ONCE UPON A TIME…

Now known as the Millennial kind, Steph was born to two Midwestern parents in Taylor Swift’s hometown (i.e. rural Pennsylvania where the Amish roam) and raised outside Houston in approximation to Beyoncé. After being uprooted then landing in Texas (specifically Round Rock) at the age of 10, this solopreneur ventured across a few States and several other area codes before settling in Austin, her one and only home.

Much life and a few lessons later, the World came to a grinding halt during the COVID-19 pandemic, which turned out to be a disguised blessing while Steph was sorting through her own crises involving cancer, divorce, and upending uncertainties. Everything was lost, and at the bottom of despair, all that remained was the realization of how many shared in that struggle. We were alone together.

In that space there was hope, and from hope springs all good things. MAVEN was borne out of the belief that fashion is inclusive, empowering, and transformative. Whether imagining celebrations for holiday and vacations, or personalizing work-wear and making athleisure new again, style is the signature brought to our worldly presence, and fashion is the tool.

As life (both personal and wildly beyond control, take Hollywood’s notorious 2023 strike as two) would have it, a second business was borne the following year - HYPE GIRL MEDIA, starting with a blog answering questions no one asked to an audience preferring sugar-coated lies over the real thing, it’s a little style, culture, POP! Also available for Social, Media, and Branding consultations in the digital age.

Along the way, Steph acquired a mannequin from a music video set, spray-painted silver and named her Hazel (adventures: documented, forthcoming) whose influence (albeit alcoholic) has been strewn throughout the blog, Part 1, also heavily edited. Analog (Part 2) was added later in full sobriety because what else is a writer to do with all that truth?

After two floundering flops, Steph thought she’d try again: the summation of grit and grace, a PR firm with presence, discernment, and taste: GOLDEN RULE CONSULTING, the final (God willing) in a trifecta of one-woman self-funded business adventures.