Inside Scoop

The Wardrobe Channel’s CEO and usability person / product manager is Sara Goldstein.

Sara hand-picked all the brilliant people who work here at The Wardrobe Channel, and hopes to one day take at least a little credit for their achievements here.

Sara’s main responsibility is knowing (and communicating) where we’re going and how we’ll get there, with Plan A out front and Plan B-Z in her head in various states of readiness, just in case. As erstwhile leader of this talented bunch, she spends most of her time working to get everyone else exactly what they need, when they need it — within the tight budgetary restraints a startup provides.

The quote that best describes her job is, “I’m their leader, I must follow them”, but her favorite quote is “Walk softly and carry a big stick”.

Sara recently moved herself, her husband and her cat halfway across the world — from Sydney to New York — so she could live and work in a place where Web 2.0 startups actually get funding. She’s either very serious about this or completely crazy; possibly both.

As well as doing the boss-stuff, she also takes care of the product management & usability side of things, as that’s her professional background and what her Masters was all about.

Background and qualifications

Prior to starting The Wardrobe Channel, Sara founded The Bargain Queen, a Web 2.0 startup which brings together the world’s best bargain hunters to find women brilliant bargains they can buy while their boss’ back is turned. (The Bargain Queen is now a Wardrobe Channel property.)

Sara recently co-wrote a chapter of an upcoming user interface design textbook, showing designers how they can support their users’ ideal identity as well as their real self, using fashion blogging as a case study.

Sara holds a Masters in Interactive Multimedia from University of Technology, Sydney; she has worked in the IT industry for around 10 years and is a specialist in usability and user interface design.

Quirky but true

Sara is Australian and hence almost terminally incapable of taking herself seriously. She tries not to use self-deprecating humor in front of Americans, because many just don’t get it.

Sara’s first (and so far only) published academic paper was entitled “Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Television or Transmedia”. She rarely watches TV but still misses Buffy.