December 31, 2011 - brightcove.createExperiences(); Her Challenge: Nicole Miller is a totally different case study altogether. First of all, she isn't struggling at all in the same sense as the other designers I've worked with. She's a hugely successful brand that is already carried in every major department store with incredible sales. So where does my role come in exactly? I wanted to help Nicole make her business EVEN BIGGER.

December 25, 2011 - brightcove.createExperiences(); His Challenge: I have known Cesar in and around the fashion industry for years. He’s a veteran designer and we have many mutual friends in common and you can't be in this industry as long as we have and not be acquainted. However, I don’t know Cesar well at all, so going up to see him for the first time in this aspect was exciting – and daunting.

December 19, 2011 - brightcove.createExperiences(); Her Challenge: I found Aysha an extremely interesting case from the moment I first arrived to meet her. She seemed very confident, poised, in control and yet she wanted my help, which intrigued me. After listening to her story and seeing her clothing, I had a better understanding. First of all, she’s invested almost one million dollars (one million!!) of her own money into the company and just wasn’t seeing the return on revenue she was anticipating. Sure, she was selling SOME of her collection but it wasn’t the blowout success she had anticipated. And in terms of her collection, she had some pretty shift dresses but that was it – just pretty shift dresses. I could see this being a bigger business for her in the dress departments of major retailers but she wanted to make a splash. And a splash requires creativity – which means taking her designs out of the confines of her personal dressing and into something that will stand out in a bigger way on a department store floor. But you can’t even begin to make that splash if you’ve closed yourself off to any creative brainstorming. Aysha was strong-willed and often apprehensive when it came to taking advice so welcoming ideas from her team wasn't always top of mind for her. She needed a creative intervention - and quick. Enter a new inspiration exercise.

December 10, 2011 - brightcove.createExperiences(); Their Challenge: When I first met husband and wife design team, Kathy and Erik Wilson of Kathy Wilson Atelier, it was very clear who wore the pants in that design family. Erik, a law student, ex-Marine and devoted husband, was loyally standing by his designing wife as she explained enthusiastically to me her concepts behind their men’s and women’s collections.

December 08, 2011 - brightcove.createExperiences(); Her Challenge: Qristyl Frazier dubbed her plus-size collection "Plus Sexy" and in the world of fashion, we can definitely use more fashion-worthy plus size collections. This has been a market that I personally feel has been underserved with great fashionable options in recent years and Qristyl had the opportunity to step in there and be an integral part of that budding industry.