ABOUT US - WHO WE ARE
We on Team ID are pretty much the same people we were as kids. We weren’t afraid to dream big then. We’re not afraid to dream big now. Independence Day/ID is a women-and-minority run company drawing from the resources of the fashion, design, special education, media and finance sectors of New York City. We know our professions and we know this demographic. We see the void in the garment industry for a clothing line that stylishly addresses every challenge – even the ones you haven’t thought about yet.
Christa Lois Robin Eric Sowra Peter Lauren
*These are not actual photos of ID Team. Stock photos were used.
CHRISTA BOEKE
Fashion Merchandising/ Strategic Partnerships/Brand Strategist
Christa is thrilled to be applying her fashion industry chops to ID. As former director of brand management at The Beanstalk Group, Christa worked on product launches for brands such as HGTV, Ford Motor Company and P&G. As a brand strategist, licensing and retail expert, Christa was instrumental in launching apparel lines for high-profile clients including the Beatles and Madonna, and has collaborated with retailers from Walmart to Saks Fifth Avenue.
Her well-trained eye for both the creative and the corporate – identifying strategic partnerships, crossover potential and investor opportunities — has put ID on the radar in New York’s heavily competitive apparel space.
Christa’s nephew Thomas, lives with Asperger’s Syndrome.
LOIS HERZECA
Esq., Legal Counsel
Lois is a partner in the New York office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, and an expert adviser on fashion start-ups and investor relations. Ms. Herzeca is a member of the firm’s Mergers and Acquisitions and Capital Markets Practice Groups and is Co-Chair of the firm’s Fashion, Retail and Consumer Products Practice Group.
Ms. Herzeca advises public and private companies, and investment banks, on significant legal and business matters, including mergers and acquisitions, capital market transactions, license agreements, and joint ventures. She specializes in insurance transactional matters and the fashion, retail and apparel industries.
Ms. Herzeca’s fashion and apparel clients have included: Helmut Lang, Proenza Schouler, Brian Atwood, Tabitha Simmons, Rachel Zoe, L’Wren Scott, Maria Cornejo, and Zumba Fitness.
That Lois took us on and continues to guide us – is the biggest break ID’s had.
ROBIN SAGON
Co-President
Robin Sagon’s name may be familiar as the female voice behind the microphone at New York’s once-proud progressive rock radio station, WNEW-FM. Her radio career took her Springsteen’s first ever concert at the Stone Pony to Central Park West the night John Lennon was shot.
Robin’s name is also familiar to New York’s autism community, as a staunch supporter of autism education. Not because she has a horse in this race, but because it’s the right thing to do. Her worldview and her sense of “what’s right” never seems to waiver. A rocker who now rides horses — to head up ID’s mission — is a natural.
ERIC SOLOMON
Film/Video/Marketing Services
Eric heads up all film and video content for ID. His work spans informational clips, investor relations presentations, clothing demos, marketing videos, fashion shows and focus groups. Eric’s content for Independence Day/ID is seen on our website, Facebook, YouTube channel, Twitter and Tumblr accounts, as well local and national television spots.
SOWRA SYED
Seed Capital & Disruptive Technology Specialist
Sowra’s dual degrees from India and the U.S. are in finance and business. Her creativity is expressed through her love of numbers, her audacious technology know-how, and her occasional Williamsburg (Brooklyn) shopping binges.
Her analytic skills, deal support and management reporting keep us up on every trend bridging the finance, fashion and technology spaces. Her view from all angles gives us constant feedback on where we are now and leads us to where we are going. (Translation: Always have a young, hungry, whip-smart 20-something on your staff).
PETER STRUGATZ
Strategic Business Advisor
Peter is a social venture veteran, as Co-CEO and Co-Founder of IceStone, a founding and certified B Corporation, and seasoned advisor to impact investors and social entrepreneurs. Peter is an active member of the Social Venture Network and former Trustee of the ALS Association and an advocate for the disabled.
Peter leads Independence Day/ID’s strategies in social capital, debt and equity structuring, strategy, team building and investor relations.
LAUREN THIERRY
President
Lauren founded Independence Day/ID to address safety and dressing issues for the special needs population, only to have focus groups tell her everybody wants stuff that’s easy to wear.
As a ballerina growing up, her wardrobe was dominated by stretchy leotards and satin costumes with secret stretch panels that keep Sugar Plum Fairies from popping out of their tutus. That served as ID’s inspiration for performance wear fabrics.
A TV news anchor for over a decade, Lauren left her job at CNN to care for her autistic son, Liam. Her documentary, Autism Every Day, was described as “the shot heard ‘round the world for autism” when it debuted at the Sundance Film Festival. Shooting the film, she saw that wandering was a major issue for autism families. And the simple act of getting dressed was a grueling obstacle course of “fronts and backs,” “insides and outs,” zippers, buttons and tags. Independence Day/ID Clothing was started to address those challenges.
She is an American Express Passion Project winner for 2013.
