Stefanie Mnayarji, Risk Management and Economics Expert, now Lingerie Entrepreneur (Yes, There is Such a Thing!)   

Talk about killing two birds with one stone: invited to judge on CNBC’s Power Pitch, I got to claim my seven-and-a-half minutes of television fame and to meet a kick-butt female founder of a startup.

Stefanie Mnayarji is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Luxxie Boston LLC, a Boston-based lingerie startup reinventing the slip for today’s female. Stefanie is a London School of Economics- and Northeastern University-trained economist. Yup, a woman with big degrees and smarts, who is now calling the shots.

Stefanie left a career in quantitative finance to fill a void in the market for an alternative to shapewear. She wants to help women focus on reshaping the world, not their bodies (seriously, how many of us have pulled, tugged and tucked at our outfit while walking into a meeting??).

Using her background in risk management and economics, Stefanie is heavily involved with the startup’s financial forecasting, creative direction, social media, logistics and supply-chain management. This optimistic entrepreneur loves an adrenaline rush, which must come daily as she battles intimate apparel giants such as Spanx and Victoria’s Secret for the hearts, minds and bodies of women.

Who are your heroes?
My Teta (Arabic for ‘grandmother’). My Teta taught me that tough can be elegant too.  Growing up as a young woman in Syria and Lebanon, life was never easy for a lady who had strong opinions. She worked, made dinner every night from scratch, and raised a family of six through civil war, eventually emigrating to the United States.

She was strong, fierce, yet loving, classy and always well-composed.  She defined femininity for me. She wore a slip with her dress or skirt every single day of her life. Whenever I put on my Luxxie Boston Slip, it is really a homage to my Teta.

What is your current challenge?
Convincing male investors that woman DO value being comfortable.

Your greatest achievement?
Having the courage to leave my comfort zone in finance and explore the unchartered waters of entrepreneurship.

What is your motto? 
Tomorrow is promised to no one.

Why are you an entrepreneur? 
I saw a giant hole in the market for comfortable yet sexy woman’s lingerie, and saw an unconventional way to fill it.

What problem are you solving?
For all of human existence, women have compromised comfort to look gorgeous.  I started Luxxie Boston so we can use technology to offer them both.

What problem would you like solved?
To make 5-inch high heels that feel like a pair of sneakers. The Luxxie Lab is looking into it!

Item you wish you had invented?
A cure for cancer.

Biggest regret?
I don’t believe in regrets.  I believe in lessons learned.

Which talent would you like to have?
Flying would be a great talent. It seems like an environmentally efficient way of getting around.

Best pat on the back you’ve ever received?
When I was working as an AVP of Treasury, I received a standing ovation from the Board of Directors after I told them I remediated our regulatory risks.  Literally, they got on their feet and clapped. I was twenty-four years old at the time, and the average age in the room was around fifty.

Advice you wish you’d had (or had followed)?
“Leave your job and start your own business.”  I wish I followed that advice much earlier in life.

Your pitch in 140 characters?
“Lingerie startup offers badass women a flawless silhouette without compromising comfort. Think of us as Agent Provocateur meets Under Armour.”

The Twitter follower you can’t live without?
Stephen Colbert, @StephenAtHome.  He is a genius and inspiration on every level!

Your nails on a chalkboard moment?
When random men call me “sweetheart.”

The J.O.B. you’d actually like?
CEO of a lingerie company that aims to encourage women to reshape the world, not their bodies.  Oh wait, that’s what I’m doing right now! Score!

Biggest misconception about being an entrepreneur?
That you make your own hours. As an entrepreneur, you are working every hour. It’s a 9am-9am job.

Inc. or Rolling Stone or…..? Which magazine cover?
The Economist – they would probably illustrate a cartoon version of me.  I hope they are kind about my features.

What are you reading?
The Stranger [classic novel about existentialist philosophy] by Albert Camus.

What book is your must read?
 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

What book did you read which would have been put to better use as a doorstop?
 I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell.  I hope they serve this book in hell…!

If I wanted to do what you’re doing…what’s your advice? 
Take a scientific approach to design – speak to engineers and material scientists, and beta-test on a large sample size before you get caught up in the fashion scene.

What conference would you like to keynote?
SXSW.

Short cut, long route, road less traveled? What’s your roadmap?
Road less traveled! Doing things differently is the way to get ahead.

Podium you’d like to stand on?
Debate podium for the mayoral elections of the City of Boston. I love this place that much!

What makes you LOL?
My husband, Stephen Colbert, and Sean Hannity.

What’s the most important startup/entrepreneurship lesson you’ve learned?
Markets are too complex for anyone to fathom; no one has all the answers. Go with your gut and be aggressive.

What would be the title of your biography?
Bringing Classy Back [this is also the catch-phrase of Luxxie].

Your Ferris Bueller moment: if you could goof-off/skip out for a day, what would you do?
Head to the beach or to the mountains, depending on the season. If it’s spring or fall, I would walk around my breathtakingly beautiful city of Boston.

One place in time you’d like to visit?
The 24^th Century: as a big Star Trek fan, I want to see if we achieve the idealized society free of hunger, poverty and war.

Part of the trick to staying focused?
Be surrounded by people who always challenge you.

You take a three-hour ocean tour and get stranded…what three items do you have with you?
A bottle of Opus One [a California wine], a good science fiction book, and a solar-charged satellite phone.

One last thing — what’s the question I should be asking you?
“What’s on your bucket list?”  To climb Mount Everest, before it turns into the next South Beach…!