Flair Women of 2018: A Look Back

I love listening to women’s stories. I love being inspired by women. I love championing women. And what I love most about doing this site is interviewing visionary women who through their careers help us enjoy life, get healthy, look beautiful and change our perspective. These are thoughtful women who use their work and influence to make changes above and beyond their job description.

If you have some free time over this long holiday weekend and haven’t read one or all of these 31 interviews that ran in 2018 (33 women in total), I hope you will. And you’ll find inspiration in them like I do. (The links to each story, in order of publication, are below.)

A big thank you to all the women who said yes to my interview requests—without you TFI wouldn’t exist! (And I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am for the other women who’ve said yes and are still to come!!)

1. Danuta Mieloch, skincare expert and owner of Manhattan and Philadelphia’s Rescue Spa.
2. Personal branding and career consultant Katie Fogarty can help you get on the right track.
3. Marie-Veronique Nadeau has been crafting her small batch organic skincare line in Berkeley, CA since 2002.
4. Caroline Belhumeur, creative director of Vince, has a knack for knowing what women want to wear.
5. Brand consultant, creative director and stylist Liz Dennery Sanders knows that building a powerful brand is much more than just what you do, it’s how you present yourself to the world that matters.
6.  Humanitarian, girl’s rights activist, boutique hotel owner and all-around entrepreneur are just a few of the titles Maryam Montague‘s broad scope of work encompasses.
7. Laura Vinroot Poole‘s successful fashion boutique Capitol in Charlotte, North Carolina is thriving in part due to the intangible expertise, enthusiasm and old-fashioned one-on-one personal service it offers.
8. If you haven’t considered trying a life coach, trust me, it’s worth it. With Strengths Coach Julie Anderson, I have found myself making better, intentional decisions, that put me much closer to where I want to be.
9.  Beth Bugdaycay left her post as CEO of mega fashion brand, Rebecca Taylor, to launch Foundrae, a fine jewelry collection that is based around the symbolism of tenets, or beliefs.
10. Daryl K has always been fashion’s renegade, and her downtown edge has remained authentic. Her career took off in the early 90s, when everyone began gravitating to her Bond Street store.
11. Artist/photographer Willy Somma began a creative pop-up concept last year, first held in Marfa, TX. Recently, she has taken it on the road.
12. The idea of a midlife crisis might seem cliché, but what about a midlife re-evaluation? Amy Nobile and Trisha Ashworth, longtime partners in work and co-authors of their fourth book, Just When You’re Comfortable in Your Own Skin, It Starts to Sag: Rewriting the Rules of Midlife, might have some answers.
13. Pamela Bell went from a founding partner at Kate Spade to launching a do-good/feel-good clothing and accessories line, Prinkshop, which has partnered with everyone from Tory Burch to the UN’s Girl UP Initiative.
14. Athlete Jun Lee created EiR, her clean beauty/wellness skincare line for people with active lifestyles (and injuries) like her.
15. Brett Heyman, designer and founder of accessory and home line, Edie Parker, applied her years of fashion experience and love of vintage to launch her collection.
16. Le Lion‘s Laura Gelfand and Martha Fish are determined to modernize the monogram.
17. The designer of summer’s straw bag, Bembien‘s Yei-Me Truxes.
18. Travel tips from the woman who made vacation her job, Le Postcard‘s Stephanie Steinman.
19. The Donna Karan  + Tory Burch + Ralph Lauren (and artisan’s advocate) of India, Anita Dongre.
20. Beyond Yoga‘s Jodi Guber Brufsky was a body positivity champion (before it was a thing).
21. Ria Browne mastered positive activism by taking on the NRA in a her own way and creating a viral social media campaign for Everytown for Gun Safety.
22. Global nomad/jewelry designer Sara Beltran shares her traveling tips.
23. Spanish hair guru Miriam Quevedo believes that how you treat your hair now, and more specifically your scalp, will have consequences years down the road.
24. At some point in your life, I hope you own, and treasure, a piece of fine vintage jewelry and Dana Kraus of DK Farnum is the woman you need to know.
25. The woman behind the grown-up T-shirt, Alejandra Echeverria of Frances de Lourdes.
26. Lisa Smith believes in the strength of micro communities, so she created one for her peers, The PR Net, a networking site and event-oriented group for professionals in the PR/marketing/editorial space.
27. Nicki Clendening, a New York interior decorator recently turned her eye to find the perfect, exotic vintage pieces for another venture, Beetle.
28. That adage, “do one thing and do it really well”, is exactly what designer Heidi Wynne has accomplished with her collection of cashmere wraps, Irish knit sweaters and straw bags.
29. Libby Callaway applied her years of story telling as the fashion editor of the New York Post to launch her Nashville-based communications company, The Callaway.
30. Laura Lemon learned about natural beauty from an unlikely source, Walmart, which ultimately led her to branch out with her own first natural beauty boutique, Lemon Laine.
31. Following in your father’s footsteps can be a daunting task but Samantha Rudd of Oakville winery has proved to be more than up for it.