Women to Watch
It all starts with an idea. With tenacity and passion, these women entrepreneurs followed through on their visions. Here, we highlight small businesses that inspire us and the amazing women behind them.
Caroline Scheinfeld
Founder and CEO, 3WCircle
In a transient and fast-paced city like New York, Caroline Scheinfeld craved authentic connections. She created 3WCircle, a forum for women of different backgrounds to come together for group discussions about their challenges, goals and hopes. Read More
SOPHIA AMORUSO
Founder, CEO & Creative Director, Nasty Gal
For a riveting rags-to-riches fashion fairy tale, look no further than Sophia Amoruso, Founder, CEO and Creative Director of Nasty Gal, who managed in less than seven years to take an eBay page filled with vintage finds and turn it into a booming online retailer with a well-curated mix of new and vintage fashion. Read More
CECI JOHNSON
Founder & Creative Director, Ceci New York
What couturiers do for clothes, Ceci Johnson does for invitations. In less than 10 years, she has built a successful luxury paper goods company specializing in custom and one-of-a-kind designs. Here, she shares quotable bits of advice on building a business. Read More
PAMELA BELL
Founder, Prinkshop
Pamela Bell believes in the persuasive power of graphics. She’s the founder of cause-centric design company Prinkshop, which supports important issues like education and homelessness. Her latest project? Designing the logo, t-shirts and totes for the Tory Burch Foundation’s multi-platform Women Rule initiative, in partnership with POLITICO and Google. Here, Pamela talks entrepreneurial challenges and melding fashion with politics. Read More
Cathy Leibman & Christina Decker
Founders, Ethical Muse
In 2011, Dubai-based expats Cathy Leibman, left, and Christina Decker founded Ethical Muse, a collection of sustainable accessories handcrafted by artisans from around the world. We talked to them about the ethical component in their brand and what it means to be a conscious consumer. Read More
ARIELA SUSTER
Creative Director & Owner, Sequence
InStyle and Lucky alum Ariela Suster left the glossy world of magazines to pave her way as an entrepreneur, while doing good in her native El Salvador. Last year, she launched Sequence, a colorful and crafty accessories collection hand-threaded by artisans in the impoverished town of Tepecoyo, on the outskirts of San Salvador. We got the full story from Ariela. Read More
STEPHANIE VON WATZDORF
Designer, Figue
Some things are worth waiting for. For Stephanie von Watzdorf, her collection Figue is the culmination of her life's experience and memories. Stephanie has been an integral part of the Tory Burch design team since almost Day 1 and we couldn’t be prouder to have an entrepreneur among us. Here, we asked her about her inspiration. Read More
BRIDGETTE MAYER
Founder, Bridgette Mayer Gallery
Philadelphia’s expert on emerging art, Bridgette Mayer, talks to us about her eponymous gallery, Caravaggio and risk-taking. Read More
KATHRYN MINSHEW
Founder and CEO, The Muse
Need a job? Kathryn Minshew’s website The Muse has the listings, career advice and inspiration to help you find one. We sat down with Kathryn to hear how she turned her own job search into a business with over one million visitors a month. Read More
Susan Gravely
Co-Founder, Vietri
When Susan Gravely, left, went on vacation to Italy with her sister Frances and mother Lee back in 1983, she didn’t expect to walk away with a new career and business. After falling in love with the plates at a hotel on the Amalfi Coast, the siblings founded Vietri, an Italian tabletop and home décor company. Here, Susan shares her advice on how to successfully work with family. Read More
CHRISTY TURLINGTON BURNS
Founder, Every Mother Counts
Director & Producer, No Woman, No Cry
Equal parts beauty, brains and heart, supermodel Christy Turlington Burns is raising global awareness about the Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) through Every Mother Counts , a campaign to end childbirth-related deaths. She spoke to us about her own journey as a mother as well as what inspired her to film the documentary No Woman, No Cry, which has been viewed everywhere from the Tribeca Film Festival to Harvard Medical School to the World Bank. Read More
JESSAMYN RODRIGUEZ
Founder & CEO, Hot Bread Kitchen
Jessamyn Rodriguez’s Hot Bread Kitchen is a social mission first and bakery second, investing in job creation through business development and skills-training programs for talented yet underutilized chefs-in-the-making. The business is funded by sales from its handmade cross-cultural breads, inspired by the international entrepreneurs in HBK’s programs. Read More
FAIZUN KAMAL
Founder, sourceFK
Faizun Kamal leveraged her global mindset (she’s lived on three continents) and diverse business experience (World Bank, Johns Hopkins University, Verizon) for good. Last year she launched sourceFK to bring artisanal designs from Bangladesh to the international marketplace — making global feel local. Read More
Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
Author, The Dressmaker of Khair Khana
Eight years after meeting Kamila Sidiqi and two years after telling her extraordinary story in The Dressmaker of Khair Khana, journalist and author Gayle Tzemach Lemmon talks about how Kamila's journey changed her life and inspired women and entrepreneurs the world over. Read More
NOEL PIETSCH SHAW & STEPHANIE PIETSCH GAMBETTA
Owners, Wahoo's Fish Taco Hawaii
When the craving for a burrito stuffed with wild-caught Cajun fish hits, head to the legendary Wahoo's, a taco spot with a Mexican-Brazilian-Asian menu and a Hawaiian surf-inspired vibe. Its two Honolulu-based franchises are owned by sisters Stephanie Pietsch Gambetta, left, and Noel Pietsch Shaw, who spent 10 minutes with us. Read More
JESSI WALTER
Founder, Taste Buds Kitchen
Formerly a VP at Bear Stearns, Jessi Walter took what started as baking tutorials to a new
level — Taste Buds Kitchen, her NYC cooking school for children. We sat with her for 10 minutes.
Read More