Tech Powered Luxury

Rylé Tuvierra is our first guest of 2024, and Tech Powered Luxury's first-ever guest to return for a second episode. Rylé's first conversation with Ashley McDonnell was the most shared episode of 2023, and we're back a year later to check in with the Arab and Asian businesswoman. This time, we dive deep into Rylé's humble beginnings: working 12-hour shifts at a 7/11 in Dubai, and how her dream of being a fashion designer led her to pursue the impossible until it became her reality. With a slew of big fashion names on her roster of campaigns and having attended fashion weeks across the globe with many more to come in 2024, Rylé shares everything from her reaction to finding out she was named on the Vogue Top 100 Innovators list to her recent press trip with Jean Paul Gaultier to Verbier, Switzerland. Sit back, relax and enjoy this eye-opening conversation which is available across all podcasting platforms and exclusively with video on Spotify. Tech Powered Luxury is proudly sponsored by FarmHouse Fresh.

Pietro Novelli is a serial entrepreneur from Italy who went from high school directly into the workforce, landing his first full time role at one of Italy’s most innovative banks thanks to an interview he did about his local start-up that emulated the business model of Groupon. From creating a digital agency and the world’s first TV programme on Facebook Live, to managing Digital Innovation at AXA and spending 5 years at Facebook in Ireland, Pietro has now combined his knowledge of luxury, technology, banking and insurance to launch a first of its kind: Vaultik, a platform that insures luxury goods from theft directly with the brand, recently announcing a $2.5 million seed funding round. Tech Powered Luxury is proudly sponsored by FarmHouse Fresh.

Sorcha O’Raghallaigh is an Irish designer celebrated for her unique, bespoke creations with strong elements of fantasy, glamour and opulence. In this episode of Tech Powered Luxury, I speak with Sorcha O’Raghallaigh about her life as a fashion designer. From closing the graduate show at world-renowned Central Saint Martins with a collection that incorporated bold, glamorous and fantasy-inspired pieces worn by circus-students on stilts to making the pages of Vogue magazine and being worn by Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Kylie Minogue, Kate Moss and Madonna - Sorcha O’Raghallaigh pushes the limits of creativity and creates magic through fashion and jewellery. Tech Powered Luxury is proudly sponsored by Farmhouse Fresh.

Mary Furtas is the Ukrainian entrepreneur and former fashion photographer behind the fashion-favourite party wear brand: Cultnaked. In this episode of Tech Powered Luxury we hear from Mary about her mission to meet American supermodels at Paris Fashion Week - the ultimate muses of her brand, the Californian girls - in 2018, with a suitcase full of samples, how she connected with Bella Hadid in Hotel Costes and having her collections go viral when worn by Kendall Jenner and Megan Fox. Mary has persevered throughout the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, continuing to grow her brand into a powerhouse label that focuses on a D2C and influencer-led business. This is truly a masterclass on how to build a fashion brand in the digital age as well as a lesson in entrepreneurship and believing in your mission - both of which Mary embodies every step of the way. Tech Powered Luxury is proudly sponsored by FarmHouse Fresh.

Shana Chu started her fashion career in a division we don't see on the runway: protective garments. Nonetheless, the challenges she faced as a garment technologist are the same we see across the high street all the way to haute couture: sizing inconsistency. The challenge of having cohesive and aligned sizing within a single brand, nevermind across the entire fashion industry, seems to be an ever evolving and expanding issue which costs the environment, brands and the end customer in the form of waste, lost profits and dissatisfaction. Shana set out to tackle the problem of online returns, but later realised she wasn't addressing the root of the issue, which lay in the garment production itself. From her years visiting factory floors and seeing the misalignment from deisgner to production, she developed a platform that feeds information in real time, taking into account the composition of a textile to the environment of the room a garment is produced, all the way to any eventual dying processes that may impact the garment and how a garment will change after it has been washed. Shana explains why we're never the exact same size across our favourite brands, even when it comes to the same style of an item but in two different colours, and how she had her lightbulb moment while in the shower. Shana recently announced a fundraise of €700,000, backed by Delta Partners, Enterprise Ireland and Haatch, to expand Tailr and tackle sizing inconsistency for designers, brands and manufacturers alike. Tech Powered Luxury is proudly sponsored by FarmHouse Fresh.

Bijan Ghorbani is a master storyteller with an unwavering passion for enabling and empowering others. His Storytelling Masterclass has ignited the potential of over 9,000 of Googlers across the globe and within the tech industry worldwide, enabling them to elevate their leadership, negotiation, and influencing abilities. Tech Powered Luxury's host Ashley McDonnell first met Bijan while they both worked at Google's EMEA Headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, within the French Large Customer Sales Team. Ashley attended one of Bijan's Storytelling Masterclasses which was such a huge success that the largest auditorium on the 8,000+ people campus was full, with Ashley having to watch the talk on a screen from a dedicated overflow room. In this episode of Tech Powered Luxury, Bijan talks about how he was born and raised in France from Persian parents and from a very young age had a passion for computers and the internet. Bijan also had a talent and love for storytelling: as a child he would be the elected family member to tell stories about vacations, having the flair for creating suspense and drama. Surrounded by academics, Bijan's communication skills and love for technology created the perfect combination for a career in tech sales, where the objective of any meeting in a business context is simple: drive action. Bijan explains the main fears that people have around public speaking and how to overcome them, how as a sales executive he became the most in-demand public speaking expert at Google, and how the layoffs effected him and led to leaving California to return to Europe and starting a new professional chapter. Tech Powered Luxury is proudly sponsored by FarmHouse Fresh.

Lauren Ingram is the Founder of Women of Web3, a community helping women make the leap into the world of Web 3.0 through job opportunities, learning resources and connections. She is a marketing leader with experience in agencies and tech companies including Meta, where she was responsible for Meta’s multimillion-dollar program for female entrepreneurs, #SheMeansBusiness. As a consultant and founder of Women of Web3, Lauren helps businesses to win in Web3 by demystifying the opportunities in this space. Lauren also hosts the Women of Web3 Podcast where each week she interviews a different incredible woman making moves in Web3. In this episode of Tech Powered Luxury, Lauren gives us an introduction to what Women of Web3 does, how she navigated layoffs at Meta which impacted her directly, and what a career in tech means for a new mother. Lauren has collaborated with some of the biggest brands in fashion and beauty, from a project she worked on with Tech Powered Luxury host Ashley McDonnell for a NFT activation for Carolina Herrera in Madrid and Rio, to Charlotte Tilbury, and as the brand ambassador for Shiseido. Tech Powered Luxury is proudly sponsored by FarmHouse Fresh.

Mario Maher and Joe Wilkinson are the co-founders and creative geniuses from Sheffield, England, behind the mystery box that's shaking up the luxury industry and tapping into the Male GenZ Market: Heat. Heat launched in 2019 with a simple goal: to provide 3 luxury items to their customers through exclusive drops. From low-tech beginnings to a high-tech expansion, Heat has evolved from an original goal of 100 boxes per drop to major luxury-brand partnerships and matching tens of thousands of Gen Z and streetwear enthusiasts with their super-hyped mystery luxury boxes. Each mystery box drop provides access to streetwear, fashion and luxury brands, often with products and collections from the archives that are no longer available on the market. In this episode of Tech Powered Luxury, Mario and Joe talk us through their humble beginnings of hand selecting products to include in customers' boxes to leveraging AI and technology to scale their offering across the UK and USA. With a digital-first strategy and ultra-slick marketing, the Heat team achieves the impossible: creating demand for a mystery product. A start-up that has sparked the interested of all of the coolest brands on the market as well as investment form Antler and LVMH Luxury Ventures, this episode dives into the origins of the platform as well as it's objectives for the future. Tech Powered Luxury is proudly sponsored by FarmHouse Fresh.

Michaela O’Shaughnessy grew up in County Galway, Ireland. When her dream of becoming a doctor shifted towards embarking on a summer adventure in New York, the biomedical scientist found a city and new career that captured her attention: the world of social media and entertainment. Michaela has carved out a killer career at the crossroads of culture, entertainment, and tech, with globally recognized companies and events making up her resume. Arriving in New York City, she landed a dream role at MTV, walking red carpets and attending the Met Gala with a clear goal: bring new, young audiences into the world of entertainment through the medium of digital, and in particular, mobile. As the role of TV and print media became challenged by the rapidly rising accessibility of online channels, Michaela was climbing the ranks at major fashion publications like Teen Vogue and Glamour before joining Instagram’s social team, where she now leads editorial content. A creator herself, you can find Michaela on Instagram as @LifeofALadyBear to follow her journey in New York. In this episode, Michaela generously shares her advice on finding opportunity in New York, honing skills in both creative fields and business-driven environments, and how she finds balance between major events, internet celebrities, and a career in technology. Tech Powered Luxury Season 3 is proudly sponsored by FarmHouse Fresh.

In this bonus episode of Tech Powered Luxury, Ashley McDonnell talks us through her first month since moving back to Paris, France.Ashley started her first day back in the city for the Ireland vs. South Africa, Rugby World Cup match in Stade de France with Emirates, followed by Paris Fashion Week. During a week of attending shows and meeting designers in their showrooms across the city, Ashley had the opportunity to sit down with Irish, Ukrainian and Spanish designers Sorcha O’Raghallaigh, Mary Furtas of Cult Naked and Celia B, all of whom will have upcoming dedicated podcast episodes in this season of Tech Powered Luxury.After Fashion Week it was time to start a new job, find an apartment, and of course continue with weekly episodes of Tech Powered Luxury. Over the last month Ashley has had conversations with Niamh O'Donoghue (Head of Editorial and Social at Victoria Beckham), Carlota Rodben (2 times author and formerly within Open Innovation at Chanel, Laurent Piffaut (CEO and Co-Founder of Dweet, formerly at Dior, Chanel, Prada and Alexander McQueen), Pavan Ahluwalia-Dhanjal (founder of the world's first luxury henna bar at Selfridge's and IrelandsEye's Founder and Head of Design.Lastly, Ashley speaks about her biggest challenge to date which is just around the corner: trekking to Everest Base Camp in November 2023.We hope you enjoy this bonus episode of Tech Poewred Luxury.Tech Powered Luxury Season 3 is proudly sponsored by Farmhouse Fresh. #techpoweredluxury. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.