From startup hustler to Fortune 500 trailblazer, Elizabeth Powers brings an unrivaled passion for transformational communications, intelligence, and AI. Over 15 years, she pioneered disruptive strategies that bridged divides between leadership and employees. Her innovative data and use of emotional intelligence training fuels outreach that resonates with modern stakeholders. Elizabeth continues breaking new ground today, empowering organizations to embrace change and boost revenue through inclusive, insight-driven messaging.

On this episode, Elizabeth speaks with Mitali Banerjee about how crisis PR has changed with the advent of the internet and social media, and her thoughts on how AI will change the playing field on writing crisis PR playbooks.

Originally from Seattle, WA, Danielle Nielsen moved to NYC after breaking into the beauty industry, despite her non-traditional background. With her passion for all things beauty and writing, Danielle is an SEO Copywriter at Front Row, in the Marketplace Partnership division, writing copy for some well-known brands such as Summer Fridays, Glow Recipe, Saie Beauty and more. In her spare time, she enjoys sharing product reviews on social media and has her own personal beauty blog.

On this episode, Danielle tells Cassandra Hoblitz about how her consumer habits became the silver bullet that helped her break into the fashion industry.

Cassandra Hoblitz is a Client Strategy Lead at Front Row group in New York City. Cassandra is passionate about beauty, design and sustainability. She’s led creative and branding projects for brands like WYN Beauty by Serena Williams, Josie Maran, Beautyblender and K18.

This episode was recorded in April and references the launch of Wyn Beauty by Serena Williams, which is now available at Ulta.

On this episode, Cassandra tells Danielle Nielsen about her winding path to building her wings in the New York City beauty industry.

Jonathan Bunten, a seasoned entrepreneur, and CEO of RecorGroup, brings over two decades of leadership across finance, trade marketing, and sales in the beauty and consumer goods sectors, along with a profound commitment to personal and professional growth.  Having navigated substantial challenges and transformative experiences, he now focuses on empowering high-achieving professionals and teams towards self-discovery and actualization.  Jonathan's journey, underscored by his roles in corporate leadership, military service, and as a mentor to entrepreneurs globally, offers invaluable insights into the resilience and diverse paths of success in our ever-evolving industries.  Under Jon’s leadership RecorGroup has earned a place on the prestigious Inc. 5000 list three times and was awarded the Inc. Power Partner awards for Customer Experience Management and Customer Relationship Management.

On this episode, he talks with Syama Bunten about his unlikely career trajectory following a stint in the military.

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.