Our Team

Amy Swift-Crosby, Founder and Los Angeles Course Leader

Amy is entrepreneurship-obsessed. Her background as a copywriter over the last 10 years has lent itself to helping small businesses find their voice and niche in the marketplace and big businesses sell mega products and services. She’s worked with Tommy Hilfiger, Christian Dior, Bath & Body Works, Ralph Lauren, Nautica, Coty Fragrances, MGM/MIRAGE, Mandarin Oriental, L’Occitaine to name a few.

As a small business expert, Amy has helped launch thousands of businesses and ideas. Prior to SMARTY she was editor-in- chief of Ladies Who Launch, co-author of Ladies Who Launch, Creativity and Entrepreneurship As A Lifestyle, and the co-developer of the Ladies Who Launch Incubator program. She was the founder of the Los Angeles and Orange County Incubator communities which grew to several hundred women in four years. Amy has also been a contributing editor for Contents Magazine and has been a contributor to New York Magazine, Cooleh, and Magazine 365 among others. Lucky Magazine calls her a “Madison Avenue arbiter of Style.”

Amy is passionate about giving women a creative, supportive and “smart” community in which to launch and sustain their businesses.

Learn more about Amy and SMARTY behind the scenes »

Follow Amy on Twitter @SMARTYAmy

Whitney Roberts, Director of Business Development and Los Angeles Course Leader

Whitney Roberts is a seasoned launcher and recovering attorney.  After three creatively stifling years in corporate America, Whitney jumped ship at the age of 27 to start her first business, The Bar Code, a test preparation company for law students and lawyers. Five years (and buckets of blood, sweat and tears later), she launched straight into semi-retirement, thanks to the license of her company’s unique methodology and the bar exam study aid she authored.

Whitney also spent three years as the Sacramento Incubator Leader of Ladies Who Launch, where she helped countless women learn to break free from the norm and become their own boss.  She is now aiding and abetting Los Angeles women in their entrepreneurial endeavors as a Course Leader for SMARTY.

To reach Whitney Roberts directly, click here.

Cassie Piasecki, Leader, Orange County Market

Native So-Cal serial entrepreneur Cassie Piasecki comes to the SMARTY team with a consecutive string of “hits” under her belt. Cassie started young with a beach-inspired clothing store at only 18-years old.  Her interest in health and well-being inspired her to become a fitness instructor and personal trainer and start her own fitness apparel store soon after.  The birth of her daughter and vision of her family’s future led her to convince her doc husband that he could be an entrepreneur too.  So they opened his orthopedic medical practice, where Cassie has honed her skills in the art of financing equipment, managing doctors, and working with insurance companies.  She followed this up with now famous The Nail Lounge, Orange County’s only award winning nail salon, and Shoparazzi, a web-based business selling celebrity inspired shopping maps of Los Angeles.  Cassie is thrilled to be part of SMARTY where she loves rolling up her sleeves and bringing her double-decade-long career in business to women entrepreneurs.

To reach Cassie directly, click here.
Follow Cassie on Twitter @SMARTYOC

Karie Reynolds, Pasadena and Hollywood Course Leader

For nearly a decade, Karie has utilized her extensive experience in public relations and marketing to help businesses build both their brands and their bottom line.  She has worked with large companies, start-ups and non-profits including Stride Rite, Timi & Leslie, Scandinavian Child, Yo My Booties, Children Affected by AIDS Foundation, Chrysalis and many more.  Her strategic, hands-on approach has garnered her clients national media exposure in a variety of broadcast and print outlets including Access Hollywood, EXTRA, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, People Magazine, Redbook, InStyle Magazine, American Baby, Baby Talk, and more.

In 2006, Karie co-founded Grand Avenue Baby and Grand Avenue PR.  A trusted resource for celebrities, tastemakers and media, Grand Avenue Baby brings together a unique, handpicked selection of products.  Grand Avenue PR offers lifestyle public relations and marketing for women’s lifestyle brands with an emphasis on mom & baby, home and fashion.  Agency clients benefit from individualized, targeted media campaigns and the added exposure gleaned from Grand Avenue Baby’s reputation for bringing together the best in the mom & baby category.

Since launching her consulting business in 2000, Karie has worked with many women and small business owners and is excited to bring her experience and enthusiasm for building businesses to SMARTY.

To reach Karie directly, click here.
Follow Karie on Twitter @grandavekr

Natasha Sunshine, Los Angeles Course Leader

Natasha Sunshine is an entrepreneur, educator and hairstylist to the stars.  As Founder of Santa Monica’s premiere hair boutique, Byu-ti Salon (pronounced Beauty), Natasha has run her fingers through some of Hollywood’s most notable manes, including that of Ivanka Trump, Molly Sims and Eva Herzigova.

Known in the Los Angeles and New York City fashion circles for her keen sense of style and unique approach to hair therapy, Natasha not only created a six-step consulting system for helping her staff identify and meet her client’s needs, she has also developed her own seven different hair care products, to supplement the line of top notch goodies already in use at her salon.

When Natasha is not helping people feel fabulous from the inside out, or making herself camera-ready for a television appearance (most recently, The Rachel Ray Show), she is encouraging business owners to maximize their entrepreneurial potential at SMARTY.

To reach Natasha directly, click here.
Follow Natasha on Twitter @BYUTISALON

Elena Schuber, Member Management

Elena’s day job is making sure you are having a good experience with SMARTY by taking care of the back end of your benefits. Outside of her administrative responsibilities with SMARTY, she’s working on a career in acting, schlepping around town from audition to audition, booking the occasional gig.

Katie Sylvester, Project/Events Coordinator

Happy to be back in Los Angeles, Katie joins SMARTY from NYC where she managed the marketing of over 30 research analysts at a securities trading firm. With the outlook bleak for finances these days, Katie decided to try her hand outside of the corporate world and found her way to SMARTY.

Though not a veteran entrepreneur, Katie did run a modest clothing operation out of her parent’s basement in high school. She is looking forward to growing with SMARTY and learning from the arsenal of experience and expertise of the community.

Megan Connor

Megan is a recent transplant from Boston. Her knack for building long term relationships and love for all things entrepreneurial is how she found her way to SMARTY. With a background in finance, sales and marketing she decided it was time to start calling the shots for herself. Although she is not a veteran entrepreneur, it’s only a matter of time before this smart cookie makes it big on her own. Her personality, charisma and ambition is what we love about her. Megan’s role is to build the brand of SMARTY while building relationships within the network. Her love for event production is the secret sauce behind our flawless Master Events