Westchester is often associated with corporate executives, Wall Street commuters and entrepreneurs who leave Manhattan for a little more space.
But look a little closer and you’ll find another business story unfolding here.
Women with roots in Westchester have built companies that reach customers far beyond the county—from lifestyle and fashion brands to beauty businesses, technology companies and digital platforms.
Some built their companies here. Others grew up in Westchester and took what they learned into national markets. And one of the most famous lifestyle entrepreneurs in America now runs much of her empire from a farm in Katonah.
Their businesses are very different, but their stories have something in common: a local connection that became part of something much bigger.
Martha Stewart — The Lifestyle Brand That Became a Household Name
Any discussion of Westchester women and national brands has to begin with Martha Stewart.
Stewart didn’t start her company in Westchester, but today her connection to the county is substantial.
She is based in Katonah, where she operates her approximately 150-acre Bedford Farm, also known as Cantitoe Corners. From there, gardening, cooking, entertaining and life on the farm regularly become content shared with her enormous national audience.
Her business story is extraordinary.
After working as a stockbroker, Stewart started a catering company in 1976. Her first book, Entertaining, arrived in 1982. Martha Stewart Living magazine followed in 1990, television expanded her audience further, and her name eventually appeared on everything from cookware and furniture to bedding, crafts and food.
When Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia went public in 1999, Stewart became America’s first self-made female billionaire.
Today, her business extends across publishing, television, e-commerce, licensing and consumer products.
And Westchester frequently appears in the background.
Her chickens, horses, gardens, greenhouses and elaborate meals at the farm have essentially turned a corner of Katonah into one of America’s most recognizable lifestyle settings.
That’s a remarkable thought: one of the world’s best-known lifestyle brands is now being created, at least in part, from a farm in Westchester County.
Linda Richards — From Westchester to Thousands of Retailers
Fashion provides another particularly interesting Westchester success story.
Designer Linda Bretti, the woman behind the Linda Richards label, built an outerwear and accessories business that eventually reached thousands of retailers.
Her background included studying at FIT and gaining fashion-industry experience before developing her own brand.
At one point, Linda Richards outerwear and accessories were being designed for approximately 2,500 retailers nationwide, including major department stores such as Nordstrom and Lord & Taylor, with international distribution reaching countries including Canada, Japan, Mexico and Germany.
But there’s a particularly Westchester twist to the story.
After establishing herself in New York City’s fashion industry, Bretti moved her business to Westchester, eventually operating from a roughly 6,000-square-foot design studio and headquarters in Port Chester.
She later described moving the company out of Manhattan and into Westchester as one of her best decisions.
It’s a good example of something that can easily be overlooked: a fashion company doesn’t necessarily need a Manhattan address to reach a national audience.
June Goldfinger — Building a Luxury Fashion Following From Katonah
Then there’s June Goldfinger, whose career demonstrates that an influential fashion business can emerge from a small Westchester hamlet.
Goldfinger opened the Katonah General Store in 1992, initially intending it as a place to showcase her furnishings.
Customers had other ideas.
They became interested in buying the clothing, jewelry and even eyeglasses she designed, eventually shifting the store’s focus toward fashion.
And the clientele became impressive.
Ralph and Ricky Lauren became customers. Martha Stewart wore Goldfinger’s clothing on television and to the Emmys. And Goldfinger eventually began offering collections to high-end boutiques beyond Westchester.
It’s a particularly good Westchester business story because Katonah itself became part of the brand’s identity.
Rather than treating a suburban location as something to overcome, Goldfinger built exclusivity around it.
Customers came to her.
Julia Haber — From a Westchester Idea to a National Gen Z Platform
Not all of Westchester’s female-founder stories come from fashion or lifestyle.
Julia Haber grew up in Westchester before attending Syracuse University, where the beginnings of her entrepreneurial career took shape.
She went on to create Home From College, a platform designed to connect college students and young professionals with companies seeking talent for freelance work, internships and other opportunities.
Her entrepreneurial instincts, however, started much earlier. Syracuse University’s Blackstone LaunchPad traces Haber’s interest in solving business problems back to her childhood in Westchester.
Her story represents a newer version of the Westchester entrepreneur.
The company isn’t necessarily defined by a storefront, product warehouse or traditional office.
It’s a digital brand built around a community.
And that distinction matters.
Some of the next nationally recognized companies with Westchester connections may not look like traditional businesses at all.
Jessica Mah — From Growing Up in Westchester to Silicon Valley
Jessica Mah’s path went even farther west.
Mah grew up in Westchester and began teaching herself to code when she was just 10 years old.
By 15, she had left traditional high school and enrolled in college. At 19, she founded financial technology company inDinero through Y Combinator and became, at the time, its youngest female founder.
The company grew into a financial-services platform for businesses, and Mah became a nationally recognized young entrepreneur.
Her career later took another turn when she founded Mahway, a venture studio backing and building companies in areas including aerospace, legal technology and biotechnology.
It’s quite a journey from a child learning to code in Westchester.
And it expands the idea of what a “Westchester brand” can mean.
Sometimes the connection isn’t where a company is headquartered.
It’s where the entrepreneur began.
Madison Taylor — A Westchester Beauty Founder Who Started at 13
One of the youngest entrepreneurs on the list may also have one of the most interesting origin stories.
Madison Taylor was just 13 years old when she and her father, Bryan, founded Taylor Beauty, a family-owned beauty business based in Westchester County.
The inspiration came partly from their family’s annual trips to St. Maarten and Madison’s own fascination with beauty products.
The resulting company created body products inspired by the family’s experiences and travels while incorporating a charitable component into the business: a portion of sales is directed toward causes connected with culture and community.
It’s a very different entrepreneurial story from Martha Stewart’s—but perhaps that’s what makes it worth including.
Westchester’s female-founder community isn’t confined to established executives with decades of experience.
Sometimes it begins with a teenager who has an idea.
A New Generation of Westchester Fashion Entrepreneurs
There’s also an interesting group of women building businesses that may not yet be household names but are reaching well beyond the county.
Scarsdale entrepreneurs Isabelle Hallais and Christine founded Second Edition in 2020 with a mission centered on luxury fashion resale and sustainability.
Hallais brought approximately 20 years of experience working with luxury and fashion names including Dior, Gucci, The Webster and Sézane, while her co-founder brought a background in finance and project management.
Their original idea was highly local: hold fashion pop-ups for women in Westchester.
But the concept expanded.
Second Edition now sells online to customers across the United States while maintaining a physical presence in Scarsdale.
It’s a small example of a much larger change in entrepreneurship.
A founder can test an idea in Westchester, build a loyal local audience and then use e-commerce and social media to remove almost every geographic limitation that once existed.
Chloe Alexis — A Westchester Brand Built Around Craft and Style
Another emerging company taking that approach is Chloe Alexis, a women-owned accessories brand based in Westchester.
The company creates small-batch handcrafted hats and bags, combining contemporary design with traditional craftsmanship and artisan production.
The brand describes its philosophy as “fewer, better things”—designing versatile pieces intended to last rather than following a constant fast-fashion cycle.
It’s still a smaller independent label, but that’s exactly why businesses like this are interesting to watch.
Every national brand begins somewhere.
And increasingly, “somewhere” doesn’t need to be a showroom in SoHo.
It can be Westchester.
Westchester Is Also Becoming a Launching Pad for Women Who Leave Corporate Careers
There’s another pattern hiding behind many local founder stories.
Some women aren’t starting companies immediately after college.
They’re doing it after successful corporate careers.
Scarsdale’s Sandy Krupkin is one example. After roughly two decades in corporate fashion—including serving as senior vice president of sales and merchandising at Nicole Miller—she left corporate life and founded her consulting business in 2017. She subsequently created Pop Up Westchester, using her experience to introduce emerging designers and curate fashion experiences locally and around the tri-state area.
Before striking out independently, Krupkin says she had managed more than $300 million in revenue.
That experience doesn’t disappear when someone leaves Manhattan.
It relocates.
And Westchester is full of women who spent years building careers in fashion, finance, media, beauty, advertising and retail before deciding to build something of their own.
Why Westchester?
There’s an obvious question.
Why build a consumer brand from Westchester when New York City is right next door?
The answer may be that today, founders don’t necessarily have to choose.
Westchester offers proximity to Manhattan’s fashion, media, finance and advertising industries while providing access to a highly educated and affluent local consumer base.
A founder can meet with someone in Manhattan in the morning and be back in Scarsdale, Rye, Katonah or Bedford that afternoon.
But e-commerce and social media have changed the equation even more dramatically.
A company based in Port Chester can sell nationally.
A Scarsdale boutique can reach customers across the country.
A creator in Katonah can speak to millions of people without leaving her farm.
The old distinction between “New York City business” and “Westchester business” isn’t nearly as meaningful as it once was.
From a Katonah Farm to Customers Across America
Perhaps that’s the most interesting part of these stories.
There isn’t one formula for building a successful brand.
Martha Stewart built an enormous media and merchandising empire.
Linda Richards took fashion from Westchester to retailers around the country.
June Goldfinger created luxury exclusivity in Katonah.
Julia Haber built a digital platform for a new generation.
Jessica Mah went from learning to code in Westchester to Silicon Valley entrepreneurship.
And a new generation of local founders is using e-commerce, social media and direct-to-consumer marketing to build businesses without feeling compelled to move their headquarters into Manhattan.
Some of these companies are already national names.
Others are still growing.
But together they tell a side of Westchester’s business story that deserves more attention.
Behind the estates, commuter trains and picturesque downtowns is a county filled with women who aren’t simply working for major brands.
They’re building their own.