Jennifer Bandier, Founder of Bandier

If some of the best business ideas stem from an entrepreneur's solution to a problem they are trying to solve for themselves, then there is no better example than Bandier.  Jennifer Bandier started walking a lot as way to recover from a foot fracture, but she was frustrated that athletic wear was more frump than fashionista.  So she decided to start the "Barney's of athleisure wear", and, in 2014, she did just that.  Dr. Lara Devgan talks with Jennifer Bandier about how she went from managing R&B trio TLC to managing a quintet of high-end fashion boutiques, and how, through sheer force of will, she turned what even her friends called "the worst business idea they'd ever heard of" into one of the hottest new concepts in retail. 

Natalie Kraiem, Celebrated Interior Designer

Natalie Kraiem is now an award-winning interior designer but she did not follow a traditional path to get there.  Even though aesthetics were always very much a part of her life growing up in Buenos Aires, Argentina, she also had a knack for numbers and forged ahead with a career in finance. After moving to New York City to work as a private banker, Natalie decorated her apartment with her architect mother and felt inspired to go back to her first love: design. On this episode of Beauty Bosses, Natalie speaks with Dr. Lara Devgan about knowing the moment office work wasn’t meant for her, and how she used her finance background to build a celebrated interior design business.

Jennifer Vaughan Maanavi and Tanya Becker, Founders of Physique 57

In the wake of her favorite ballet-inspired fitness studio closing, Jennifer Vaughan Maanavi saw an opportunity to open her own replacement studio.  Jennifer left her Wall Street job and teamed up with Tanya Becker, a leading Lotte Berk Method instructor, to create a modern Lotte Berk inspired workout – Physique 57.  In 2006, the duo opened their first Physique 57 studio on West 57th Street, where it became an overnight success, with long waitlists, celebrity clients and talk of studio expansions. On this episode of Beauty Bosses, Jennifer and Tanya speak with Dr. Lara Devgan about defining the concept of boutique fitness before it was a trend, expanding globally, and the challenges entrepreneurs face when building a business. 

Philip Burchard, CEO of Merz

When Philip Burchard took the reins of family-owned Merz, the more than 100 year-old German company had diversified into wide array of pharmaceutical products.  Recognizing the potential of some key Merz products, Philip refocused the company primarily on aesthetics and neurotoxins while relentlessly growing the business geographically.  Six years later, it is thriving in an industry otherwise dominated by multi-national behemoths.  Dr. Lara Devgan talks with Philip Burchard, CEO of Merz, about why Christie Brinkley is a great spokesperson for the company, the need for continuous innovation, and why a boss is personally responsible for his or her employees' well-being. 

Jasmine Lobe, Columnist for The Observer

Jasmine Lobe graduated from Vassar full of ideals about #GirlPower.  Spending six years in Los Angeles as a young actress left her with a slightly more jaded view of how the world really works.  Writing about those experiences led her back to New York where she took over Candace Bushnell's famous Observer column which served as the basis for Sex and the City.  Dr. Lara Devgan talks with Jasmine Lobe about her #MeToo experiences with some well-known protagonists and how beauty is all about feeling confident in the way you look.

Aidan Donnelley Rowley, Acclaimed Writer

Aidan Donnelley Rowley, a Yale and Columbia-educated lawyer, realized that secret dream of probably every young lawyer: quit it all and write a successful novel.  What stayed firmly secret however was how alcohol was playing an increasingly large role in her life as she dealt with the challenges of being a mom to three young daughters.  She realized that, as a writer, she could add nuance to the discussion and she started to write increasingly about drinking while partaking ever less in it.  In this episode of Beauty Bosses, Dr. Lara Devgan talks with Aidan Donnelley Rowley about motherhood, beauty, and how life can be better without booze.

Nell Diamond, Founder of Hill House Home

When Nell Diamond was looking for bedding for her first "grown-up" apartment she faced the classic dilemma of being priced out of what she liked while being unimpressed with what she could afford.  So she joined her business school's incubator and turned a life-long passion for design and decorating into Hill House Home which purveys luxury bedlinen at reasonable prices.  In this episode of Beauty Bosses, Nell Diamond talks to Dr. Lara Devgan about the high ups and deep lows of starting a business, the crazy things people monogram on their bedding, and making her girlhood dream of getting a canopy bed come true.  

Marvin Eisenstadt, Inventor of Sweet'N Low

Marvin Eisenstadt was a young man helping build his father's company, Cumberland Packaging Corp., which had invented the sugar packet only a few years earlier.  Marvin had been tinkering with saccharin, a powerful sweetener, when he found that by combining it with certain other chemical compounds he could make a new sweetener that tasted much better than saccharin alone, and had a fraction of the calories of sugar.  This was the beginning of the Sweet'N Low story which changed the way we sweeten our beverages.  Now, more than 60 years and 500 billion packets later, Marvin Eisenstadt shares his and his family's story with Dr. Lara Devgan in Episode 11 of Beauty Bosses.  

Jill Kargman, Acclaimed Writer and Actress

Jill Kargman was a mom and writer living on New York's fancy Upper East Side.  She had always marched to the beat of her own drum but when her daughter asked why she didn't have red soles on her shoes like all the other moms she knew she had a story to tell.  Dr. Lara Devgan talks with the irrepressible Jill Kargman about being, writing and playing the Odd Mom Out, how battling cancer twice before the age of 35 makes you fearless and why, even though she hates sports and being outside, she still talks like a sailor.

Sarah Hoover, Gagosian

Sarah Hoover's grandfather used to always take her to art museums when she was growing up, so it was not entirely surprising that she ended up as a graduate student studying art.  On a whim, however, she applied for and landed a job with Larry Gagosian. That decisively bent her career path away from the hallowed halls of academe to the fast-paced, dynamic world of contemporary art.  Dr. Lara Devgan talks to Sarah Hoover about working at the most successful gallery in the world and what it takes to represent some of the most prominent artists from around the globe.

Cece Barfield Thompson, Acclaimed Interior Designer

CeCe Barfield Thompson had a dream job with Bunny Williams, the doyenne of Upper East Side chic, and could not imagine working anywhere else.  However, with motherhood, her entrepreneurial genes kicked in (her parents and grandparents owned businesses) and she decided to strike out on her own. Since then she has built CeCe Barfield, Inc. into a leading New York design firm featured in all the main national and international design and architectural magazines.  Dr. Lara Devgan talks to CeCe Barfield Thompson about how you can never have enough closet space in New York, how to stem the tide of kid’s toys in an apartment, and why taking care of other people is at the core of being a boss.  

Brett Heyman, Founder of Edie Parker

Brett Heyman was still a teenager living in Los Angeles when she bought her first 1950s acrylic clutch at a thrift shop on Melrose Avenue. Over the years, Brett's enthusiasm for these vintage bags only grew and so did her collection which, by the time she was a senior PR person for Gucci in New York, numbered over 100 bags.  When her first child arrived, the appeal of 6 annual trips to Milan quickly faded, and she decided to turn her passion into her profession.  In Episode 7, Dr. Lara Devgan talks with Edie Parker founder, Brett Heyman, about how she went from designing her first bags on her dining room table to having the most photographed women in the world wanting to get their hands on them.  

Georgia Louise, Founder of Georgia Louise Atelier

Even though clients at the London spa where Georgia Louise worked kept asking for her, her bosses were not impressed.  Georgia pampered her clients by mixing various skin care products to create a perfect, tailor-made blend for each of them.  Clients loved it, but Georgia's bosses wanted her to stick to protocol. Feeling constricted, Georgia, then barely out of her teens, started her own spa and now, nearly 20 years later, she takes care of some of the most beautiful and best-known faces on the planet including Cate Blanchett, Emma Stone and Jennifer Lawrence.  In Episode 6 of Beauty Bosses, Dr. Lara Devgan talks with Georgia about her journey from a small rented space in London to the most fashionable parties at the Oscars.

Sarah Maslin Nir, Reporter at The New York Times

Sarah Maslin Nir, a New York Times journalist, saw first-hand the less attractive side of the beauty industry when she wrote Unvarnished, an expose of working conditions in nail salons for which she was a Pulitzer finalist and which spurred regulatory changes.  Luckily, in this episode of Beauty Bosses with Dr. Lara Devgan she reveals that she still believes in the beauty inherent every single person she encounters.  

Dr. Andi Miro and Dr. Michael Apa, Cosmetic Dentists

Andi Miro was a first year dental student at NYU when a talk by Dr. Michael Apa inspired her to become a cosmetic dentist.  Little did she know that just a few years later she would be working with Dr. Apa who took your friendly uncle’s profession and built a global cosmetic dentistry powerhouse on it.  In this episode of Beauty Bosses, Dr. Lara Devgan talks to Andi and Michael about how aging impacts your smile, about building an international clientele and what the Tooth Fairy really should have given you when you were 7.  

Julia S. Powell, Acclaimed Modern Artist

Julia S. Powell was a successful Stanford-trained lawyer who kept getting asked by family and friends to create artwork for wedding invitations.  When her brothers gifted her a set of oil paints and started buying her paintings, she knew it was time to figure out how to make a career in art work.  In this episode of Beauty Bosses, Dr. Lara Devgan talks to Julia S. Powell about how she transitioned, in the span a few years, from drafting contracts to becoming an increasingly prominent painter with a clientele from around the globe.