In this episode of Origins of Influence, host Dina Fierro sits down with Karen Robinovitz—cultural bellwether, serial entrepreneur, and one of the original architects of the influencer economy. As co-founder of Digital Brand Architects (DBA), Karen helped professionalize influencer representation long before it became an industry standard, spotting the value of digital creators before the rest of the world caught on.

Today, Karen is the founder of Sloomoo Institute, a multisensory experience centered on play, joy, and emotional wellness. In this conversation, Karen reflects on the throughline between her ventures—how reinvention has defined her career, why she’s stepped back from social media, and what it looks like to build something tactile, analog, and healing in a hyper-digital age.

We discuss:

• Karen’s evolution from journalist and trend forecaster to co-founding DBA
• The early days of influencer marketing and building infrastructure for creators
• Navigating visibility, advocacy, and polarization as a founder
• Why she stepped back from social media—and what influence means to her now
• The grief that ultimately sparked the creation of Sloomoo Institute
• How Sloomoo blends analog joy with IP building, animation, and new technologies

Recommended by Karen:

• Kennedy Yanko (artist)
• Rachel Youn (artist)
• Marisa Thalberg (CMO, Catalyst Brands)

About Origins of Influence

Hosted by longtime fashion and beauty marketer Dina Fierro, Origins of Influence is a limited series exploring the past, present and future of the creator economy through intimate conversations with pioneering influencers, creators and founders. Find show notes and exclusive content on Substack. Subscribe on YouTube and follow Origins of Influence on Instagram and TikTok for clips, full-length episodes, BTS and more.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Before Instagram, before brand deals, before influencer was a job title—Yuli Ziv was building the business of digital influence. In this episode, Dina sits down with her longtime friend and fellow fashion blogosphere OG to trace the arc of Yuli’s remarkable career: from founding Style Coalition and shaping the earliest creator-brand partnerships, to exiting post-acquisition and walking away from hustle culture entirely.

Today, Yuli is the founder of Heallist, a growth platform for holistic healers—and she believes we’re entering a new era of influence, one powered by energy, not algorithms. This conversation is a masterclass in reinvention, intuition, and creating on your own terms.

In this episode, we explore:

• Yuli’s early days in the blogosphere and the launch of My It Things
• Building Style Coalition and pioneering data-driven brand campaigns
• Disrupting the fashion industry with community-driven influence
• Burnout, boundaries, and why she chose a two-year career break
• The spiritual practices that led to her founding Heallist
• Her perspective on the “new influencers” and what the creator economy got right—and wrong
• How she’s building a business rooted in balance, not burnout

Explore Heallist here

Follow Heallist on Instagram

Recommended by Yuli:

• @MelRobbins
• @SimoneOliver

About Origins of Influence

Hosted by longtime fashion and beauty marketer Dina Fierro, Origins of Influence is a limited series exploring the past, present and future of the creator economy through intimate conversations with pioneering influencers, creators and founders. Find show notes and exclusive content on Substack. Subscribe on YouTube and follow Origins of Influence on Instagram and TikTok for clips, full-length episodes, BTS and more.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Photographer, creative director, and cultural documentarian Lougé Delcy—also known as Dapper Lou—joins host Dina Fierro to trace his evolution from early street style pioneer to founder of Dapper Studios and Gallery Lougé.

In this rich, expansive conversation, Lougé shares how his Haitian-American upbringing shaped his perspective, why he stepped away from influencer notoriety, and what he’s learned through deep, immersive work in communities across Africa, Brazil, and beyond.

Together, Dina and Lougé explore:

• His start as a menswear blogger and self-taught photographer on Lookbook.nu and Instagram
• Why he pivoted from personal brand to cultural storyteller
• Launching Dapper Studios and building creative community
• His documentary work in Kenya and Brazil—and why immersion is key to his process
• Navigating visibility, identity, and creative ownership today
• His thoughts on social media, AI, and sustaining creative longevity

This is a story about personal evolution, cultural responsibility, and making art that lasts.

See Lougé Delcy's remarkable Nat Geo doc here

Recommended by Lougé:

• @ChantelWalkes
• @JoeKenneth_

About Origins of Influence

Hosted by longtime fashion and beauty marketer Dina Fierro, Origins of Influence is a limited series exploring the past, present and future of the creator economy through intimate conversations with pioneering influencers, creators and founders. Find show notes and exclusive content on Substack. Subscribe on YouTube and follow Origins of Influence on Instagram and TikTok for clips, full-length episodes, BTS and more.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.