Tamara Mellon: Designer, Founder, and Fashion Entrepreneur

When Molly McNearney arrived in Los Angeles and landed an interview to work as an assistant producer at Jimmy Kimmel Live, she jumped at the chance (although she admits she had no idea who Kimmel was at the time). The job wasn’t glamorous, but the initiative she showed in those early days led to other opportunities on the show. She worked her way up the ranks and into the writers’ room, eventually earning her current status as head writer. On this week’s Life Lessons episode, McNearney offers up advice for aspiring writers.

When Anastasia Soare immigrated to Los Angeles from her native Romania in the early ’90s, she had no idea she’d someday change the way we collectively groom our brows. But after attending aesthetician school and getting a job at a salon on Melrose Place, she noticed that her facial clients weren’t taking proper care of their brows. Sensing a white space, she eventually launched her own salon where she dedicated herself to shaping brows of A-list clients. On this episode of Life Lessons, she’s talking us through how she ended up launching a full-on empire complete with a best-selling product line you’ve definitely heard of: Anastasia Beverly Hills.

Laura Vassar has spent most of her life crafting beautiful ready-to-wear, a passion that began in high school when she learned to sew and designed her own prom dress. She met her future husband (and business partner) Kristopher Brock while studying at Parsons in New York City, and the rest is history: Their brand Brock Collection is now stocked at fine department stores and on big-time sites like Net-a-Porter and Moda Operandi. On this week’s episode of Life Lessons, she’s offering up advice for aspiring designers and explaining what it’s really like to work in fashion.

Mercedes Abramo, president and CEO of Cartier North America, has never been one to avoid taking risks or making moves. In fact, her career as a businesswoman has taken her all over the world, from the Ritz Carlton in Maui to business school in Paris to a stint at Tiffany & Co. in New York City before landing her at Cartier, where she worked her way all the way up the ladder. Tune in to this week’s Life Lessons episode as she chats with Hillary and offers up insights on expanding your skill set, learning how to be a manager, and learning how to decide when it’s time to move on to a new opportunity.

Given the number of companies she’s founded and led over the course of her career, we’re going to go ahead and call Gregg Renfrew a serial entrepreneur. She built The Wedding List (and then sold it to Martha Stewart!) in 2001, and her latest venture, thriving all-natural brand @beautycounter, has reportedly received over $80M in funding. In today’s episode, she’s sharing valuable life lessons, including how she recovered from being fired as a CEO, what it takes to raise money as a woman in today’s market, and why advocating for regulation in the beauty industry is actually propelling her company’s growth.

When Tamara Mellon started working at Brown’s in London at age 18, she never could have imagined that the experience would someday lead to working at British Vogue, co-founding Jimmy Choo, becoming a designer in her own right, and eventually starting her own eponymous label. On this week’s episode of Life Lessons, Mellon swings by to deliver important advice for entrepreneurs, explain what it’s really like working in fashion, and give us some insights into the game-changing model she’s adopted at her own company.

Jenni Konner always knew she wanted to work in entertainment, but she didn’t necessarily know that she’d find herself executive-producing one of the most talked-about TV shows of our time. On this week’s episode of Life Lessons, find out how Konner found her way to Girls (which she ran alongside Lena Dunham) after spending time in writing rooms on shows like Undeclared and Help Me Help You, and discover valuable lessons she’s learned along the way.

Karla Welch is the in-demand stylist behind some of the biggest names in entertainment, from Justin Bieber to Tracee Ellis Ross to Elisabeth Moss. In the first episode of the Life Lessons series, listen to how she got her start in the industry, ramping her way up from scrappy shoots to working on Apple’s memorable iPod commercials and eventually taking on clients as a personal stylist. She’s had a serious effect on celebrity fashion, and she’s also changing the way we get dressed by way of her cool, in-demand collaborations with brands like Levi’s and Hanes.