Who we are
Everyone has ideas to share and we can all benefit from new perspectives.
There is great pride in contribution and in creation.
The world is more interesting because we are each unique.
We have created this community to provide a place to explore, share and create. These experiences are most rewarding through active participation and interaction with others, and we aim to enable it. Our designers have the ability to create and produce real products. Enjoy each step of the process. Design something new and modify it until it is exactly what you dreamed it could be. Express yourself through something you have created.
DMS Username: baglady
As the CEO and Founder of Define My Style, Kristine focuses on defining opportunity, designing a vision of possibility, and empowering the team and community to make it a reality. She is proud to be a part of DMS and almost nothing makes her happier than helping bring to life the creativity and dreams of more than 52,000 (and growing) young designers.
Kristine earned her Bachelor's of Architecture and Honors degree from the University of Cincinnati, College of Design, Architecture, Art & Planning. Her extended background includes leadership roles in marketing, sales and business development across premier organizations such as Autodesk, Buzzsaw.com, ThoughtWorks, think3 and TSC. Her emerging market passion has launched new business development in North America, Europe and Asia.
Spending time with her family, travel and photography are at the top of her list when Kristine is asked what she likes to do. When it comes to fashion, she finds inspiration from the unexpected delight or thing that makes you giggle, such as red laces up the calf of a boot, or crazy cheetah lining inside a tailored jacket.
DMS Username: dgynn
As the Vice President of Engineering, Dave oversees all web development, bringing to life new and exciting features for our members, as well as ensuring that the site is functionally sound and delivering at every click. Dave enjoys being a part of the DMS team because it enables him to work on a site that empowers members to connect through a design-centered community and bring their creativity to life.
An expert engineer, Dave graduated from The University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Electrical Engineering. Since then he has been a large part of projects for a wide variety of websites of which his favorites include working for Cartoon Network and NASCAR.com.
Outside of the office, Dave enjoys traveling, working with computers and kiteboarding. When it comes to style, Dave says he is learning a great deal about fashion, thanks to the members on Define My Style, and you can almost always find him wearing white Converse high tops.
DMS Username: maiasemmes
Maïa is largely responsible for bringing DMS to life as she is in charge of user experience. This means that she ensures the virtual world is relatable to humans, and that all of the system and graphical interface elements are in tune with the needs of members and visitors. Maïa believes that there is nothing more exciting than working on a project from the very beginning as she gets to have significant influence on the overall experience.
Maïa graduated from The University of Michigan with a degree in visual design and The School of the Art Institute of Chicago for fashion design. Her previous experience includes working as a developer for The University of Chicago and Reservision, as an interface designer for Hewitt Associates, a visual designer for Behind the Chair, a web designer for The University of Michigan and other freelance projects for non-profits and artists.
Maïa is also active in modeling, fencing, biking, and collecting records and production equipment. Maïa's love for fashion radiates through her eclectic style which includes a love for vintage and designers such as Gary Graham, Hussein Chalayan and Commes des Garçon.
DMS Username: dreadparrot
As the main man behind the scenes, Ben's responsibilities are centralized around programming, building new features of the site, tackling technical issues and ensuring that members have the best experience possible. What he likes most about working for DMS is being able to contribute to a project that inspires creativity and fun within the context of a real-world industry.
A tech-savvy mastermind, Ben earned his Masters of Computer Science and Systems Analysis from Miami University (Ohio) and his Bachelors of Science in Biochemistry from University of Dayton. Ben has been a web programmer since 2000, working with many different technologies and platforms including Drupal, Ruby on Rails, and Wordpress. Ben's experience also includes five years of building and running a group of consumer technology media properties and several years as a project manager and programmer for a small web development company.
Aside from web programming, his passions include family, reading (mostly science fiction), playing soccer, brewing beer and outdoor activities such as fly fishing, backpacking and camping. As an outdoorsman Ben looks for simplicity and comfort in his style and prefers technical clothing that is purpose-built for what he wants to do.
DMS Username: hannahharrison
As the primary connection to the DMS community, the focus of Hannah's work is centralized around various forms of communication, writing and public relations. She enjoys most the creativity, stimulating challenges and exciting opportunities found at Define My Style.
Hannah is currently pursuing a degree in communication as well as certificates in both public relations and professional writing at The University of Cincinnati. Her experience includes writing for PreviewStay Real Estate. She is actively involved in on-campus organizations such as The National Society of Leadership and Success, The National Communication Association Honor Society, and serving as the public relations manager of the UC Psychology Club.
Outside of the office, Hannah enjoys activities such as writing, traveling, attending concerts and horseback riding. When it comes to fashion Hannah loves sundresses, shoes and springtime styles with a unique, fashionable flair.
DMS Username: mollyross
Molly is in charge of Marketing at DefineMyStyle.com which means that she works to ensure that DMS members are provided with engaging content that spurs creativity and curiosity. From the development of new and exciting programs, to bringing new tools and functions to life and overseeing communications, Molly works to interact with our members as often as possible. She enjoys getting to work with young designers, and to have opportunity to help realize dreams. And, she enjoys being a part of a dynamic company made up of such a brilliant team.
Molly graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Management from Loyola Marymount University. She went on to the incentive industry where she worked for 10+ years helping to design and deliver programming to motivate and inspire people to take specific actions and achieve goals. She is proud of the relationships formed with her clients at companies such as P&G, Toyota Financial Services, Toyota/Lexus, and Omnicare. She is also a co-founder of cookingwithcaitlin.com a multi-media company that is taking the food and housewares industry by storm.
Outside of the office, Molly enjoys spending time with her husband and 2 dogs (they met at the dog park), reading and photography. When it comes to fashion, Molly would love to have someone go through her closet and tell her what to wear each day. Until then, she will continue to risk it.
DMS Username: tepejk
Julie leads the daily DMS social media efforts. She holds the esteemed position of being the voice of Define My Style as she actively updates Facebook, Tweets, pins on Pinterest, writes blogs, creates exciting design challenges, and brings campus style to DMS Members through Instagram. She is our resident social butterfly. Julie loves to be surrounded by the creativity and dreams of the DMS members.
Julie is currently pursuing a BBA Degree in Marketing at the University of Cincinnati, and is expecting to graduate in August 2012. She has also worked at DOWNLITE as an Internet Marketing Intern.
Julie enjoys running outdoors, the occasional yoga class, writing for her blog and reading novels that she has checked out from the library. Oh and she likes to constantly change her nail polish! Julie loves to put together outfits and aims to have a look that is completely different from the day before. She believes that style is the ultimate form of self expression.
DMS Username: katecrichey