Running a thriving business takes drive, determination, and a whole lot
of hustle. We’re spotlighting seven savvy entrepreneurs whose immense success prove that a little belief and a big leap of faith can land you a leading role in your own life. Looking to recalibrate your career path? Let their accomplishments be your compass.
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JENNIFER Maroni
Staten Island, NY
NYS Licensed Real Estate Salesperson
GATEWAY ARMS REALTY CORP.
GatewayArmsRealty.com/agents/Jennifer-Maroni/
MY JOB: As a NYS licensed real estate salesperson with millions of dollars in sales, I have a unique perspective for my clients. Whether buying or selling homes or helping businesses grow; I want people to achieve that place of belonging, success, and sanctuary. It is what I’ve dreamed of, and am grateful to have found it, personally and professionally. I have already started as a member of the Minority Women’s Business Association of Staten Island (MWBASI) and hope to improve our community by making space and leaving a legacy for others. I am also the first ‘out’ transgender woman the Staten Island Board of Realtors (SIBOR) has ever had, and a recipient of the Priscilla Toth Scholarship from the New York State Association of Realtors (NYSAR).
MOST REWARDING: Making people’s dreams come true and building financial security for my clients while at the same time helping build our community. Part of my success is that my agency, Gateway Arms Realty, provides services that no other agency can offer, such as attaining my AHWD certification, At Home With Diversity. In New York City, I believe in the PAD principle: Proximity, Affordability, and Diversity. Thanks to the new Fast Ferry, one can be in Midtown West in 35 minutes. We are the most affordable borough, and one of the most diverse communities in New York City. I believe that the North Shore of Staten Island is the best place to live in New York City!
SECRET TO MY SUCCESS: Perseverance. I never gave up, always heard “no” as “not yet,” and kept going!
CHRISTINE Bibbo Herr
New York, NY
@NYCPretty / NYCPretty.com
FOUNDER
NYCPretty.com
MY BUSINESS: I’m a former magazine fashion director, currently an on-air TV expert, stylist, lifestyle influencer, and fitness enthusiast. My husband, John Herr, is a lifestyle photographer, and together, we capture my colorful, active life through his lens to create vibrant, high-energy content for the brands that I love.
Whether it’s how we dress, decorate, what our beauty routines are, even what we fill our plates with, I believe color is one of the keys to happiness and a genuine source of life’s positive energy.
During my career as a fashion director, I worked with hundreds of people, celebrities, and brands. It’s always been about making style fun and feeling happy and confident
in our own skin as we enjoy it. Then I launched my own brand, NYCPretty. Suddenly I had the opportunity to bring together everything that made me happy.
I was able to combine my love for style and the excitement of expressing ourselves colorfully through fashion and beauty with my growing love for how I felt after spending time on a run or after a sweat-sesh. That combination of “outside” and “inside” helped me to fully realize my happy, and that is what I try hard to share—colorfully.
I’m also so excited to be a part of the BELLA team as a new style contributor for their BELLA TV “Word on the Street” segment.
MOST REWARDING: To see positive effects of what I share and inspire joy and confidence in others.
SECRET TO MY SUCCESS: I just follow my heart while striving to do what I love.
CAROLYN Aronson
Miami, Florida
It’s A 10 Haircare/Be A 10 Cosmetics
CEO/FOUNDER
ItsA10Haircare.com, BeA10.com
MY BUSINESS: I’m the founder, CEO, and owner of It’s A 10 Haircare, one of the only female-owned professional hair care brands in the world, and Be A 10 Cosmetics, which provides flawless multi-functional makeup looks in under 10 minutes. I’m really passionate about providing exceptional products in the beauty space that will have you looking and feeling your best without the hassle of needing multiple unnecessary items.
MOST REWARDING: The most rewarding aspect of what I do is helping to make people feel and look beautiful.
SECRET TO MY SUCCESS: Lifelong dedication
JONATHAN Calixto
Bronx, NY
Freelance Fashion and Lifestyle Correspondent,
EDITOR-AT-LARGE, CONTENT CREATOR, MARKETING COORDINATOR
ThisisJCali.com
MY JOB: By day I work as a marketing maven, helping identify influencers for brand partnership opportunities, and in the evenings, I switch over to covering fashion trends, LGBTQ+ topics, and Latinx stories for BELLA Magazine and BELLA Latina Magazine. Lastly, I also work as a content creator, educating brands on the importance of Queer + Latinx partnerships.
MOST REWARDING: The most rewarding aspect of my work is creating representation for young Queer people of color to see themselves as editors, writers, hosts, creators, and in spaces they want to be. This is important to me because growing up not only was there a lack of LGBTQ+ individuals in the media, but also a lack of people of color to whom I could relate.
SECRET TO MY SUCCESS: The secret to my success is leading with intention, acting with kindness, and remembering why I started.
EDDIE Wunderlich
New York, NY
MASTER STYLIST – DOP DOP SALON, INDEPENDENT PERSONAL TRAINER – COMPLETE BODY 19TH STREET GYM
@EddieWunderlich
DopDop.com
MY JOB: I am a Master Stylist at Dop Dop Salon in SOHO, New York City. Dop Dop Salon is internationally recognized as a leading L’Oreal Professional Salon.
Prior to starting my days at the salon, I hit the gym bright and early with my one-on-one clients. Aside from being a blonde specialist and booty builder, I thoroughly enjoy the fast-paced and creative aspect of being on set for photo shoots, videography, and fashion shows for my clientele.
MOST REWARDING: Being able to make someone feel beautiful in the salon, as well as encouraging my clients to feel their inner beauty and confidence while working on themselves with me in the gym.
SECRET TO MY SUCCESS: Determination.
PREMISE Martin
Morganville, NJ
Pedi Licious Footwear/Sole-care LLC
CEO, CHIEF CREATIVE DESIGN, FOUNDER
PediliciousFootwear.com
MY BUSINESS: You can wear our patented-issued pedi sandal before, during, and after a pedicure treatment, and then follow up with our gender-neutral body, nail, and sole care products. Our motto is to encourage one to “treasure your sole,” meaning caring for your soles by wearing the proper arch supported footwear and using nourishing products.
Our soles are like the foundation of a building. When not wearing the proper footwear, we can cause our soles to tilt inward or suffer from lower back, hip, and muscle pains from wearing non-arch supported footwear. Love your soles, and they will love you back.
MOST REWARDING: Encouraging others to care for their soles and educating others on why the soles are important. I love introducing people to my self-designed and patented sandal and watching them with excitement as they share “how proud” they are of me for being a minority/woman and one of a handful of 3,000 footwear companies in the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America (FDRA).
SECRET TO MY SUCCESS: I have been told my charm, personality, and the knowledge I gained from creating sole care items has been a key secret to my current success.
SURBHEE Grover
New York, NY
Love, Indus
FOUNDER
LoveIndus.com
My BUSINESS: Love, Indus offers clean, safe, and high- performance skincare products that combine cutting-edge technology with the best of ancient wisdom. By using
carefully curated concoctions made of potent ingredients like antioxidant-rich, single estate tea from Darjeeling and golden Muga silk from Assam, Love, Indus has a vision to enhance and innovate rich Indian customs. Our powerful formulas fuse these ingredients with the precision of New York technology to create powerful, sensorial products your skin will love.
Love, Indus is reviving and revitalizing hyper-local, precious ingredients and practices from the Indian subcontinent—some lost, some forgotten, and some that have yet to be discovered and harnessed outside their regional bastions.
As founder, my role is to envision how the business should evolve and be relevant in the future while keeping a keen eye on building the business. From packing boxes to partnership discussions with Fortune 500 companies and everything in between, my role involves doing whatever it takes to make the Love, Indus vision a reality.
MOST REWARDING: I’ve always been drawn to creation and when I look back, there was always a pattern—a consistent theme to what I was drawn toward—discovery, innovation, and creation of something that gave me joy. Launching Love, Indus has given me all that and more. I feel incredibly fortunate that we are building a platform that goes beyond powerful products.
It has also allowed me to give rarely known aspects of the Indian sub-continent (regional art, culture, practices) a wider audience, as well as provided a stage via from which we can tell stories about inspiring individuals—their struggles, heartbreak, and resilience—and learn how they ultimately prevailed.
SECRET TO MY SUCCESS: The tenacity to keep finding innovative new solutions and opportunities every time we were challenged (which was often!) and to have the resilience to rise, time and time again.
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