Tuesday's Treasure - Fashion Flourishes through Female Entrepreneurs!

What a great time to be a female in the Fashion industry. Through my association with the 85 Broads Network, I have met many very talented and savvy businesswomen who work in the fashion world for top designers, or who have recently set up their own ventures after working in other areas.

Our own Evie, who is a Spokesmodel for WWRG and an 85 Broads member, is actively involved in several projects including the Fashion for Development initiative she is now rolling out via South South News. We featured her shows in a recent Lifestyle Lifters post.

We have also featured a venture curated by Shauna Mei called Aha!Life. For those of you looking for something unique to give to someone or yourself, I recommend you visit their website and sign up. Many of their offerings are created by women or benefit women in disadvantaged countries.

Another recent addition to the firmament of fashion by an 85 Broads member (or members in this case!) is Moda Operandi. Here, Ashlaug Magnusdottir and Lauren Santo Domingo have created a "first-in-category, members-only online store that lets customers browse and pre-order designer collections immediately following their runway presentation. Launched during New York Fashion Week, M'O was created to allow its members to "shop the runway" from the privacy of their own homes.

Moda Operandi provides direct access to complete runway collections from the finest designer brands, including Nina Ricci, Giambattista Valli, Carolina Herrera, Calvin Klein, Alexander Wang, and Proenza Schouler, as well as jewelry, shoes, handbags, and accessories. Membership perks include recommendations from top stylists, personal shopping assistants, and tools to review looks from every angle."

So many great Women now hold C-level positions at fashion industry Icons like Burberry and Gilt Groupe, to name but a few. If you have a "passion for fashion", please consider joining a network like 85 Broads where you will find plenty of support and mentorship. This is the vision that Janet Hanson set forth when she co-founded the organization in 1997 which has grown to a membership of over 25,000 women and a few enlightened men (me included!)

Wednesday's Women of Courage - Shauna Mei

In my Tuesday's Treasure post yesterday I featured a new website - AHAlife.com - that was created by my 85 Broads colleague, Shauna Mei.

Shauna spoke at a recent 85 Broads Power Breakfast, and gave us all some background on her life and new passion.

Everyone in the room was moved when she described her journey from a child born in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China to attending MIT, working at Goldman Sachs, and living and working in Manhattan as a fashion industry executive in successful firms she either founded or co-founded.

She also shared with us that when her Mother found out she was pregnant with a girl, she insisted on keeping the child despite pressure to have an abortion. Shauna said that her Mother felt that the child that was inside of her was special and would grow up to achieve great things.

Her Mother was also told that the fetus had a heart defect. Again, she held fast to her conviction to see the pregnancy through.

Shauna's accomplishments bear witness to how right her Mother's intuition was.

Miraculously, her heart has healed on it's own, eliminating the need for life-threatening surgery.

Courage to survive, courage to compete, courage to press on regardless.

These are traits that drive Women of Courage to achieve greatness.

And thanks to the courage of a Mother, passed on to her Daughter, Shauna now inspires us to do the same.

Tuesday's Treasure - The AHA! Life

I recently joined a social network that truly speaks to my need for simplicity. It's actually not just a social network, it is more of an online community structured very much like my favorite activity in Kindergarten - "show-and-tell".

The brainchild of former Fashion Industry and Wall Street Executive, Shauna Mei, AHAlife.com is a place where I can see what I and others have curated (show) and learn how this item was conceived, manufactured or otherwise acquired (tell).

1 Product. 24 Hours. 100% Inspiring—that's what it's all about. AHAlife.com showcases and sells one hand-selected item each day and tells the story behind the making of the product, along with a designer profile and sometimes a video or audio slideshow that takes you inside the creative process.

Simply brilliant!

Recent offerings include a Canon G12 Camera embellished by Diane Von Furstenberg, a Crystal Clutch Handbag designed by Marchesa, creator of red carpet confections beloved by Hollywood style icons Blake Lively, Naomi Watts, and Demi Moore, and a Buy Her Bag Not Her Body bag, made of recycled rice sacks in Cambodia by survivors of human trafficking.

Certain product purchases receive "karma points" for supporting a brand that donates part of its profits to a good cause.

I get good Karma just being a part of the AHA life community. Try in on for size. It will surprise and delight you.