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Styling Opportunity: Marisa Engler's Journey from Manhattanville to Celebrity Fashion
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In this episode, Frank Furbacher sits down with fashion stylist and Manhattanville College alum Marisa Engler (Class of 2009) to explore her unconventional journey into the fashion and celebrity styling world.
Marisa shares how growing up in Colorado, attending the University of Arizona, and ultimately transferring to Manhattanville helped shape her path toward New York City and the fashion industry. From unpaid internships and navigating the challenges of the 2008 recession to styling celebrities and working behind the scenes at New York Fashion Week, Marisa’s story is one of perseverance, curiosity, and saying yes to unexpected opportunities.
Along the way, she recounts remarkable career moments—including a chance encounter at Nordstrom that led to joining a concert tour with Marc Anthony, working in PR at major fashion brands, and eventually building a career styling high-profile talent and collaborating on major campaigns like a recent Super Bowl commercial.
Frank and Marisa also discuss the realities of working in fashion, the importance of mentorship, how relationships and reputation shape opportunities, and the mindset needed to build a career in a competitive industry.
This episode is a behind-the-scenes look at the fashion world—and a reminder that career paths are rarely linear, but perseverance and authenticity can open unexpected doors.
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Transcript
Introduction and Marissa's Background
00:00:26
Frank Furbacher
Today I'm joined by a very, very special guest. Her name is Marissa Engler, class of 2009. Marissa, hello and how are you?
00:00:36
Marisa Engler
Great. How are you, Frank?
00:00:38
Frank Furbacher
I'm doing well. Thank you so much for your time and for doing this. I'm really excited to dig in to your background, your past and what you're up to today, Marissa. Kept our banter to a minimum in the beginning, just so we can cover it here.
00:00:51
Frank Furbacher
But Marissa, why don't you start out by telling us what what are you up to today?
00:00:51
Marisa Engler
True.
00:00:55
Frank Furbacher
Where are you? Where are you in life?
Life and Career Overview
00:00:57
Marisa Engler
hi I am in New Jersey, so not at all where I expected, but love it here, Bergen County. But i am a mom of two, a Valiant, is um a former Valiant also is my husband, and I am in the styling and fashion world. I don't know, I'm kind of a jack of all trades when it comes to the fashion industry, but right now I'm really focusing on celebrity styling and New York Fashion Week.
00:01:28
Frank Furbacher
And when you say celebrity styling, like what what what's involved? what what are the like What are you doing to do that?
00:01:34
Marisa Engler
So i know it's funny, my parents still, I don't even think know what I do. It's hard to describe to my family what I do, but um I've just done a Super Bowl commercial. So that's somewhere where you could see, but I work with different people, different clients, authors, producers, musicians, rappers, actors, actresses, anybody who's promoting something to help dress them. So a lot of the times they're going on like a multi, you know, talk show tour. You'll see them on Jimmy Fallon. And then the next morning you'll see them on Good Morning America. And so I go and I help the stylists who are usually based in Los Angeles, but I've worked with for, don't know, 15 years. I don't want age myself, but yeah. People I've worked with for a really long time and i get to go in the room and help dress them, make sure they look perfect on camera. If there's paparazzi outside, I have to make sure they look great. So that in a nutshell is what I do for like, I don't know, a couple months out of the year.
00:02:40
Frank Furbacher
So does your husband, Jay, get to like have the best style ever because of you? does that come naturally to him?
00:02:47
Marisa Engler
So Jay is an athletic director, so his style is very much sweatshirts, sweatpants, tracks, you know what I mean, all the track uniforms, things like that. He's a basketball coach, too, so very much in that athletic wear.
00:03:04
Frank Furbacher
Yeah, I'm jealous because I do miss the days. I mean, I work from home, so I can't be too jealous. But I do miss the days in college when the fashion choice was a gray sweatsuit or you know a black sweatsuit.
00:03:17
Frank Furbacher
Those were the days.
00:03:17
Marisa Engler
Yeah. Honestly, I love a matching sweatset to this day. Like i I, joke that I actually don't necessarily have the best style, but I just, I think about myself last, you know, i always make sure everybody else looks good.
00:03:32
Marisa Engler
And then I just stick to a uniform because for me, it's, I don't really want to think about what I'm wearing. If that makes any sense.
00:03:38
Frank Furbacher
i I agree now. Life is easier when I went to private school. and i had to make choice it
00:03:45
Marisa Engler
Yeah. Yeah. That's true.
00:03:48
Frank Furbacher
So Marissa, tell us, we're going to go back to being and you're interesting because you transferred into Manhattanville. So a little bit, um you know, you took ah a little bit of a path to get there.
00:03:54
Marisa Engler
it's great
00:04:00
Frank Furbacher
But let's start from the beginning. um Tell us where you grew up. um Tell us where you went to high school and all that leading up to it.
00:04:05
Marisa Engler
Yeah.
Early Life and Education
00:04:06
Marisa Engler
So I was actually born in Bronxville, New York. And then when I was six, my mom got remarried and we moved out just outside of Denver, Colorado. And I went to a really incredible high school called Cherry Creek High School. Um,
00:04:20
Marisa Engler
I call it Nirvana because there were 4,000 kids that went to the school. My campus was bigger than most college campuses. You know, it's like Pac-10 level. It's insane. 5A, it was so fun. And I love competitive sports. I got to do incredible things in Colorado, things that you don't necessarily get to do on the East Coast quite easily. so For me, I got to do horseback riding from a really young age. I was a competitive figure skater. That turned into the dance team, which we went to UDA Nationals in Florida. So I really got to experience the best of everything at that point. And I just like went into college on such a high, um which was kind of a culture shock because I went into the University of Arizona. So from 4,000 kids to like 26,000 kids in undergrad was a big jump. And if you're not focused, it's so easy to just like get lost in the sauce of college. So that's exactly what I did. I joined a sorority. I met some of my best friends there who I still to this day talk to. um
00:05:34
Marisa Engler
Yeah, I lived in dorms. We had off-campus housing. I lived in the the sorority house for a little bit. So it was it was so much fun. But I don't know, one the summer after a freshman year, i was like I had seen also a lot of like crazy things. like Tucson, Arizona is very close to the border of Mexico. So like you do wake up kind of quickly. um And I don't know, this the summer after a freshman year, I was just sitting in my house in Colorado and I had this moment where I was like, I think I need to work in fashion. Like, I think I need to just move to New York and work in fashion. And, you know, my my mom comes from a pretty large Italian family and they're all in Westchester still. So.
00:06:19
Marisa Engler
that's fun too. Like I would always come back to New York and just be refreshed and re-energized and re-inspired because, you know, in Colorado at that point, it was not what it is today. You know, there were not as many people there. It was very much still like, the hiking and biking and skiing and snowboarding world.
00:06:39
Marisa Engler
um So yeah, I had this moment where I was like, ah, I need to come to New York. And I decided to put all my energy into that, that semester. And it was crazy. I i was actually up for like president of the sorority and the the voting was happening and I had to just politely like stand up after I was nominated and say like, so sorry, but I actually like can't take this. I think I'm gonna move. It was just a really humbling thing. But then I came to New York. I i found a school. Manhattanville happened to be the one where I had family and like gave me the most scholarship money. And it was in Westchester. So for me, it made sense. like I think going from Tucson to New York City was like too big of a jump for me.
00:07:23
Marisa Engler
So I felt like Westchester was like the sweetest spot.
00:07:29
Frank Furbacher
So you went to Manhattanville. um You had your cousin Steve there as well.
00:07:35
Marisa Engler
Yeah.
00:07:36
Frank Furbacher
um The proximity to New York City was obviously a huge deal for you. um
00:07:42
Marisa Engler
Yeah.
00:07:43
Frank Furbacher
Tell me about like getting acclimated. Tell me about, okay, you're on campus. Like you clearly have a drive and a passion. You know what you want to do, right? You just don't know exactly how to get there. So what is what goes on after that?
00:07:56
Marisa Engler
Well, and also, too, i think people forget that there weren't as many resources ads as there are now when we were in college and jumping and starting this. So like, I don't even know what I started. i think I just Google search and then went on like free fashion internships.com and whatever, I got to campus and I was very much still in the headspace of like, ah, let's go out on Tuesday and you know, this is fun and what are we doing?
00:08:20
Frank Furbacher
you
00:08:25
Marisa Engler
And like, Manhattanville was not that, you know? Like I felt slowly but surely that like i was almost too much for the people there and like, I don't know, i wasn't really fitting in and I was like grooving and I was trying to like do things like on the dance team.
00:08:41
Marisa Engler
I joined the dance team, I joined the cheer team, you know? And then my cousin and I were kind of butting heads to shout out, Steve, we love you. But um it was just I threw myself into work.
00:08:52
Marisa Engler
And so I tried everything and anything I could to just like be in the garment district, be in New York City, take fashion internships, even if it was for free.
00:09:04
Marisa Engler
Like I worked for this designer who had been on Project Runway for a year without any pay. And then I paid to like commute myself there. So i don't know. And fashion is not, I don't know. doesn't have a great overhead. So it is what it is.
00:09:21
Frank Furbacher
So you're going through and you're trying to make your way in. um Tell me about like, what was
Career Beginnings in Fashion
00:09:30
Frank Furbacher
it? Was there a big break? Was there um or was it like, let me just keep going until I find something?
00:09:36
Frank Furbacher
Because I know that you you had an interesting story after school, too, of where you went to school afterwards.
00:09:42
Marisa Engler
Yeah, that's true. Well, I did get some internships finally, like when I was in school. So my big break, I would say, was in ah a sales internship. It was a collection men's sales internship at Michael Kors. And um whatever that like for context, that means like the people who sell the clothing, the most expensive line of men's clothing for Michael Kors, like what walks down the runway. And you sell that to like Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom and Neiman's and yada yada Bergdorf.
00:10:17
Marisa Engler
So I was doing that. And i I remember I had spent like so much money on these brand new Tory Burch pumps that I was like, oh my God, this is going to get me through all of my internships. like you know And at the time it was like pencil skirts, pumps, whatever. So I bought them and I wore them. And the woman who had interviewed me, she was like, hey, you got the job, but you're never allowed to wear those shoes again because they had like a clear Tory Burch logo on it. And at that time, like her and Michael were, you know, going through a design conflict. So those like the shoes that I had spent so much money that I had like been excited about ah got me the internship, but then I couldn't wear them ever again. So that was probably my big break.
00:11:02
Frank Furbacher
And so what what happens then? like um And also I want to understand too, um you know the the stereotype with fashion, early fashion roles, like entry level internships is like you're doing a lot of the dirty work.
00:11:19
Frank Furbacher
um
00:11:19
Marisa Engler
Oh yeah.
00:11:20
Frank Furbacher
So explain to me, like what are the things that you're doing? And then how do you wind up navigating yourself through graduation?
00:11:29
Marisa Engler
That's such an interesting question. um Well, to this day, i still feel like I do dirty work. Like, ah you know what I mean? Like, I very much believe in like a roll up your sleeves kind of thing. Everyone join hands to do it. That said...
00:11:48
Marisa Engler
you learn quickly. Like I am a sensitive soul, so I cried a lot at the beginning. Like people are tough in fashion. Like they will just say things to your face and it didn't matter. Like anything you saw in Devil Wears Prada,
00:12:02
Marisa Engler
The first one is so true. So um I grew a tough skin like pretty quickly. And then i don't know, I learned how to navigate the city like I was on my own to try to get around the subway. But again, like there was map quests that I had to like print things out or like, you know, you just kind of had to wing it or looked online. I don't know. So it took me a lot longer than I needed to, but it was all so fundamental in Just overall life skill set, not just fashion, just life in general.
00:12:35
Frank Furbacher
So you're getting the gra you're getting graduation.
00:12:35
Marisa Engler
Did I? mean oh go ahead.
00:12:38
Frank Furbacher
Like, where do you go from there?
00:12:40
Marisa Engler
Oh, graduation was rough. I mean, you remember it. It was high, like peak recession. um Nobody was hiring. i had, you know, worked at Michael Kors for so long until they were like, hey, so sorry, but like we we can't hire you at this point. So they just didn't have the head count, which was such a bummer. And I was like so disappointed because I was coming off this like amazing high. I was working on 42nd and 5th, like right across from Bryant Park.
00:13:07
Marisa Engler
You know, it was just like the best. um Yeah, so that was like a big slice of the humble pie when I had to go to Nordstrom, which was also my part-time gig at that point. Because again, I was just working. It was right down the street. um so yeah, I went there full-time and that was pretty brutal. But...
00:13:26
Marisa Engler
I did that for like a year lived at my aunt and uncle's house because my parents were still in Colorado. But I was not giving up. I was like, I am not going back to Colorado. I'm staying here.
00:13:37
Marisa Engler
you know, going push through it. And shout out to Big Dog and Aunt Rani for letting me stay in their basement for so long.
00:13:44
Frank Furbacher
Um, and was there someone that you wound up meeting while you were at
Shift to Concert Production
00:13:49
Frank Furbacher
Nordstrom?
00:13:49
Marisa Engler
Oh, that's true. I'm sorry. i didn't even think about that. So I was a stylist at Nordstrom. I had at that point I'd worked at Nordstrom since I was in high school. Right. I had seen every department hosiery collection, which was like all the designers contemporary, which is like jeans, things like that. And so I had gotten to the point where they had trusted me enough that I could float around the store and just sell whatever.
00:14:14
Marisa Engler
And like I have my own customers, whatever. And then I had some customers that were the Knicks at that point that lived in Westchester. Some of the Rangers actually were there. But again, like I didn't I didn't know.
00:14:25
Marisa Engler
And um so I learned how to like deal with bodies pretty well. And one day this guy came in. He was just like a little spitfire and he was talking about game and he was getting married. i had to like tailor his his suit really quick or his tuck shirt. And then he was getting married in New Rochelle. And so I asked my manager, I'm like, hey, is there any way I can just go deliver this? I live not too far. Like, I'll just take it home, deliver it. And he was like, yeah, okay, whatever. So I went and delivered it as the customer service Nordstrom way. You go like above and beyond. And it actually worked out really well in my favor because the guy had texted me a week later and he happened to be a concert producer and was like, hey, I'm just about to go on tour with Mark Anthony. Do you want to try out being a PA? And I was like, well, yeah, sure. Of course. So he sent me this address in new York city. It happened to be a soundstage on like, I don't know, midtown West.
00:15:21
Marisa Engler
And I walked in and it was, I was blown away. Like Mark Anthony is there singing with this huge band behind him. and I was still kind of in shock. And then all of a sudden um at the time he was married to JLo, she like came over to me and she was like, just trying to get on her, Blackberry, which was like such a big deal at that point. had just gotten mine. It was pink. She's like, i don't know how to use this. Can we use this? or can you help me use it? And I, again, like lost my mind a little bit, but it was great. It was fun. And I went on tour.
00:15:51
Marisa Engler
um the first night was the the following night after that. He was like, yeah, come dress in all black. I'll meet you at Madison Square Garden. So I go to Madison Square Garden, we do the the concert. It was amazing. He was like, hey, and I met his dad who had owned the company, who had done all the speakers and the production company. And he was like, do you want to come on tour? And I was like, ah yeah. So I had no nothing but the clothes that I was wearing. I called my roommate and I called my mom and I was like, hey, this is kind of crazy, but I'm gonna have this bus to DC tonight. They're gonna like pick out like tomorrow they'll drop me off at a store. I can get some clothes, whatever. And I'm gonna do the whole thing again tomorrow in DC and then come back.
00:16:34
Marisa Engler
And they were like, ah okay, it sounds crazy. But again, no like iPhone tracking, nothing. I just went for it. And it was really fun. And I ended up being their assistant for like two and a half years, something like that.
00:16:49
Frank Furbacher
Wow. So what are you doing as an assistant during that time?
00:16:53
Marisa Engler
So that was actually for, they own like three, it was three producers in one and they owned all these speakers and trucking company in the Bronx. So I was working off Seabury Avenue in the Bronx, which is like Tremont Ave, you know?
00:17:06
Marisa Engler
um And again, i i look like this, you know, and I'm always just like, hi, how are you? Which not the smartest to do in that area, but it was fun. It was like,
00:17:17
Marisa Engler
I learned things really quickly. i got to fly to Puerto Rico to do like a surprise party for Mark and JLo. It was just, it's it takes you on a world.
00:17:28
Marisa Engler
i don't know how i explain It's like you step into like this whole different world and you learn really quickly and you have to like defend yourself really quickly. Like this, again, height of me too. So it was a lot, but it it definitely changed the trajectory and like where I thought I could dream and like where I thought my career could go.
00:17:47
Marisa Engler
Okay.
00:17:48
Frank Furbacher
Yeah, that's a wild story from styling someone in Nordstrom to flying all over and the Puerto Rico for concert tour. That's like crazy.
00:17:57
Marisa Engler
Yeah, I like immediately quit my job after i got on the the bus to DC and the show went well. And I was like, sorry, Chris, I got to go. And he was like, okay.
00:18:08
Frank Furbacher
Wow. So you do that for a couple of years and then where do you go next?
Return to Education and PR Focus
00:18:13
Marisa Engler
Then I actually went back to school. i had thought that, you know, I'd had enough of this. It was, again, very much like me too, not to get like dark, but it was very much the height of that. um And the energy had just shifted. And so i was, you know, I was like, okay, I'm going to try something else. So I went back to school. I love learning. And this time I went to FIT because they offered, you know, summer classes and like night classes. So I took classes like screen printing and I learned how to like screen print t-shirts and make my own things, jewelry. And then I went back because I was like, this is so fun. I want to do this all the time. So I went back for an associate's degree in design.
00:18:54
Marisa Engler
and um during that time i was like, okay, I want to, I want to spend my time in New York City. So I started applying for internships and i knew at that point that like sales wasn't my thing. I'm not a numbers girl, hate math. So like buying also not my thing because sales is a lot of like spreadsheets and oh, you're going to order 17 of these jackets at X price and the ship. And no, not for me. So, but I love like merchandising the store and like going to the stores and like reorganizing. So it like visually looked beautiful. Um,
00:19:28
Marisa Engler
But yeah, a lot of numbers and visuals too. And I was like, you know what I'm really good at? I'm really good at like connecting and talking to people, which is so much of PR. So I started putting my effort into PR.
00:19:40
Marisa Engler
And I got a really great internship at this atelier called Jay Mendel. And at the time, this is like, i don't know. I think 24, 25. And Jay Mandel was doing every single red carpet. So like every single gown that you would see on the red carpet would like touch my hands before going to the stylist. And so that's where I really gained a a mentor, my friend Megan, shout out to Megan, because mentors are so hard to find in fashion. It's so ego driven. so to find somebody that's not ego driven is just like,
00:20:18
Marisa Engler
a blessing beyond. And then, yeah, what else? so at J Mandel is really where like i I, got my footing and found my stride and, you know, understood what it meant to be in PR and, and really grow from there.
00:20:32
Frank Furbacher
And what were some of the lessons that you learned from Megan that stuck with you that made her such a great mentor?
00:20:39
Marisa Engler
She just had a really great way of polishing my edges. um i had at that point had just felt so probably now like reflecting, I probably was so like rough, right? Like I had just fought my way to get there and I'm not like fresh out of college because at that point, like the recession had lifted a bit and now these kids are graduating from college and like immediately getting jobs and you're feeling like, wait a minute, you know, I don't know if you felt that in your industry, but I know the finance, like some finance people felt that too I don't know. It was just a really tough time. And so I think just to have somebody like polish my emails, give me sort of like templates to follow, um
00:21:27
Marisa Engler
show me like how to set up a room in a way or like make sure that our visual team like ordered flowers from the florist so that they were there if like a billionaire was coming in to like buy fur, you know? So it was really a lot of that. And then that's where I really got close with people like Taylor Swift's stylist and Elizabeth Stewart, who now i work with on ah a totally different capacity and Brad Goreski, who everyone probably knows from Rachel Zoe. So it was a lot of like meeting people there, being super kind, trying my hardest and like really locking in into everything Megan was saying and doing.
00:22:09
Frank Furbacher
And where does that take you along your journey? You're working here, you're doing this, you're learning a lot. You're finally, it feels like you're like really getting your professional feet under you.
00:22:15
Marisa Engler
Yeah.
00:22:19
Frank Furbacher
Then what comes next?
00:22:20
Marisa Engler
so i I don't necessarily believe in staying at one place for a long time. i like to... Every day currently for me is very different. so And I love it that way. um As long as I have like parameters, but I know that there's going to be a different thing throughout the day, it like makes me so happy. i didn't know that really then, but now...
00:22:46
Marisa Engler
I kind of had an itch to do something else. So LinkedIn was getting super popular and I saw this company, Alice and Olivia, which I hadn't heard of before, but it was a contemporary brand.
Role at Alice and Olivia
00:22:57
Marisa Engler
Um, anyway, i applied to be like their PR manager. Cause I had ready to, I've been growing, right. I've been at the PR coordinator for like a year plus, whatever.
00:23:10
Marisa Engler
I had been, um yeah, so i was I was ready to keep it moving. And I ended up getting the job. It was like one of thousands of people that had applied to this job.
00:23:22
Marisa Engler
And i don't know, I had a really good flow. I had a a good mentor there who left pretty suddenly, but I'll skip over most of that time, but it was it was totally different. It was a global role. It was um a role where I got to interact with our teams in China, with our teams in Japan, with our team in Italy, in London, in France. So it was nice because I got to help drive, you know, obviously the designer was driving a lot of the direction, but like I got to help understand like, oh, we're going to wrap a double-decker bus in London with like our advertisement on it, you know, versus something that we would do in New York or Miami. So that was really cool to like grasp that element of ah business and corporate and PR.
00:24:09
Frank Furbacher
And as you're going through um and trying to figure out you know your're your way around and really like, OK, how do I what where what is my career to trajectory here? Where do I go and how do I go through? And like.
00:24:29
Frank Furbacher
What were some of the the moments that you had where you look back and you're like, wow, that was that was a defining moment in my career?
00:24:38
Marisa Engler
I think, I don't know at that point that I felt like I had defining moments. I guess I had just felt like I was on the uprise. um You know, the designer happened to be friends with the Kardashians. And so I got to help facilitate, a again, height of keeping up with the Kardashians. And so I got to facilitate like with the production team, like, oh, you guys can come in and film and film with Courtney and at our show. So I felt like I was just like going, going, going. I thought I was going to be like the head of PR somewhere, whatever. um
00:25:13
Marisa Engler
And then I got a really cool opportunity. It's almost like I spoke it into the universe. At that point, I was reporting to a CMO. i didn't have anybody above me.
00:25:24
Marisa Engler
There was room, but it just wasn't working out with with other people. So I was reporting to the CMO and I was like, you know, I had spoken to HR. I was like, listen, I'm looking for a raise. I think I warrant This is X, Y, and Z what I've done. And um the ah HR guy kind of laughed in my face. I was like, I want $20,000 in a title change. And he laughed. And then I kid you not, Frank, a week later, i got an email from Michael Kors HR. They had created a role for me. um out of nowhere. Like I had never even heard of these people. They created a role for me and um it was $20,000 more and it was a huge title change. And so I was like, bye. And I left and it was amazing. And then again, I felt like I was just growing, growing, growing. But at Coors, it became very much a machine. I loved every second of it. I would go back any day. It's just like a young man's game. But um it
00:26:27
Marisa Engler
I got this amazing opportunity from a stylist and she was like, Hey, do you want to take a chance and come run my styling team? So in New York and l la and you know, you can oversee all the styling, oversee all the call-in. We have girls that, you know, help you help do fittings, et cetera. And so I took a, like a pretty significant pay cut. But I took the opportunity again. So i don't know. I just, I didn't really know what I wanted. I felt like I just kind of was going with the flow, so to speak, which I don't know if I recommend that for everybody else. But for me, it was like, I'm a very much an energy person. So I went with where felt right at the time.
00:27:11
Frank Furbacher
So when you say you're running styling, um are you essentially in charge of the stylists that are working there?
00:27:18
Marisa Engler
Yeah.
00:27:18
Frank Furbacher
Is that what it is?
00:27:19
Marisa Engler
Yeah, and the partnerships. So at that point, again, reality TV was like still super popular. So we were in talks with a reality TV producer to like, almost like Rachel Zoe, right? where Where they would like record the studio and see what was going on. And like, we had amazing clients at that point, like Lupita Nyong'o, Meryl Streep. someone I can't mention because of an and NDA, ah you know, like Shailene Woodley, like it was all big little lies. It was Diane Kruger, like it was the most amazing. Common, who I still help style today. Like it was just, ah again, on a whole nother planet where I was like, whoa, I didn't know that I could like get here from like Denver, Colorado.
00:28:12
Frank Furbacher
Wow. OK. So then um you're running to teams. Where are you located during that job?
00:28:18
Marisa Engler
Back and forth. So New York. And then I'd spend a good amount of time in l L.A., like West Hollywood. um But yeah, it was it was amazing at the time. You know, you're young and you're just like, this is great. And you get to hang out with designers and see cool celebrities and get things from goodie bags that they don't want, you know, like things like that.
00:28:39
Frank Furbacher
So how do you get to where you are today?
Keys to Success and Advice
00:28:42
Marisa Engler
I think just like perseverance, kindness, good attitude. Like I try to stay positive in everything, right? You know, there's always a lesson to be learned. There's always something to take from a situation. So like to this day, i will still have phone calls with stylists I've, you know, either never met or Somebody is like, now I'm at the point where I've, I've built such a big community in this industry and so many aspects, PR, jewelry, beauty, um, you name it. So like now I just kind of use the network that I've built from just people seeing my work and, you know, seeing how I've tried to help them and go from there, you know, you just keep chatting.
00:29:29
Frank Furbacher
So looking back, what what would you tell your younger self? what What career advice would you give your younger self?
00:29:37
Marisa Engler
I think listen, like definitely open your eyes and ears and listen. You definitely, I don't know kids are so funny, right? You think you know everything when you're young. so um and I definitely had you a lot to say when I was younger. So I would tell myself to like quiet down and listen. yeah.
00:30:00
Marisa Engler
But no, just work hard. Keep pushing. Like you have more energy than you think when you're young. You know, it only dwindles as you get older. so work out, keep your mind right, eat things that are good for you those Those are things I would say.
00:30:18
Frank Furbacher
And what mindsets do you feel are most valuable today for you?
00:30:23
Marisa Engler
Well, I also think like nothing is beneath me, right? Like I genuinely feel that way in everything I do. I'll still take garbage out for clients, literally and figuratively. Like I just think you have to work hard and work towards something that you want and take up space. You know, like I know that sounds so silly, but like take up space in a way that feels right for you and that you're not, you know, you're just being mindful of how you're moving through this world because – People remember that. You know, they don't remember necessarily what you say. It's what you do.
00:30:58
Frank Furbacher
Is there anything else that you want to provide? Is there any other stories from your career or um things that you feel like you wish you knew earlier?
00:31:13
Marisa Engler
Things I knew earlier because of like lessons. Yeah. You know what? Research. I think it takes just a few minutes. If you're not sure, always go with your gut.
00:31:24
Marisa Engler
But if you're not sure, like I'm very much a person that is a do first, apologize later if you have to, because I so rely on my gut. And I know that if I put in the work and I've done things and I've i've researched enough that it's going to be right and it's going to work out. But one time i did not do enough research and I didn't realize that you couldn't ship exotic skins like a handbag. So this was like a Python handbag and you couldn't ship it to Los Angeles, West Hollywood. It's illegal. um
00:31:59
Marisa Engler
Anyway, i shipped it. It ended up going to the wrong address and FedEx sent me a thing like, hey, it was delivered. Don't have photos. Again, they didn't do like photo proof at that point. It was just like Godspeed. It got there. So I happened to have a messenger service in l la that I begged, borrowed, and steal because I was in New York at this point. and i was like, hey, is there any chance you can just like go to the store and knock on the store and see if you can retrieve this package back for me?
00:32:30
Marisa Engler
And they went and they're like, so sorry, Marissa. Nobody answered. I'm like, great. This is gone. It's like a $5,000 handbag. It's coming right out of my paycheck that like I already can't afford, you know, because you make pennies to the dollar in fashion. And so um i was like, just do me a favor, just like try it a little later, like, you know, maybe at like six o'clock dinnertime. So they went back and they had it and they retrieved it. And that was like the biggest probably lesson I've ever learned is like, it just takes four seconds to like, just think about all options before you like hit go. Do you know what I mean?
00:33:11
Frank Furbacher
Yeah, I mean, who would have thought you couldn't ship exotic skins and and figure out exactly all that stuff.
00:33:18
Marisa Engler
Yeah. But I mean, learned, you know, things you
00:33:19
Frank Furbacher
Stuff you don't think about.
Recent Projects and Work Philosophy
00:33:22
Marisa Engler
definitely don't think about.
00:33:22
Marisa Engler
Like I learned how to ship things internationally. you have to know like genus and species of everything. It's crazy. What else? um We found out in December. So early December, i work with my friend Kate for like bridal styling and she makes like upcycle gown. So if like your mom wore a wedding gown and, you know, her granddaughter wants to wear it later, we take the gown and we can make it something new, which is so much fun. But she also styles Questlove and Common.
00:33:55
Marisa Engler
And so in early December, we were working with Quest and we just got this thing being like, oh, hey, FYI, I'm going to do a Levi's commercial. We need you guys to like work with Levi's to figure out what he's wearing. Like, okay. So we start making the mood boards and things like that.
00:34:12
Marisa Engler
Pretty quick turnaround. Like, they're like, oh yeah, we're shooting in like two weeks. We're like, oh, okay. So we're like making this mood board. We're getting things made, cut for him. um and then we find out, so Kate flies to LA and does the commercial. And then we find out on set that it's actually going to be a Super Bowl campaign. And like nobody told us. And so that was so exciting. We were just like, oh, my God. And it aired this past Super Bowl and like the second quarter. It was just really fun. It just every day is so different. Again, like I go from and then the following day. So Super Bowl's on Sunday. The next Monday, I started a whole different like women's wear project with this brand called Colt Gaia. um It was our first New York City Fashion Week debut. They're based in l la So that was really fun. Like it just your mind switches so differently and you have to like really compartmentalize one job from another. And then you have to like as a freelancer, have to like wrap up one job. and then like try to get into the other before I forget what happens in the other job. So, you know, you just learn to balance and organize and juggle and have fun with it. i think that's ultimately just have fun with what you're doing. And if you're not having fun, get out.
00:35:26
Frank Furbacher
And if people um are interested in contacting you about what you're doing currently, how do they do that?
00:35:31
Marisa Engler
Please, please. um So follow me on social at it's just call me Maris. Frank will probably put it in there. And then You can email me. It's also marissaengler at gmail.com, but it's all in my social. So follow along, see what I've been working on. And yeah, I'm excited. I'm here to chat and mentor and help and answer any questions.
00:35:54
Frank Furbacher
Well, amazing, Marissa. This was so awesome. It's great to hear what's going on, especially with someone in the fashion industry and PR and to hear about, you know, your journey through um even coming all the way from Colorado, from Arizona, all the way back to New York.
00:35:58
Marisa Engler
Oh, thanks.
00:36:13
Marisa Engler
Yeah.
00:36:15
Marisa Engler
Back to New York.
00:36:17
Frank Furbacher
It's really amazing to hear, Marissa. So just want to say thank you so much for your time. This was great.
00:36:21
Marisa Engler
Thanks, Frank. All right. Talk to you later.
00:36:24
Frank Furbacher
Take care.