She Had A Vision

Luna Marketing Studio is a boutique marketing agency whose mission is to empower women entrepreneurs and brands by providing bespoke digital marketing solutions that elevate their unique narratives. Funder and CEO, Drew DeFir and their paid media and search expert, Claire Reed, will share more insights on the 2025 marketing landscape and also best practices and tips for building a successful marketing strategy using brand and growth marketing tactics.

This is the 2nd episode with comedian, Katherine Blanford. We last checked in with her in April 2021, so we are excited to hear an update of her amazing growth as a comic over the last few years. This is a good reminder that it takes time to get to your destination and to enjoy the journey along the way.  Katherine Blanford has brought her human Golden Retriever presence across the country and internationally, sharing confessions of her southern family secrets and whimsical accounts of her awkward adolescent years.   The Kentucky born comedian has multiple appearances on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, a panelist on After Midnight and Vice TV’s Super Maximum Retro Show, and was featured on Netflix Radio. Deadline featured her as one of 15 comedians ready to break out in 2025.   Her debut special, Catholic Cowgirl, released in December 2024 to pair with her Don’t Tell Comedy set that has amassed millions of views online and will soon be featured on Hulu.   Not bad for a girl whose parents are cousins.

Sarah Collins Lawler, is the designer and owner of Tela Mercantile, a one-size fits all kaftan line that brings leisure and luxury and is meant to make everyone look and feel beautiful. Since launching in 2021, Sarah has been designing with more and more unique textiles from all around the world and could now be in a store near you! 

Michelle Jacobs  is the designer and owner of the well-known  swim and resortwear brand,  Sister New York. Michelle set out to create swimwear for her sister and friends, with the mission to design swimwear that not only enhances but also celebrates the innate beauty of every woman. Since college she has worked in many fashion houses and showrooms and in 2017 began making swimsuits for her friends that has now evolved into Sister New York - a well known NY based vacationwear brand in 60 stores and resorts.

Holly Shae is the designer and owner of her signature clothing line, Holly Shae. After 18 years of teaching she decided to go back to her creative roots where she learned from her mother and grandmother. In 2020, she started with an accessories and jewelry brand but it quickly evolved into apparel where she created fresh, custom prints on quality dresses that led to her tagline, “Elevate with Ease”. Her dresses are based on size groupings and her intention in the beginning has been  to create pieces that you can throw on and feel your best throughout the day. Each collection gets more and more beautiful as she collaborates with female watercolor artists based in GA and South Carolina. They are true works of art! She is now in over 200 stores and resorts and counting. 

Taylor Simmons, is the designer and owner of Coco Shop, a resort wear  clothing brand which was first established on the island of Antigua in 1949. Taylor relaunched the brand in 2019 carrying on the historical silhouettes and style and beautiful island prints that have  been so beloved by the island’s residents for over 75 years. She has recreated the entire operation in New York while holding onto the precious ties to the beautiful Antigua. We discussed the importance of just starting, buying back time with outsourcing, trademark lessons learned, and how to build confidence along the way. Like any company it was a good reminder that it takes time to build your product to perfection and it is always worth the wait! 

Based in Westbrook, Connecticut, Modatrova was founded by Caroline Barton in 2019 as an e-commerce destination for emerging designers. Caroline saw an opportunity to merge her love of fashion and travel to craft her own platform, creating a cohesive experience that gives shoppers that feeling of exploration from home. Today, Modatrova carries brands across clothing, jewelry, shoes, and accessories — dressing women for all of life's adventures.

Based in Columbus, Ga, Shuler Studio designs and crafts digital monograms for print and embroidery including fonts, monograms, & designs. It is owned and operated by mother daughter duo, Pam Shuler and Carolyn (Shuler) Bettin. Their shop opened in 2016 and their designs have been featured all over the world and they have also been featured in Traditional Home, Style Me Pretty, Martha Weddings, and Garden and Gun.

Based in Greensboro, NC, Morgan Hood and Ally Holderness launched Elliston House in early 2022 and are creating unique, custom textiles that not only sell to the trade but also to the end consumer. They have found a way to make interior design more accessible to a home owner. Elliston House makes it easy to achieve a timeless, yet curated look. Elliston House is a combination of Morgan and Ally’s unique styles, full of vibrancy and intentionality. My favorite line of Elliston House brand is, “All of our patterns are designed with YOU in mind - the savvy end-consumer who cares about their home, their family, and their style.”  Elliston house’s mission is to bring some happy into the heart of your home - the true place where memories are made! 

Lux Perry is the founder and CEO of somedays, a company focused on period pain relief. Period pain impacted every aspect of Lux’s life from school and work to infertility and mental health. After 15 years of being dismissed by doctors Lux was finally diagnosed with endometriosis — one of the most painful diseases in the world and a leading cause of infertility that affects 1 in 10 women. Frustrated with the lack of resources and options available, Lux launched somedays in 2021 in Vancouver. Two years later and somedays is changing the way people manage period pain and has reached over 2.6 billion people with their viral activations to raise awareness for endometriosis and period pain. Lux discusses the importance of finding the right sales and marketing strategy for your specific brand identity and the will to be committed to your business no matter who is telling you no. As she states," you have to believe in yourself to keep you  going one day at a time."

Tinsley Merrill Paul is the co-founder and CEO of Support HerStory, a social business and platform for women-led brands across the globe to share their stories and sell their luxury products. Based in Dallas, she along with Whitney Rowell, founder of Miracle Milkookies and Brittany Underwood, founder of Akola came together in 2020 during the pandemic to find a solution to better support women business owners. HerStory’s platform is now changing and shaping the narrative of empowering the future of woman leaders in retail. They represent over 250 brands that ultimately support each tother through HerStory's in person pop-up events and cross collaboration initiatives. Tinsley is full of wisdom when it comes to helping brands transform the customer journey, but also she is helping reveal the amount of impact these brands have transformed the lives of international artisan partners as well. 

Nancy Jarecki is the founder of bettybeauty, inc. in New York in 2006 with the innovative idea to develop color for “hair down there.” She got the idea after visiting a hair salon in Rome, Italy where she discovered an untapped market that women indeed were searching for ways to color match their hair down there and cover grays. She worked with medical professionals to develop a safe formula. The color product has received many innovative beauty awards and has been featured by Vogue, The Oprah Magazine, Forbes, The Doctors and more. The products are available both domestically and internationally at salons/spas, retail stores and online at bettybeauty.com and Amazon. Betty Beauty released a new survey that proves increasing male desire to groom in order to anti-age and boost confidence, and launched the new, first-of-its-kind Cover your gray™ - betty for men Facial & Body Hair Dye to meet this need. The company was also recently acquired by Fisk Industries.  "If you know there is a demand, work around the paths that don't work and figure out your own path." - Nancy Jarecki

Sallie Holder is an author, speaker, podcast host and business coach with a mission to support female entrepreneurs that are ready to  grow and scale their business. She wants to help more women become millionaires.  This final episode with Sallie explores the society constraints and challenges women face when it comes to fundraising or financing their business and how to counter objections during an investor pitch. Sallie walks through the female psyche and the best tactics and tools when it comes raising capital. She reminds us there are so many different ways to finance a business. You don't have to follow the Silicon Valley startup route - you can go the steady traditional route. Before asking for money, she also reminds us to have a clear personal vision, but also encourages that women need to think bigger and bolder. Sallie Holder lives in Greenville, SC but also has a residence in New York City.

"Post and prey" is not a sales strategy. Sallie Holder is an author, speaker, podcast host and business coach with a mission to support female entrepreneurs that are ready to  grow and scale their business. She joins us for 2nd episode as part of her interview series on She Had A Vision. As a former lawyer and COO of six different companies across six different industries, she’s seen it all. That’s why she founded The BRIMM, which stands for the Beyond Rock Middle Movement. In episode 2, Sallie provides a comprehensive overview of how to create a sales strategy beyond just using the social media tool. She breaks down the importance of defining who your target customer is, what is your destination and what goes into your conversion funnel to get your customer to take action. We discuss the purpose of social media, the importance of owned content through email marketing, the need for multiple touch points to your customer and even the reminder that word of mouth is still the number one sales tactic today. 

Sallie Holder is an author, speaker, podcast host and business coach with a mission to make more female millionaires.  As a former lawyer and COO of six different companies across six different industries, she’s seen it all. That’s why she founded The BRIMM, which stands for the Beyond Rock Middle Movement. Through 20 years of experience she has developed the only 12-month group coaching experience for female entrepreneurs that delivers the proven roadmap to growth, hosts workshops, curates tools and resources, and shares female entrepreneurial stories on her own podcast.  Sallie will be joining us for a 3 part interview series! This first episode will be focusing on her Revenue Accelerator Program where she shares the 9 core strategies to grow and scale your business. Episode 2 will  focus on how to use social media to support your sales strategy and Episode 3 will cover fundraising for female entrepreneurs. 

Jourdann Lubliner is the founder and CEO of Electrify PR, full-service public relations, influencer marketing and consulting firm for consumer-facing companies and personalities. Jourdann is a seasoned publicist based in New York and with experience in publicizing brands, products and personalities across various industries and has placed brands in well-known publications from GMA, CNBC to Cosmopolitan and Glamour. After working with small to large companies, Jourdann has many lessons learned when it comes to best in-class public relations approach. Jourdann shares best practices and tips when it comes to PR and having a cutting-edge communication strategy. 

Jess Hunichen and Emily Ward are the co-founders of Shine Talent Group, an influencer talent management agency located in Toronto, Los Angeles and now London! With the rise in influencer marketing, Jess and Emily saw the opportunity to represent influencer talent to better serve brands and the influencer profile. Their team of talent agents has grown to over 50 and they continue to seek opportunities in brand and marketing especially since social platforms are ever changing. Jess and Emily will give a behind the scenes look of what it means to be an agent for an influencer, but will also provide insights around influencer marketing. They will also share ways they have grown their company through innovation and strong leadership. 

Olivia Bordson and Jessica Landzberg are the co-founders of Pareto, a direct to consumer women’s apparel brand on a mission to make getting dressed the easiest part of your day. They met as undergrad students at WashU and then both went on to work as retail consultants with McKinsey & Company. They began building the brand at the start of the global pandemic and officially launched their first product in August 2020. The concept for Pareto originated from witnessing the industry’s obsession with more – more product, more often. At the same time, they saw women seeking simplicity in their closets. Pareto creates timeless, high quality, versatile wardrobe essentials using a full traceable supply chain. It all started with the perfect t-shirt dress and they have continued to simplify getting dressed ever since!

Katherine Mason is the founder and CEO of Sculpthouse, an innovative fitness boutique studio and online athleisure boutique. Katherine immersed herself in the industry as a fitness model and trainer in New York and discovered the forward thinking exercise techniques such as the megaformer and the woodway curve treadmill - she noticed sculpting and toning plus cardio was the perfect workout and wanted to bring this fusion back to the south. She now has two locations, the flagship in Atlanta and one in Dallas and a booming online athleisure boutique carrying up and coming brands. As a entrepreneur who is still in the weeds for so many functions she reiterates the importance of figuring it out on your own and trusting yourself. 

Heather Eaton and Jane Dong are the co-founders of Frankly Apparel, a braless clothing brand that started as a class project in business school and officially launched in 2021. These pieces of clothing range from bodysuits, dresses, tops and are constructed with innovative sewing technique and high quality fabrics to allow for better sizing and support for a variety of chest sizes. We will discuss the importance of establishing a co-founder relationship around trust, their successful product market fit strategy, and their overall resiliency when it comes to dealing with development and production obstacles. They have a keen eye for building a social following even when thinking through pre-launch marketing strategy. They have gone viral TikTok and have seen the value of connecting with influencers and new customers. Their authenticity as leaders and new entrepreneurs makes it such a fun listen, and we also explore how their brand will be evolving for years to come.