5 Breakout Sessions You Don't Want to Miss!

Simply Stylist New York conference is just around the corner and we couldn't be more excited to welcome seasoned professionals Michelle Madonna, Anna de Souza, Alexandra Calame, Briana Pashcow, Dria Murphy, Rachel Schwartzmann, Rebecca Alexander and Daniel Saynt who will host breakout sessions on various topics within the industry. Purchase your tickets HERE

Michelle Madonna of That Madonna Girl

Breakout Session: Building a Business Through Social Media

NYC’s favorite flower child, Michelle Madonna was inspired to start TMG Accessories INC. by a dream one night. She woke up the next morning and That Madonna Girl was born. Starting with floral headbands, TMG has blossomed into an entire accessories and lifestyle brand for fun and fearless girls that are always the center of attention. Because everyone stops to stare at the girl with flowers in her hair.

Anna de Souza

Breakout Session: TV Beauty Hacks To Get You Ready in 5, 4, 3…

Anna De Souza is a lifestyle journalist and on-air style and beauty expert. Savvy in anticipating the hottest new trends, Anna is lucky enough to test cutting-edge fitness innovations, learn about the latest runway trends and play around with all those kooky beauty products (a rubber face mask?) that may soon earn its keep in a bathroom cabinet near you! When not out testing waterproof makeup while jogging with her favorite pup, Lella, you can catch Anna contributing to The Huffington Post, ELLE.com, Refinery29, SheKnows, SheFinds, Yahoo! Shine, AOL Stylelist and other online women’s magazines. Anna has hosted for nationally syndicated BetterTV and appeared as a trend expert for ABC News, FOX’s Good Day Philadelphia, CBS-NY, FOX & Friends, New York LIVE on NBC, the PIX Morning News as well as Martha Stewart Radio and WOR-AM and as a brand spokesperson for Julep Beauty on QVC.

Ali & Bri from Rack It Up

Breakout Session: Tips on Launching a Successful Startup Company

Alexandra Calame, Ali, graduated with a B.A in Political Science from The George Washington University in 2009. Upon graduation she worked for a non-profit program managing their social media and online marketing.  During that time Ali realized that working a regular 9 to 5 desk job would never be "her thing." When the opportunity to work with Briana on a fashion project came her way, she realized she couldn't pass up the chance to actually put her addiction to online shopping to good use! After months and months of talking about the idea for Rack It Up, Ali and Bri decided to jump in head first and make their vision come to life.  Ali is from Long Island, New York and currently resides there.

Briana Pashcow, Bri, graduated with a B.S. in Business Administration from The Catholic University of America in 2008. She studied Business & Marketing but upon graduation pursued a career in TV Production. She became the Supervising Producer of a weekly public affairs program. After working in that industry for four years, Briana began thinking about going back to school to pursue her MBA degree. During the studying and application process, she had the idea for Rack It Up and decided to run with it! She reached out to Ali, a long time family friend, who was equally interested in combining her passions for business & fashion. After months of brainstorming together and developing, Rack It Up became a reality! Briana is originally from Long Island, New York and currently lives in Washington, D.C.

Dria Murphy from Keep.com & Rachel Schwartzmann from The Style Line, LLC

Breakout Session: Brand Collaborations

Dria Murphy, Style and Communications Director, handles all PR initiatives for Keep. She has secured press in top media outlets including Vogue, Lucky Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, WhoWhatWear, Refinery29, Huffing Post Style, and Mashable, to name a few. Dria acts somewhat as “biz dev” liaison and project manager when press outreach turns into partnership programs and integration events. She has helped execute partnerships with InStyle Magazine, Kate Spade Saturday, Shop Bazaar, C Wonder. In addition, Dria curates Keep’s ‘style channels’ on the homepage and in the app. Prior to joining Keep, she was the Public Relations Manager at Topshop, helping the brand expand awareness in the US, working on digital campaigns for collections with Kate Bosworth and Kate Moss. Before Topshop, Dria held communications and PR roles at Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein. Dria holds her bachelor’s degree from Santa Clara University in California.

Rachel Schwartzmann is the Founder of The Style Line LLC. She created The Style Line in late January 2011 via tumblr, which now hosts a following of over 454,000 followers on that platform alone; and has fostered The Style Line’s brand in it’s growth, since. In August 2013, she relaunched The Style Line, built their website and brought on a small team of contributors. Rachel has worked with companies including Tumblr, IBM, BeautyCon and numerous fashion brands and has been featured in esteemed sources including Women’s Wear Daily, Teen Vogue, Conscious Magazine, Darling Magazine, Mashable and Refinery29. She has also partnered with WWD's MAGIC Trade-show in conjunction with Teen Vogue, as a digital media influencer speaking to brands about the importance of online presence and social media marketing. In both September 2012 and 2013 she was chosen as one of Tumblr’s participating influencers in their seasonal fashion week program, partnering with companies including SONY, MILK Studios and the CFDA. Rachel has also spoken at Columbia University, Goldman Sachs and 92Y's Passport NYC program, and is a new participant of Columbia's Women@CORE mentorship program. She has published work for The Huffington Post, and NYLON Mexico and has blogged for companies including Jeffrey Campbell, ASOS and Nasty Gal.

Rebecca Alexander & Daniel Saynt

Breakout Session: Blogging 101

Lovingly called the fairy blogmother and blogfather by some of fashion's most recognized digital talents, Daniel Saynt and Rebecca Alexander have helped dozens of the industry greats build careers around their social media presence. Lifelong collaborators, the two created the wildly popular blogger network FashionIndie and the award-winning influencer talent and discovery agency, Socialyte. Having recently merged with NYLON Magazine, Daniel now oversees the media brand's global online presence as Executive Vice President of Digital, while Beca helms influencer relations and integrated digital campaigns as Influencer-at-Large.