The co-lab career stories the co-lab

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.