Second Life

Susan Korn is the founder of the charming, quirky, and downright joyful accessories brand Susan Alexandra. Korn started her brand by making jewelry and creating handmade painted pieces. But one fateful day, she discovered a bead shop in Chinatown and had a vision of a beaded bag she wanted to create. Her beaded bags have since cemented her as the queen of whimsical fashion. Now, she’s expanded into DIY charm jewelry, custom sculpted pet pieces, home goods, a full Judaica line, and has collaborated with brands like Pebbles, Bose, and Crocs. This week, she joins Kat to talk about how she approaches designing a new product, her dreams for the brand in 2025, and her epic dog fashion show with Rachel Antonoff at New York Fashion Week this past fall. Listen to Susan Korn’s Second Life episode here!

Aisha Bowe is an aerospace engineer and the founder of the engineering consultancy firm STEMBoard. Bowe wasn’t always an engineering wizard. In high school, she struggled to connect academically and enrolled in community college with little hope that any field could interest her. But a teacher identified her strengths and suggested she try out engineering. She thrived in her engineering courses, and her confidence and sense of possibility for her career began to grow. She followed this passion to the University of Michigan, where she gained two degrees in aerospace engineering. Bowe interned at NASA in college and then was hired full-time. She ultimately spent seven years there, working on small spacecraft and flight trajectory dynamics. In 2013, she founded STEMBoard, a startup that provides engineering services and solutions—a feat she accomplished without any outside funding—and eventually left her job at NASA to pursue her startup full-time. In 2020, she founded Lingo, a company that creates self-paced, at-home STEM education kits for kids. Earlier this year, it was announced that she would be the first Black woman to travel to space with Blue Origin, the spaceflight company founded by Jeff Bezos.

This week, Shopping Director Bobby Schuessler sits down with Associate Director of Special Projects Kristen Nichols to discuss her 2024 Luxury Report. Her insightful, well-researched piece breaks down everything you need to know about the high-end fashion business right now, the biggest trends, what the most-coveted pieces say about where the industry is headed, and how leadership changes at the top fashion houses are setting the tone for luxury fashion’s future.

Taryn Delanie is a content creator and a former Miss New York. Taryn grew up in Seattle and originally had her heart set on becoming a diplomat. She gained a bachelor’s degree in communication studies from St. John’s University, and even spent time in Paris working in diplomacy. But when she was studying for a master’s degree in international communication and intercultural studies at St. John’s (and trying to stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic), she started posting comedic videos on TikTok. She immediately went viral, and her second-ever video—which was of reviewing her less-than-desirable NYC apartment—currently has over 21 million views. She started posting regularly, with fans loving her honest, joyful sense of humor. Ever the multitasker, in 2022, she won the Miss New York pageant, spending her time raising awareness of housing insecurity, and in 2023, she became the first runner-up for Miss America. In the last year, she’s grown her following and created new and instantly beloved characters like Denise, a receptionist in heaven. She’s also explored new opportunities such as co-hosting the Amazon Prime talk show Influenced.

Becky Malinsky is a stylist, consultant, and writer of the popular Substack newsletter 5 Things You Should Buy. In 2022, after several years as The Wall Street Journal's deputy fashion director, she started her own business, offering executive and professional styling, consulting, trend reporting, and more. At the same time, she launched 5 Things You Should Buy, which provides insightful, straightforward advice and fashion analysis, and the newsletter now has over 64,000 subscribers. In this episode, we picked Malinsky's brain on everything from her hero pieces and how she styles them for winter to her favorite pieces from her brand-new Alex Mill collaboration and, of course, five things we need for the holiday season.