Second Life

Ready-to-wear and bridal designer Monique Lhuillier's romantic and feminine aesthetic has been cherished in the fashion industry for quite some time now—25 years to be exact. On this episode, Hillary and Monique chat about everything the designer has accomplished over the past quarter century, from designing Britney Spears’ wedding dress to dressing eight major celebrities at the 2019 Golden Globes to being invited to the White House after dressing Michelle Obama.

In 1997, Amy Smilovic launched the ultimate cool-girl brand, Tibi, and it was only a matter of time before it proved itself as a key player within the fashion industry. Then, in 2010, Smilovic took a major risk: She decided to completely redesign and reimagine the brand to align with her current aesthetic and feelings. With a newfound focus on what Smilovic refers to as “creative pragmatism” in mindset and style, she successfully pulled off a 180-degree rebranding. After 24 years, Tibi is bigger than ever, at the forefront of the industry, and housed at esteemed retailers like Intermix and Net-a-Porter in addition to its own e-commerce business. But before it all, the Georgia native began her career in advertising and marketing at Ogilvy and American Express. On this episode of Second Life, find out how she’s navigated it all and hear her best advice for building sustainable businesses.

After a 10-year hiatus from music, singer, songwriter, and popstar Natalie Imbruglia is back with her sixth studio album, Firebird, out September 24. On this episode, Natalie tells Hillary how she found the confidence to return to her truest vocation after a harrowing bout of writer’s block, what we can expect from the highly anticipated project, and of course, about all those '90s ’fits that have never left our mood boards. 

This episode is sponsored by Clarins NEW Total Eye Lift. In honor of Clarins’ 10 year anniversary with FEED, join in the #ClarinsxFEED social challenge starting September 24th by posting a throwback photo when you were in school, and tagging @clarinsusa, @feed, and #ClarinsxFeed. For each post, Clarins will donate 10 meals to a child in need via FEED’s giving partner, No Kid Hungry. Tag five friends so they can join the cause and help to reach Clarins’ goal of up to 100,000 school meals by October 10th, 2021. 

Learn more about Clarins responsible beauty commitment: https://www.clarinsusa.com/en/responsible-beauty-feed/

Shop Clarins NEW Total Eye Lift: https://www.clarinsusa.com/en/total-eye-lift/

Chances are you know Stephanie Shepherd as the former Chief Operating Officer of the Kardashian West Brands, but the environmental advocate has pivoted since she left the Kardashian empire into something of her own: Future Earth. Through Future Earth, Shepherd is meeting you wherever you are in your sustainability journey to living a lower-impact lifestyle. With almost 2 million followers, she’s dedicated her social platform and influence to inspire global activism. But before Shepherd became an environmental thought leader and changemaker (and even before she helped build the Kardashian West Brands into a burgeoning business), she started her career performing as a dancer and assistant to creative director Mikey Minden and Pussycat Dolls founder Robin Antin. On this episode of Second Life, find out how Shepherd took an unexpected turn that’s making a real impact on our environment and mother earth.

Erica Cloud joins the show to talk about the 2021 Met Gala, for which she dressed both singer-songwriter Kacey Musgraves and actor-producer Dan Levy. Erica brings us behind the scenes of what goes into the preparation of one of the biggest nights in fashion, how she interpreted the theme (In America: A Lexicon of Fashion) of this year’s event, and what it’s like to style multiple major Hollywood celebs.

This episode is sponsored by Clarins NEW Total Eye Lift. In honor of Clarins’ 10 year anniversary with FEED, join in the #ClarinsxFEED social challenge starting September 24th by posting a throwback photo when you were in school, and tagging @clarinsusa, @feed, and #ClarinsxFeed. For each post, Clarins will donate 10 meals to a child in need via FEED’s giving partner, No Kid Hungry. Tag five friends so they can join the cause and help to reach Clarins’ goal of up to 100,000 school meals by October 10th, 2021. 

Learn more about Clarins responsible beauty commitment: https://www.clarinsusa.com/en/responsible-beauty-feed/

Shop Clarins NEW Total Eye Lift: https://www.clarinsusa.com/en/total-eye-lift/

You might call Lisa Donovan—founder and CEO of the astrology app The Pattern—a genius entrepreneur, or you might call her a soul-reading wizard. In 2018, The Pattern went live in a public beta without any marketing or PR. Today, Donovan has grown the platform to over seven and a half million users, with notable fans like SZA and Channing Tatum. There’s no doubt that Donovan’s years of work developing The Pattern are shown in the app’s burgeoning success and scarily accurate insights, but it may come as a surprise that astrology is indeed Donovan’s second life. Previously, she had a career in many forms of entertainment as an actress, a popular YouTube creator (you may remember her channel LisaNova), a producer, and co-founder of Maker Studios. On this episode of Second Life, find out how Donovan found healing through astrology and uses it to connect with millions of people around the world.

On this week’s episode, Hillary speaks with Bridgerton costume designer Ellen Mirojnick, who brings us behind the scenes of creating the fashion and sartorial world of Shondaland which—the series that broke Netflix streaming records (82 million watchers and counting). Tune in to hear about the symbolism behind the distinct color palettes, how she makes the period piece feel modern, and creating the lookbook that spawned it all. Plus take a look inside Ellen’s latest project, the newly released Cinderella.

Nana Agyemang is the CEO and founder of EveryStylishGirl (ESG) and EveryStylishGirl Biz, a company dedicated to the advancement of Black and Brown women in the media and fashion industry. Since 2017, ESG has provided over 15,000 women with the tools to become successful and feel professionally empowered through its annual Sip N’ Slay conferences and a plethora of online resources. There’s no denying that ESG is a testament to Agyemang’s vast industry knowledge and experience, which is why it may come as no surprise that before founding the company, she worked as one of the social media editors behind New York Magazine’s The Cut, where she doubled its Instagram following in just one year. Agyemang is also a former writer and editor at the industry’s top publications like Elle, Refinery29, and The New York Times. On this episode of Second Life, find out how she found the courage to leave a job she was crushing to dedicate herself to her own platform helping women of color get the visibility they deserve.

On this week’s episode, THE/THIRTY managing editor Sarah Yang sits down with our September cover star, rapper, comedian, and award-winning actress Awkwafina aka Nora Lum. Nora tells us what it was like to enter the Marvel Universe with her latest role in Shang-Chi, what she thinks about representation within the industry as a whole, and the unfortunate truth about visiting RadioShack after a Golden Globes win. Plus, she shares how she’s navigating fame, fashion, and her connection to family as she quickly becomes a household name.

Michelle Phan is a beauty powerhouse. She is the co-founder of Ipsy (a monthly subscription service that became the world’s largest beauty community), the founder of Em Cosmetics, and one of the first beauty digital influencers who—dare we say—created the first-ever YouTube makeup tutorial. Over the last decade, Phan has garnered a global community of over 10 million followers, has amassed over one billion views, and has created more than 350 videos. Today, Phan also educates her loyal community of followers within quite a different space altogether: cryptocurrency. Through her studying of the crypto industry, she draws parallels between the decentralization of power and the decentralization of content that launched her YouTube career. On this episode of Second Life, find out how Phan paved the way for an entire generation of beauty creators to come while reinventing herself time and again.