Stephanie Miano

I would say my entire background is self-built. I have not had anything given to me in a sense. I've really earned it and worked for it. I think being patient but also persistent has really paid off. Most recently, we built out the cruise business, and that was from literally nothing. I mean, we didn't even have contacts in that world. I've always been in the department stores or the specialty side, but cruise has been a channel that I knew I wanted to tap into. We now have launched onto 12 cruise ships globally, and it's very exciting to see because it's working. There's been a lot of challenges over the last few years, like running in cement, everything is running in cement, so I think to believe in a channel, go after it, it took some time, you know, being patient, but also persistent. We also partnered for Barcelona Bridal Week with a runway show, which was a big goal of mine, and to see the runway come to life and just believe in something, I think those two things have been really exciting to see. It's been three years, three short but also long years of getting these from the ground up.

I always tell my students, and I hope this lands, is anybody listening, but I think generally it's a saying I have in my office as just a reminder, just to never give up. I know it's simple, but it's the truest statement, because there's so many obstacles that come everybody's way, right? There's no one that escapes any hurdles or obstacles, and you just have to get back up and keep pushing, and I would say in the most simplest form, like, just never give up.

The biggest challenges have been the last few years, which felt like running in cement. Everything has been running in cement. We went through such tough years with the shutdowns and COVID, and we're still dealing with the effects of that in the market. But there are also incredible opportunities, particularly in travel retail and cruise, which is seeing really significant positive metrics. The trends in the travel space are very exciting right now. We've been able to build entirely new channels from nothing, like launching onto 12 cruise ships globally, and partnering with major events like Barcelona Bridal Week. The key has been diversifying distribution and not relying on just one channel, expanding from department stores into D2C, independent boutiques, bridal boutiques, travel retail, and even TV retail, which ironically is working really well.

The most important values to me are persistence and patience. My entire background is self-built, and I have not had anything given to me. I've really earned it and worked for it. I think being patient but also persistent has really paid off, especially when you believe in something and go after it. There are so many obstacles that come everybody's way, and there's no one that escapes any hurdles or obstacles. You just have to get back up and keep pushing and never give up. That's a saying I have in my office as just a reminder, because it's the truest statement. I also deeply value giving back, which is why I'm teaching as an adjunct professor now, giving back to the industry and the up-and-coming generation of fashion students.