217 episodes

Welcome to the co-lab career stories podcast, a collective of professionals dedicated to sharing their experiences working in the fashion, beauty, wellness, retail and consumer luxury industries. Hear from CEOs, early career professionals and everything in between as the co-lab members interview each other, sharing their career stories, big pivots, worst jobs, best career advice, and remind us no two career paths are the same. Visit jointhecolab.com to learn more, become a member, tell your story, and follow us @jointhecolab. We can’t wait to network with you. X Kristy, co-lab founder.

The co-lab career stories the co-lab

    • Arts
    • 4.8 • 19 Ratings

Welcome to the co-lab career stories podcast, a collective of professionals dedicated to sharing their experiences working in the fashion, beauty, wellness, retail and consumer luxury industries. Hear from CEOs, early career professionals and everything in between as the co-lab members interview each other, sharing their career stories, big pivots, worst jobs, best career advice, and remind us no two career paths are the same. Visit jointhecolab.com to learn more, become a member, tell your story, and follow us @jointhecolab. We can’t wait to network with you. X Kristy, co-lab founder.

    Ann Tham - Retail Growth Consultant

    Ann Tham - Retail Growth Consultant

    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.

    • 16 min
    Samira Zebian, Multi-Hyphenate Marketer

    Samira Zebian, Multi-Hyphenate Marketer

    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.

    • 17 min
    Andrew Pieris - Visual Marketing Executive

    Andrew Pieris - Visual Marketing Executive

    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.

    • 19 min
    Thomas Mitchell - Visual Consultant and Sales Executive for Vista Visual

    Thomas Mitchell - Visual Consultant and Sales Executive for Vista Visual

    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.

    • 16 min
    Lisa Di Napoli - leads Pixie Creative

    Lisa Di Napoli - leads Pixie Creative

    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 designconsultancy.

    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.

    • 24 min
    Celeste Lilore - EcoPreneur

    Celeste Lilore - EcoPreneur

    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.

    • 20 min

Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5
19 Ratings

19 Ratings

Rachel Mina ,

Thank you!

I recently started listening to the co-lab podcast and wanted to thank you for creating this community. I have been a brand manager and stylist for 9+ years and have been looking for a mentor most of my career. Listening to Kristy and the other members speak has been like a virtual mentorship program for me and I am so grateful.

NJGL15 ,

A must listen for career inpso

This is the best podcast for those looking for career guidance! All the stories are so inspiring and it’s amazing to hear how each career path is different from the next!

K_L_H ,

Incredible stories!

I’m so blown away by the diversity of these career stories! Such a great idea for a podcast.

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