Babson Connect San Francisco featuring Fashion Entrepreneur Ruthie Davis M’93
We are excited to announce Ruthie Davis MBA’93, founder, designer and president of luxury shoe brand Ruthie Davis, as our featured speaker for Babson Connect San Francisco on April 12.
Ruthie is a distinguished entrepreneur and founder of the only luxury female American shoe designer label in the fashion industry. She earned her MBA in entrepreneurship from Babson’s Olin Graduate School of Business to pursue her own independent fashion brand.
“Having my entrepreneurship background gave me the confidence that I could go out on a limb and innovate.”-Ruthie Davis MBA’93 featured in Babson’s “The Entrepreneurs: A True Babson Story” campaign.
After holding executive positions at Reebok, UGG Australia, and Tommy Hilfiger, Ruthie used her design and marketing skills to successfully launch Ruthie Davis in 2006. Since the release of her own collection, Ruthie’s brand has remained a top choice for A-listers such as Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Zendaya, Naomi Campbell, Kim Kardashian and her designs have been featured in New York & London Fashion Week runway presentations.
Ruthie has been named Goldman Sachs’ “100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs,” Footwear News’ “20 Directional Design Stars,” and one of Vogue Italia’s “Vogue Talents” and was inducted into Babson’s Entrepreneur Hall of Fame in 2015. Ruthie also serves as a television fashion expert with regular spots on Bravo, E!, Bloomberg, NBC, among others. In 2014, Ruthie was the only designer in the footwear industry to be accepted into the Council of Fashion Designers of America. Additionally, she was named as the 2014 “Footwear Designer of the Year” by American Apparel & Footwear Association. In regards to her successful career thus far, Ruthie continues to advocate the following message, “Find your passion, work hard, live your dreams.”
The conversation with Ruthie will be facilitated by Tanya Soman ’12, Venture Partner at 500 Startups, a global venture capital seed fund. Tanya leads the beauty and fashion specialty track by scouting companies from all over the world. Tanya graduated from Babson College with a BS in business management.
Babson Connect San Francisco brings together the Bay Area community to build and enhance relationships, network, and learn from top entrepreneurial leaders. Past speakers include: Jim Herbert, founder and CEO of First Republic Bank, Dan Levin, COO of Box, James Park, CEO and co-founder of Fitbit, Craig Newmark, founder of craigslist, Loic Le Meur, founder of Leade.rs, Jamie Siminoff, chief inventor and CEO of Ring.