Welcome back to STACKED, the show about becoming your own best asset.

This week I am going solo. This is the episode I have been meaning to do for a while — my full career arc and the honest version of how I actually got here.

I started at Tulane, transferred to Fordham, studied economics, and spent my college years doing every fashion internship I could find in New York City. I landed my dream job as assistant buyer at Bergdorf Goodman's 5F floor where I worked investment banking hours making $40,000 a year and loved every minute of it. I went on to buy off-price fine jewelry at Saks Fifth Avenue before a light bulb moment made me realize I did not want my boss's job, let alone my boss's boss's job.

I pivoted into commercial real estate brokerage, spent years cold calling hundreds of numbers a week, and learned more about sales and the art of the deal than I ever expected. Somewhere in the middle of all of that, I started the Brickell Babes in 2022 just to find a good manicure and make some friends. Three years later it had 70,000 women and I was barely treating it like a business.

Nine months ago I decided to go all in. This episode is everything I learned along the way and the through line I finally found connecting all of it.

Key Topics Covered:

— Tulane to Fordham: why she transferred and what New York City gave her from day one

— Landing her dream job: assistant buyer at Bergdorf Goodman 5F — contemporary floor, runway shows, $40K salary

— Off-price pivot: Saks Fifth Avenue, fine jewelry, private label development

— Detox to Retox: the health and fitness Instagram that started monetizing before the pivot

— Switching to self-storage sales and learning cold calling at scale

— What commercial real estate taught her that fashion never could: sales, thick skin, the art of the deal

— The Brickell Babes origin story: started for a manicure, grew to 70,000 women organically

— Exploring Bitcoin mining: conferences, evaluating over 50 sites, going down the rabbit hole

— The decision nine months ago to go all in on the Brickell Babes

— Membership, partnerships, and building a real revenue model

— Launching STACKED as the media layer of everything

— The through line across every version of her career: helping people become the best version of themselves

Timestamps:

00:00 – Welcome + Solo Episode Intro

01:07 – Tulane to Fordham: Why She Transferred & What NYC Gave Her

05:56 – Three Fashion Internships (PR, Black Denim & Elizabeth Sulcer)

10:40 – Landing Her Dream Job: Assistant Buyer at Bergdorf Goodman 5F

12:40 – What She Learned at Bergdorf: P&L, Business Etiquette & Earning Your Stripes

13:12 – Off-Price Pivot: Saks Fifth Avenue, Fine Jewelry & Private Label

14:57 – Barney's Chapter: Buying Intern Before Bergdorf

17:04 – Detox to Retox: The Health & Fitness Instagram Era

18:25 – Pivoting to Commercial Real Estate: NYC & South Florida Retail Leasing

24:46 – What Commercial Real Estate Taught Her

25:55 – What Fashion Taught Her

30:08 – Going Down the Bitcoin Rabbit Hole

31:06 – Evaluating 50+ Sites & Conferences

33:15 – The Decision to Go All In on Brickell Babes

36:47 – The Through Line Across Every Version of Her Career

Tags:

Emily Dempsey, Brickell Babes, STACKED podcast, from fashion to Bitcoin, career pivot, female entrepreneur, Bergdorf Goodman buyer, Saks Fifth Avenue, commercial real estate, Bitcoin mining, how to build a community, women in business, solo episode, career arc, fashion buyer, entrepreneurship, Brickell Miami, how I got here, women in crypto, Miami entrepreneur

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