Amy Smilovic

I was born in America’s Midwest, raised in the South, moved onto New York City and Hong Kong after college. My mom took us to church on Sundays while my dad played tennis; they followed Buddha and Carl Sagan over John or James. I married a man who grew up in then-Communist Czechoslovakia and whose parents both experienced the horrors of the concentration camps. And together we’ve raised two young men and, in the process, gained clarity on what I value in life. I like to think I have perspective and that where I don’t, at least I know it.

After college, I worked in advertising, marketing for Fortune 500 companies. In 1997, I founded the designer clothing brand Tibi where I am in the role of Creative Director today. Tibi has grown to be America’s longest standing independently owned women’s designer brand – and for that I’m intensely proud. I built this business with an incredible team that looks like a veritable UN Assembly. I have no doubt this fact has played a role in our success – not the optics of it – but that the composition of our team has always forced us to be very clear in our communications, work through the discourse that arises with varied points of view. And if I’m honest, the team’s shared mindset – exhibited every day in their work ethic and their willingness to take risks – is, in my opinion, the result of a through line that runs through our respective experiences.

Our crowning achievements at Tibi are not defined by the last look of a runway show or a glowing magazine article. Instead, they are the result of our ability to defiantly carve our own path, regardless of any industry guardrails. Picasso famously said “learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.” And that’s exactly what we’ve done here. In fact, it’s the reason why you’re reading this. On my author’s website. I had no idea that Tibi would transform from a fashion business to a media company. If that’s even the words that describe it. And the fact that the words don’t really exist, tells me we’re doing something new and, importantly, right. For us.