Sam’s Advisors
Sam’s Advisors are industry leaders, successful entrepreneurs, brand builders — women who understand the complexity of life for women today.
And most importantly, the deep need and opportunity for a trusted solution for women.
Samantha Saperstein
AdvisorSam Saperstein is commerce and community, personified: a builder who has spent her career imagining and executing what’s possible for women in work, business, and financial life.
Over a 13-year tenure at JPMorganChase, Sam served in senior leadership roles and most proudly as the founding Global Head of Women on the Move, the firm’s platform dedicated to fueling women’s ambition in career, business, and financial health. With the support of CEO Jamie Dimon and an extraordinary team, she launched Women on the Move in 2018 and helped it reach hundreds of thousands of employees, consumers, business owners, clients, partners, and community members, including through the firm’s flagship Women’s Leadership Day. Earlier at JPMorganChase, she served as Chief Marketing Officer for Commercial Banking and led strategy for Chase Card Services.
Today, Sam is an investor, business advisor, and speaker and writer on women’s leadership and entrepreneurship, partnering with founders and operators who are building durable companies with real stakes and real impact. Earlier in her career, she held senior product roles at MasterCard, served as an Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company, and began as a business reporter at Dow Jones Newswires.
Sam holds an MBA in Marketing and Strategy from The Wharton School and a B.A. in History from Brown University. She understands women’s lives in full: as a mother, wife, daughter, friend, and colleague, carrying the overlapping responsibilities that shape so much of modern life.
As an Advisor to Sam, she supports the company’s next stage of growth, advising on product development, marketing, and content.
Catarina Schwab
AdvisorCatarina Schwab is the Founder of Cata·lyst, a consulting firm focused on catalyzing positive impact for our world. Over Catarina's almost 30-year career, she has held investing, operating and entrepreneurial roles in a variety of sectors including investment banking, venture capital, technology, retail, nonprofit, and impact investing. Prior to launching Cata·lyst, she was the Co-CEO and Co-Founder of NPX, which transformed the way nonprofits are funded by linking capital with impact.
Catarina serves on the Marin Academy Board of Trustees, Exeter Alumni Association Board, Princeton Women's Network of Northern California Board, NPX Charitable Board, buildOn Global Board, and was the 1992 Class President for Phillips Exeter Academy.
Catarina and her husband live in San Francisco with their two children and their first family dog.
Catarina will advise Sam on strategy, fundraising and the operations needed for an early-stage, mission-driven, female founded start-up.
Joanna Mikulski
AdvisorJoanna is a former White House advisor and executive with over 15 years of strategic leadership experience at the intersection of government, business, and philanthropy. She is an expert in the future of work, the impact of AI on the labor market, equitable innovation, and talent development for growing industries.
At the White House Domestic Policy Council, Joanna led strategic initiatives to expand access to good jobs and careers created by multi-billion-dollar investments through in infrastructure development, semiconductor manufacturing, and clean energy. Her efforts contributed to over 500 commitments from Fortune 500 companies, unions, colleges and universities, foundations, and other stakeholders to train 10,000s of workers, invest millions in equitable workforce development, and diversify recruitment and hiring. She championed policies to help women manage caregiving responsibilities and strengthen the care workforce.
Before joining the White House, Joanna served as the chief federal policy officer for the national nonprofit America Achieves and led global campaigns to improve maternal health and nutrition, advance women's and children's rights, and strengthen democracy. She began her career at the U.S. Department of Labor and the White House Office of Management and Budget.
Joanna is a collaborative partnership builder, skilled strategist and project manager, and inclusive team leader. Her writing has been featured in CNN.com, The Hill, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Notre Dame Magazine, and Next City. She has lived and worked in four countries and collaborated with partners in many more. She enjoys hiking, playing soccer, and reading novels.
Ellen Friedman
AdvisorEllen Friedman is the secret sauce behind many of today’s most iconic brands. A leader in branding, merchandising, and, importantly, how women shop their values: what they choose, what they trust, and what they reach for when they want to look and feel better. She is a fierce champion for women, in and out of the office.
Ellen has been shaping RPG’s work for more than two decades, working alongside the CEO to set direction and bring ambitious brand worlds into the places women actually experience and shop. Her imprint can be felt in iconic names including Burt’s Bees, Benefit Cosmetics, Sephora, and Surratt Beauty, where the experience is not just seen, but felt, and the decision to choose becomes effortless.
Her career spans beauty, fragrance, fashion, jewelry, eyewear, and spirits, across both mass and prestige. She has led major launches and retail programs totaling more than $250M, and she understands the quiet architecture of confidence: the visual language, the atmosphere, and the details that help women own their worth and move through the world differently.
At Sam, Ellen will advise on channel strategy, creative, and brand presence, helping ensure Sam shows up with power and values wherever women meet us.
Ellen has served on the Board of Cosmetic Executive Women for more than 20 years and is deeply committed to women’s community and care through her 15+ year leadership with AWARE NYC and her long-standing volunteer work with DOROT. She holds a B.A. from Boston University.
Outside of work, Ellen is an aunt, a twin, a daughter, a friend, and a partner. She spends her free time traveling the globe with her family.