017 WWD Top Women in Business. In this episode, Syama talks with her husband, Jon Bunten, about the formative childhood experiences that shaped her career accomplishments.

Ann Tham is a retail strategist obsessed with building smart, scalable and profitable brands. As a teenager, you would find Ann at the mall every week checking out the latest fashions and design inspirations from her favorite brands. Ann parlayed this obsession into a 20 year career at some of the most notable American brands – Ralph Lauren, Levi’s Strauss, Old Navy, Maidenform, and even taking the leap to build her own wellness brand called Before Noon. In today's episode, we'll learn more about her retail journey, her biggest lessons and what she's up to now.

For more than 20 years, Sam Zebian has stewarded iconic brands as a marketer inside world-class organizations and agencies including Nike, Disney and CAA. From her earliest days as a talent agent to her work as an executive and consultant, she’s brought a strategic approach and a curiosity to each challenge. She’s especially skilled at reinventing heritage brands and driving them deeper into culture. In this episode, Sam speaks with Ann Tham about the power of building a career portfolio and making change an opportunity.

Andrew Minosh Pieris's story starts in the lush landscapes of Sri Lanka, where the vibrant culture and architecture sparked his creative passion. Moving to London as a teen, he interned with Alexander McQueen, and other names such as Jonathan Saunders, John Rocha, KTZ. He immersed himself in the fashion world from the age of fifteen. His journey led him to visual merchandising and design, where he blends fashion insights with London's energy in his distinctive styling and displays. With over ten years in the industry, Andrew has worked with top brands like Prada, Selfridges, Neiman Marcus, and Marvel Studios. His diverse portfolio highlights his ability to innovate across different fields, marking him as a creative force in visual design. In this episode, Andrew talks with Thomas Mitchell how a chance meeting he had at age 15 with someone he didn't even recognize forged his career path.

Originally from Albuquerque, NM, Thomas is an accomplished Visual Merchandising professional with over 2 decades experience across diverse retail channels from small boutiques to world-renowned luxury department stores. As the son of two talented jewelry designers, he learned the value and beauty of craftsmanship at an early age and explored photography and architecture in college. After moving to the east coast in 1993 he landed at Urban Outfitters then Brooks Brothers, starting as a District Visual Manager and then as the Global Visual Merchandising Manager, executing and writing corporate VM guidelines through a period of expansive international growth. His next stop was the Saks Fifth Avenue flagship in NYC where he held several Visual Manager positions including Men’s, Visual Operations and Special Projects. In his new role as a Visual Consultant, he leverages his experience and knowledge of engineering, construction and project management to help clients bring their brand vision to life through buildouts, popups and experiential design. In this episode, Thomas talks with Andrew Pieris about how his engineering background and his ability to pivot and formulate a Plan B have been critical to his career.

Lisa Di Napoli sees the world in vivid color, has never met a color swatch that did not inspire, and loves curating visual stories. All this has served her well as a design leader and children’s industry expert. Her vision has brought to life children’s collections for over two decades, starting with H.M. Woggle Bug, a luxury line Di Napoli founded and ran, then parlaying those skills into multi-million-dollar revenue for prestigious companies such as Best & Co., Baby Gap, and Tommy Hilfiger. Her talent is not isolated to the world of fashion; she is also a constant beauty seeker who loves to entertain and share her creativity with others. Di Napoli believes in mentoring and does so frequently at FIT, Parsons, and NYC public schools. Di Napoli now runs, The Pixie Creative, a design consultancy. On this episode, Lisa talks with Celeste Lilore about how she got her first job in fashion and the ways in which running her own business prepared her for the corporate fashion world.

Céleste is an insatiably curious lifelong learner passionate about community, partnership, provenance, ethics, sustainability, and timeless style. Through stories, she delights in making the complex simple. Her first job (not including babysitting and waitressing) was as the receptionist at Chanel HQ in Paris. It ignited Céleste’s love affair with product and fashion while elevating her commitment to service. Since then, she has worked as Corporate Engagement and Membership Experience Director at Textile Exchange, Marketing and Community Director and Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Brooklyn Fashion + Design Accelerator, Regional Director, Green Festival -New York, Co-Founder and EcoPreneur, Restore clothing. Céleste is currently exploring new professional adventures in impact-related work. On this episode, Celeste speaks with Lisa Di Napoli about her decision to pursue her own business and how she later re-entered the corporate world.

Crystal Slattery serves as the President of Tanya Taylor and plays a pivotal role in driving the brand’s success. With a strong background in business strategy from her years as President of Elizabeth and James and Cinq a Sept, Crystal is responsible for leading business operations and strategy for the Tanya Taylor brand. On this episode, she talks with Tanya Taylor about the role she sees technology playing in the fashion industry, both currently and in the future.

Tanya serves as CEO and Creative Director of her namesake brand. Playing with color and texture, Tanya uses her artistic background to create clothing for women to move creatively and confidently through their day. Tanya Taylor’s collections are available at major retailers including Saks Fifth Avenue, Shopbop and Neiman Marcus, as well as on http://TanyaTaylor.com and at her Upper East Side boutique in Manhattan. On this episode, Tanya speaks with Crystal Slattery about what motivated her to believe she could start her own brand early on in her career.

Jen White is a branding expert that guides companies beyond surface-level branding to build mindshare and capture market share. She combines her background in fine art, expertise in consumer branding, and 20+ years of entrepreneurial experience to shepherd brands to their most powerful market potential. She has worked with both public and private organizations across CPG and beauty including: Seed Beauty, Johnson and Johnson, Markwins Beauty Brands, Sovos Brands and international giants including Belcorp and AJE Group. From independent brands still in their nascent stages to mature multinational corporations, she helps organizations enhance brand stewardship and grow brand equity. On this episode, Jen talks with Sam Baker about the leap she took in deciding where to go to school and the circumstances that led to her starting a career in which she's always worked for herself.

Sam Baker transforms underperforming ecommerce sites into powerful selling tools that help her clients generate double-digit incremental revenue each year. Sam’s ecommerce background includes web optimization at Abercrombie & Fitch, digital marketing at Vera Bradley and consulting clients such as Under Armour and Intercontinental Hotel Group. Her consultancy specializes in A/B Testing, UX improvements, and Retention and Acquisition strategies. On this episode, Sam speaks with Jen White about how she got into a career that didn't exist when she was in college and about the challenges of moving from working a corporate job to running her own business.

Lydia Fenet is the founder and CEO of the Lydia Fenet Agency, a boutique agency representing best in class charity auctioneers. Over her two-decade long career, Lydia served as the Global Managing Director of Strategic Partnerships for Christie’s and reshaped the fundraising landscape as the world’s leading charity auctioneer, single handedly raising over one billion dollars for more than 800 organizations and breaking down countless barriers for women in the auction industry. Widely recognized for her poise and power onstage, she has stood alongside celebrities including Bruce Springsteen, Hugh Jackman, Elton John, Matt Damon and Jerry Seinfeld to raise record-breaking donations for the most notable charities across the globe. Lydia is the author of two best-selling books, The Most Powerful Woman in the Room is You & Claim Your Confidence as well as the podcast host of Claim Your Confidence in collaboration with Rockefeller Center. On this episode, Lydia speaks with Katelyn Delaney about the importance of speaking her dreams into existence.

Katelyn Delaney is an empowering executive product marketer and global beauty brand builder with successful experience leading product innovation and strategy, collaborating on effective go-to-market campaigns, and developing impactful 360 multi-channel marketing programs to accelerate growth across color and fragrance categories. On this episode, Katelyn speaks with Lydia Fenet about how important the first job is, and the role of the mentors she found early in her career.

Kátia Sarti is a highly experienced digital marketing and e-commerce professional with over 15 years of experience successfully growing retail brands through innovative and integrated digital marketing strategies. She has led performance marketing for the likes of 1-800-flowers.com and Clinique and is currently the Head of Consumer Marketing for Priority Pass in the Americas. Her professional arsenal is marked by a high level of adaptability and flexibility, consistently paired with leadership acumen, strategic thinking and a results-driven mentality. She’s fluent in English, Portuguese and Spanish and enjoys being able to engage in multicultural environments both professionally and personally. On this episode, Katia talks with Loree Lash Valencia about how she's reached a pivot point in her career and her thoughts on what she will do next.

Loree Lash-Valencia is a distinguished executive with over 20 years of experience in global sales leadership and strategic partnerships, known for her expertise in business development, revenue generation, and marketing. She has a proven track record of generating over $100 million in new revenue and has been instrumental in various roles with major brands like Fila, BCBG, WGSN, and JOOR. Loree excels in identifying market trends and forming strategic alliances, consistently driving remarkable growth and success. Her focus lies in refining go-to-market strategies, improving sales protocols, and forging impactful partnerships. In this episode, Loree speaks with Katia Sarti about the ugly fashion template that led her into the second act of her career, and the serendipity that has at times helped lead her down her professional path.

From being the face of a brand to creating a brand, there's not much that Jay hasn't done or can't do in the world of fashion. On this episode, Jay speaks with Andrew Staunton about the meaning of the words resilience and agility in making a career in fashion.

Designer director with 2 decades of experience leading international brands across genders and categories. Experience building businesses in established brands and launching new product lines from scratch. Masters graduate focusing on project management methods and their application to successful design development. On this episode, Andrew talks with Jay Anderson about keeping up hope and resilience as he seeks out the next role in his career.

Michelle is originally from Los Angeles and has been living in France since 2021. After 5 years of professional experience in office management she came to Paris to earn her Masters in Communications with a concentration on sustainable development. Michelle is currently working on creating content around her areas of research into cultural sustainability and material impact while simultaneously navigating building a career within sustainability in fashion. On this episode, Michelle talks with Cynthia Power about how deciding on her career path took her from San Francisco to India to Paris.

Cynthia is a circular-programs expert with 15 years of experience and the owner of Molte Volte. She previously managed EILEEN FISHER Renew for many years before working at tech-resale startup Recurate. She now works independently, helping brands and circular service providers to understand and navigate the fashion circular landscape, including building and scaling resale and reuse programs. She (like most of us) is passionate about the high quality, durable goods that already exist and how we can prolong their useful lives. In this episode, Cynthia speaks with Michelle Doyle about how a project she did to raise money for a college club she was in served as the launching pad for her career.

Priya is recognized globally in luxury brand strategy, product development and manufacturing. She has brought her creative vision and expertise to an extensive career at Tiffany & Co., working directly with the likes of world renowned architect Frank Gehry, famed designer Paloma Picasso, and the esteemed archives of Jean Schlumberger. More recently, she has built her own brand, Rania Designs, developing custom pieces for private clients and as a luxury retail consultant. Priya’s rich heritage and life experiences give her a unique perspective and path to success no matter the journey. In this episode, Priya speaks with Katharine McKee about how she took the career path that led her to do the one thing she thought she'd never want to do.