Shopping is a job? Kate Oldham lives the age-old dream as a Senior Vice President and General Merchandise Manager for Saks Fifth Avenue, finding the perfect products in Beauty, Jewelry, and Home just so they can go from their shelves to your front door. She unpacks what it was like to move to New York to start a new life in her late 20’s and offers advice to any and all who dream of being retail royalty.

I don’t know if it’s because I’m American, because I’m a woman, or some heinous little cocktail of the two (my therapist would call it “internalized misogyny;” my father would call it “liberal guilt”), but when it comes to my career, I always look before I leap. An admirable quality, or so I was taught. Move boldly, but strategically. Do the work, send the invite, shake the hand, don’t get blacklisted— eventually the ladder will lower. I thought that was as fast as things could possibly go.

And then this motherfucker…

Media maven Roxanne Donovan, the founder and President of Great Ink Communications, breaks down the trials and tribulations of starting your own business as she explains how she went from interviewing musicians for her college paper, to managing communications for some of the biggest names in New York commercial real estate.