Steph Korey

Stephanie Korey is an American businesswoman who co-founded the luggage retailer Away.[2][3]

Steph Korey
Born
Stephanie Korey
Known forCo-founder of Away
Board member ofAway
Spouse(s)Peter Goodwin[1]

Early life

Korey was born in the United States and grew up in Ohio, in a 55,000-square-foot historic mansion.[3] Her father was born in Lebanon and her mother was born in Romania. She grew up traveling to visit her family in Europe and the Middle East. Korey studied international relations at Brown University and received her MBA from Columbia University.[4][5]

Early career

After graduation, she worked at Kate Spade and Bloomingdale's.[6]

By 2011, Korey joined Warby Parker and led the company's supply chain, production, and fulfillment work as its Head of Supply Chain.[7] She met Away co-founder Jennifer Rubio during her time at the company.[6] In 2014, she left the company and received her MBA,[5] while also working as a consultant for supply chain and merchandising strategy at mattress company Casper.[8]

Away

Korey co-founded Away, a direct-to-consumer travel company, with Jennifer Rubio. By 2017, Korey and Rubio had raised $31 million, making it one of the highest-funded female-founded startups.[9] Away was created after co-founder Jennifer Rubio broke her suitcase at an airport in Zurich, and after putting out a request on Facebook asking for recommendations, was unable to find a suitcase on the market. Away aimed to improve upon traditional suitcase designs by adding features such as built-in batteries in their luggage for charging mobile devices.[10]

A 2019 investigative report by The Verge revealed a toxic workplace at Away and prominently featured Korey's role in creating a culture of staff mistreatment and public humiliation.[11] In an apology, Korey said that she was "appalled" to read her own messages and listed steps taken to improve the company's work culture in the last year.[12] She later deleted this apology.[13] In December 2019, Korey was to be replaced as CEO of Away by Stuart Haselden. She would continue to serve as Away's executive chairwoman.[3] In January it was announced that Korey had reversed her decision, and would instead serve as co-CEO along with Haselden.[14]

In June 2020, while on maternity leave, Korey posted several Instagram stories attacking digital media companies. Employees told Haselden and Rubio in an anonymous letter that it showed Korey had learned nothing from the reports of a toxic workplace in 2019. In July 2020, Haselden and Rubio announced that Korey would be stepping down as co-CEO, and that Haselden would take over as sole CEO "within the year".[15] Korey stepped down from her position as CEO at Away in October 2020 but remained on the board of directors.[16]

Awards

References
  1. https://www.inc.com/author/steph-korey
  2. Garcia, Ahiza. "The founders of Away changed the luggage industry after a travel mishap". CNNMoney. Archived from the original on 2018-08-05. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
  3. Schiffer, Zoe (2019-12-09). "Away replaces CEO Steph Korey after Verge investigation". The Verge. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
  4. "Founder Fridays: Stephanie Korey '09, co-founder of Away - Jonathan M. Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship". Jonathan M. Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship. Archived from the original on 2018-10-22. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
  5. Elkins, Kathleen (2018-02-12). "Columbia MBA and multimillion-dollar start-up founder: Here's what business school can't teach you". CNBC. Archived from the original on 2018-08-04. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
  6. "Pack For Your July Fourth Getaway In the New 'Away' Luggage". Observer. 2016-06-30. Archived from the original on 2018-10-22. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
  7. "The Boss: The Founders of Away Have 3 Tips for Female Entrepreneurs". Time. Archived from the original on 2018-11-02. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
  8. Dunn, Laura Emily (2016-09-01). "Women in Business Q&A: Jen Rubio and Steph Korey, Founders, Away". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 2017-03-24. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
  9. "This CEO Is Leading a New Wave of Female Entrepreneurs". Fortune. Archived from the original on 2018-07-05. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
  10. Feldman, Amy (2018-11-20). "Next Billion-Dollar Startups: How Two Young Entrepreneurs Used Relentless Online Marketing To Build Away Into A $700M Luggage Brand". Forbes.
  11. Schiffer, Zoe (2019-12-05). "Emotional baggage: inside the toxic work environment at Away". The Verge. Retrieved 2019-12-21.
  12. Bellstrom, Kristen (December 6, 2019). "Away Founders Use 'Inclusivity' to Respond to Toxic Culture Claims". Fortune. Archived from the original on December 6, 2019. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
  13. Schiffer, Zoe (2020-07-07). "Away faces staff revolt as employees call for Steph Korey to step down". The Verge. Retrieved 2021-01-23.
  14. "Away C.E.O. Is Back, Just Weeks After Stepping Down". 2020-01-13.
  15. Schiffer, Zoë (2 July 2020). "Away says co-CEO Steph Korey will step down this year after her attacks on the media". The Verge. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  16. Primack, Dan (15 October 2020). "Steph Korey steps down as Away's CEO (again)". Axios. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  17. Hoffower, Hillary (2019-12-31). "4 of the buzziest billion-dollar startups of 2019 were founded by millennials. Meet the power players redefining their fields". Business Insider.
  18. Hartel, Heather (2018-06-18). "EY's 2018 Entrepreneur of the Year New York winners". New York Business Journal.
  19. "Steph Korey and Jen Rubio". Fortune. 2019-07-10.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.