Apprecier
Stephanie is the CEO and co-founder of Apprécier, the digital fashion destination for women who want to continue to enjoy fashion, and evolve and enhance their personal style. Apprécier offers an expertly edited selection of the best clothing, accessories and fashion trends for women who expect to be celebrated and served by the fashion/retail industry.
Stephanie is the former Global Marketing & Strategy Officer for Coach, Inc. At Coach, Stephanie led the creation of global brand strategy, messaging, marketing planning, development and implementation. She was responsible for managing the creative services department and the PR/brand communications teams. Stephanie led global CRM, database & advanced analytics. She was also responsible for leading the development of business strategy, planning and tracking, as well as consumer insights.
Prior to joining Coach in 2012, Stephanie was CEO and partner of Tracy Anderson Mind & Body, a fitness company focused on delivering tailored programs for its clients around the world. From 2003-2006, Stephanie was EVP & CMO of Revlon, Inc. Before joining Revlon, she was Partner and Managing Director at The Boston Consulting Group where she spent thirteen years as a leader in the consumer, retail and media practices. Stephanie now serves as a Senior Adviser to The Boston Consulting Group. She started her career as a Financial Analyst at Morgan Stanley from 1987-1990 working in corporate finance and capital markets.
Stephanie is on the board of Knoll, Inc., a modern furniture design company. Stephanie is a member of the board of advisors for the luxury jewelry resource Flont. She also serves on the board of Mo'Motion Basketball & Training, a not-for-profit NYC youth basketball & fitness organization.
Stephanie holds a bachelor's degree in quantitative economics from Stanford University and a master's degree, with distinction, from the Harvard Business School. Stephanie grew up in Southern Indiana and is married with three teenage boys.
How has your life experience made you the leader you are today?
I grew up in a hugely supportive household with very high standards. My dad expected me to be a scholar athlete, and my mom believed I could be and do anything I put my mind to. I will never forget the time in 9th grade when I was preparing to try out for the cheer leading squad in a last ditch attempt to be cool (social life being notably absent from my households "scholar athlete" program); my mom quietly asked me "wouldn't you rather be on the field?" I didn't try out.
How has your previous employment experience aided your tenure at Apprécier?
I have had an incredibly rich and diverse career to date, primarily focused on consumers, and almost entirely focused on women. My industry experience (fashion, beauty, & health&wellness) combined with my functional experience (marketing, project management, strategy, finance) creates a very strong and relevant experience base to draw on when leading an entrepreneurial consumer focused venture like Apprécier.
What have the highlights and challenges been during your tenure at Apprécier?
It is such a high to know that you are fully, 100% responsible for making good things happen to build the business. And such fun to do it with a partner like Cindy who brings such amazing complementary skills, experience and expertise. The biggest challenge is accepting where Apprécier is in its lifecyle - namely its infancy. We are at the beginning, and you have to laugh when someone makes a comment like "well to be relevant today you have to have as much traffic as Refinery29". And remember that when Refinery29 was in its infancy it didn't have as much traffic as it does today!
What advice can you offer to women who want a career in your industry?
Passion for fashion is required, but not sufficient. Same goes for the beauty and fitness industries. Success requires the development of a tool kit of strong capabilities.
What is the most important lesson you've learned in your career to date?
Great careers are the result of doing fantastic work in your job. I often get asked about how I managed my career. I didn't. I took roles that challenged and interested me. And did them really well. The career followed.
How do you maintain a work/life balance?
Hate that term. Suggests unattainable perfection. I advocate, and live, work/life blend. Think melted hot fudge sundae - bit of a mess, really delicious.
What do you think is the biggest issue for women in the workplace?
Not internalizing the endless amount of biased stuff thrown our way. I once had an executive coach preface a remark with "and since you don't have to work..." in reference to my having a working spouse and/or my having had success in prior senior roles. I guarantee you he never said that to a successful male.
How has mentorship made a difference in your professional and personal life?
The best mentor is an interested boss. I am very fortunate to have had several managers who not only taught me what was required to do the work, but also cared enough about me and my development to give me real time feedback, advice and counsel.
Which other female leaders do you admire and why?
I worked for several female leaders at Morgan Stanley and The Boston Consulting Group that I admire greatly. They were trail blazers in very male industries, and were incredibly successful without turning themselves into female copies of men.
What do you want Apprécier to accomplish in the next year?
Cindy and I created Apprécier to help our customer dress to look and feel her best, to put the fun back in shopping, and to celebrate her. In the last 2 months we have started doing that for the 10,000 women who subscribe to Apprécier's newsletter and shop on the site. Over the next 12 months we want to have the same great positive impact on another 100,000 women.