In a 35-minute conversation, James Miller brought up the concepts of speed and the need to keep up repeatedly. "If you stand still for too long, then you're just going to fall behind," he said on this week's Glossy Podcast. Miller would know about those things. He's the CEO of the Collected Group and just took on the added role of chief creative officer last week. That puts him in charge of the design as well as the business side of the clothing company's three brands: Joie, Equipment and Current/Elliott. Still, the group plays within the industry's established timelines: "We do 12 deliveries a year for each brand, and they're sold in seasons," Miller said. It was late January, and he was fresh from reviewing some of the deliveries that would go out this fall. Where the Collected Group does innovate is in its gender-fluid clothing, its emphasis on email marketing over social media and its sustainable practices that extend even to the clothes' labelling.

Sali Christeson has worked in industries from banking to big tech, but one thing has remained consistent about her day-to-day work life: "I've always been frustrated with shopping for workwear," she said on the Glossy Podcast. Christeson found the same pain point among her friends, which was further confirmed by a study she stumbled on in 2015. The study's authors measured "the impact of what someone wears on their bottom line over [their] lifetime," Christeson said, meaning that your look impacts your salary and job level. "It ends up being a 20% to 40% difference on your personal income. That was the catalyst for me. I read that, and I was like, 'OK, see ya, corporate world!'" Argent, the women's workwear company she went on to found, has offices in San Francisco and New York, and sells direct-to-consumer items ranging from blazers and pants to dresses. Since launch, the company has raised more than $4 million in Seed funding (with a Series A coming toward the end of the year, Christeson said), and has been worn by the likes of Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris, Arianna Huffington, Gloria Steinem, Awkwafina and Amy Poehler. Christeson talked about the benefits of boot-strapping her business, the shifting consumer expectations brought about by Amazon and the joy of pockets.