The road from analyst to lingerie company founder — and the mentor who …

When Heidi Zak was a young investment-banking analyst, stuck at the office until 3 a.m. with her supervisor Lisa Kaplowitz, she couldn’t imagine that one day she would start an online lingerie company.

Or that her supervisor-turned-mentor would encourage her to do it.

But now, 15 years later, Zak, 36, and her husband, Dave Spector, are running San Francisco-based ThirdLove, a startup that designs and sells lingerie at a mid-range price point. The company offers half-sizes and has a patented bra-sizing app that’s designed to make shopping for lingerie an easier, less invasive proposition.

The couple launched the concept in 2014 to much fanfare: ThirdLove’s app has been featured by Apple as “best new app” or “best lifestyle app” more than 20 times.

And Zak points to several key advice sessions with Kaplowitz — now the CFO of Hello, an oral care products startup — that helped her transition from finance to retail and, ultimately, to the world of startups.

“Those moments when I’ve been thinking about making a large decision … she’s been there to push me to make those big decisions,” Zak told Bizwomen.

Here are three of those moments:

1. Debating a career change: When Zak and Kaplowitz first met, the elder was fresh out of Northwestern’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management and an associate investment banker at Bank of America. Zak, an analyst, was straight out of undergrad at Duke University.

There weren’t many women in either of their programs, and they connected. Both had been competitive gymnasts. Both had a lot of energy. And both had similar aspirations.

Zak wanted to move into retail operations. But she was struggling to get interviews. Kaplowitz — who left Bank of America to become the treasurer of Bed Bath Beyond — suggested business school. It gives you options, she advised.

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Five Transgender Filipinas Who’ve Shown Us a Thing or Two About Bravery

LGBT Pride Month opens with a giant leap forward for trans awareness: Caitlyn, formerly Bruce, Jenner is on the cover of Vanity Fair—proud, glowing, unafraid. With one of their own on the cover of a magazine known and sold across the globe, the trans community has never been more visible, and the community of human beings populating this Earth has never been more inspired to stay true to who they are.

The cover has sparked important conversations in circles that previously looked away from trans issues—people are now asking what it is, learning terminology, realizing how complex and fluid sex, gender, and sexuality are. Young transgender people are going to look at this cover and realize that they can exist at the same plane as cisgender people, and people of all walks of life are going to come across Caitlyn in the media and think, “Maybe I shouldn’t be transphobic.”

However, we don’t have to look to the west to hear the narrative of transition and the subsequent success and happiness it gives. LGBT celebrities figure into Filipino pop culture quite heavily, and we think it’s time to honor our own unsung heroes who have waved the banner of the trans community long before sharing that VF cover on Facebook was cool. Here are five of them.

BB Gandanghari
BB Gandanghari has never been a stranger to the spotlight, previously making a name for herself as an action star and a heartthrob among likewise good-looking siblings. Her transition seemed to happen in full view of the public—she came out on a reality show she participated in, and then revealed her decision to fully transition in an interview. Despite a still strained relationship with her family, BB is a successful model and actress, having starred in teleseryes in three major networks.

Geena Rocero
Some members of minorities like to shy away from looking at themselves as representatives of their sectors, but not Geena Rocero. At her TED talk last year, she broke her silence on a secret she’d been keeping: She’s ruling the fashion industry with the sex she wasn’t born with. Specializing in modeling lingerie for having perfect proportions, she’s been featured in what seems like everything—from department store catalogues to Vogue to a The Weeknd music video. Aside from modeling, she has also launched Gender Proud, an international awareness campaign that advocates transgender rights.

Kevin Balot
Skeptics say that transwomen don’t look like “real” women (whatever that means), but “real” women may not even be able to hold a candle to Kevin Balot’s beauty. At the world’s most prestigious beauty pageant for transgender women in 2012, she bested 21 other candidates and was crowned Miss International Queen. Choosing not to accept acting roles in Thai movies, she stayed in the Philippines to become an icon to raise awareness about transgender issues here.

Xtina Superstar
A rebel with a cause, this model/DJ and doesn’t stand for labels that limit her. Together with the DJ group The Panty Monsters, Xtina is irreverent and passionate, rallying against discrimination and advocating equality and respect in the arenas of fashion, arts, and music. She’s also been featured on Scout.

Manila Luzon
Fil-Am Manila Luzon stepped into the limelight as a participant in the American reality drag competition RuPaul’s Drag Race. A controversial elimination round saw her finishing at second place. Since then, Manila has been an advocate of AIDS support and research in the US.

 

Art by Dorothy Guya

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