MEET THE TEAM

Meet Erica & her team!  We are the smiling faces that you trust to help you evolve your style, feel your best, and be the person you want to be.  When you enter the shop you will be greeted with a smile, offered a glass of wine or cup of joe, and treated like you belong with the best dressed humans on earth.

We are a small, but mighty team, each of us complementing one another in a way that makes the team wonderfully complete. As the founder and designer of Garnish, Erica is the outstanding vision behind the garments that you see in the shop. Lead Stylist, Paul, has the amazing ability of making every customer that walks in look fabulous in an instant.  Shuna is the genius behind the sewing machines, meticulously crafting your pieces. Together, we make Garnish what it is.

And now that you have met us, we simply can't wait to meet you!

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Meet Erica & her team!  We are the smiling faces that you trust to help you evolve your style, feel your best, and be the person you want to be. We are a small, but mighty team, each of us complementing one another in a way that makes Garnish wonderfully complete. 

As the founder and designer of Garnish, Erica is the outstanding vision behind the garments that you see in the shop.

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Erica Lurie:  Designer, Owner, Idea Machine

The 3 things you would take on a desert island with you: Gwendolyn, Everett, and Honey Bunny.  I guess we’d be stuck then. 

If you want to make my day you should: Make the sun shine.

I wish more people would: Love their bodies.  I always say that it's not what your body looks like, it's what it can do for you. 

My favorite body part: My legs, because they allow me to explore and are a physical embodiment of my strength.

Paul Rudolph: Senior Stylist, Creative Force, Entertainer of the Troops

Tell us about yourself! I was born in West Virginia and moved with my parents to South Carolina when I was 13. I have three older siblings who were in college when we moved, so what started as shared memories deviated for a handful of years. I'm very close with my siblings and mom; our father died unexpectedly when I was 22 (a child) and it took a long time to work that reality into my daily life and well-being. He is still with us all, of course. As a high school junior I went to the South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts which in many ways lead me to Rhode Island School of Design after high school. RISD was incredibly rigorous but it's certainly where I really started to comfortably spread my wings. I worked mostly in educational publishing until I was in my early forties. I wore multiple hats but essentially I was an art director on photo shoots and at times an illustration buyer and a photo researcher....essentially that means I spent a lot of hours finding photographers and models, wardrobe, finding locations or building "classroom" sets, or I was commissioning artwork with dozens of illustrators, or I was locating and licensing photos (in another life I would have been a copyright attorney). Ultimately, if you've looked at a textbook that was published between 1995 and 2010, there's a pretty decent chance I had something to do with its imagery. That was mostly in Providence, Boston, and New York. I have been in and out of Portland for 20 years and while I consider myself an East Coast city boy, I have nurtured a lot of roots in this delightful little hamlet.

What is your role at Garnish? I am a Senior Stylist at Garnish. Be it an outfit (or a photo or an interior), I believe one of my greatest strengths is making things look good. I wear other hats in the shop too. I manage a lot of the day-to-day duties inherent with the physical space. I work on a lot of the photography you ultimately see on our website and social media. I generally do the windows. I tell a lot of new folks I am here (at the shop) to entertain the troops, which is kind of funny and quite likely true. I hope to create a comfortable, confidential, and fun space of with each client I work with.

How do you take your coffee? I take my coffee with one sugar and two percent milk from a cow, regardless of size or where I am. Like Ina Garten, I want to taste the coffee.

Favorite concert you've been to? I saw Tina Turner twice. The first time Cyndi Lauper stood about ten feet from me singing Time After Time. It was amazing. And a friend and I tried to rush the stage moments after Ms. Turner performed Proud Mary. It was amazing; I listen to that song every couple of weeks, for sure. The second time was in a much larger stadium, but that morning I rode a Harley and I rode in a limo to the concert....it all seemed appropriate knowing I would witness a live performance of Proud Mary again.

Go-to spot for a cocktail in PDX: I could go on and on. I don't typically like a place that is too polished or fussy, which often means I skew toward an authentic dive bar. Low Brow is a nearby neighborhood classic. Allora, also close to the shop but certainly not a dive, has an AMAZING old fashioned. I LOVELOVELOVE the Driftwood Room. And 5 and Dime across the river is a recent favorite.

                                                 

Shuna Colella: Lead Seamstress Powerhouse
Tell us about yourself! I grew up in Guilin, China, moved to Las Vegas, and now I've lived almost 10 years in Portland. I have two grown daughters, one in China, one in Las Vegas. 
What did you do back in China? I had a custom clothing business.  We'd make custom pieces for whoever ordered them. 
What is your role at Garnish? Lead seamstress
What do you like about working at Garnish? The boss is so nice.  Sometimes I feel like family! 
Guilty pleasure? If I have time I just love to cook, try a new recipe.
Favorite meal to make or eat? I have a lot! I love to cook and my favorites are salted duck, steamed fish, and tofu balls.  (Erica likes everything I make.) 

 

 Hadley Walsh: Social Media Extraordinaire

 Tell us about yourself! I was born and raised in the suburbs of Minneapolis, MN, and then went to college at the University of Colorado for a double major in psychology and English. Post college, I went to Kenya and worked in an elementary school in the slums of Nairobi. I quickly fell in love with teaching, came back to the States, got my Master's in Elementary Education and subsequently taught in schools in Colorado, Washington, D.C. and Oregon. My husband and I moved to Portland 8 years ago and started a family - we have two kiddos, Emmy (6) and Quinn (4). I can't forgot to mention my "firstborn" - our 8-year-old Golden Retriever, Josie. After having kids, I decided to take a break from teaching and started to grow my social media following on the side, which is where I've grown my social media prowess. 
What's your role at Garnish? I am the marketing and social media coordinator! Sometimes you'll see me filling in at the retail space or at a shopping party as well. 
Favorite restaurant in PDX? My husband and I love Fillmore Trattoria in NW. Amazing wine, amazing Italian food, what's not to love? We also love Muse Wine Bar in NW...locally owned and super cozy with the best wine. Perfect date night spot!
How do you take your coffee? In the spring and summer, an iced latte or cold brew with a tiny bit of vanilla or coconut. In the fall and winter, I'm drinking an extra hot latte with a little sugar on top. 
Interests outside of work? I'm an avid runner and love to workout. It happens daily for me! I love hiking, cozying up with a book, sharing an Oregon Pinot Noir with my hubby, taking my pup for a walk, baking with my kiddos, weekend trips to the coast, hosting friends at our house, etc. 

 

Anastasia Ivleva: Community Engagement Queen; Garnish Donations

Tell us about yourself! I moved to the US from Moscow, Russia around 10 years ago. For 8 years I lived in Los Angeles where I worked as a marketing specialist for all kinds of different businesses from a home services start up to financial investment companies. But my real passion always was e-commerce, especially in the retail industry. I've been managing my own online sustainable clothing shop for around 4 years already. This is a great side hustle of mine which gives me an opportunity to realize all my craziest ideas regarding marketing and fashion.

What's your role at Garnish? 1 year ago I joined the Garnish team as a marketing specialist. Currently I work mostly on the Garnish donation project and I am very happy about what we have achieved with the team so far. Garnish is collaborating with more than 200 organizations around the Portland metro area and my task is to increase this number even more.
What's your favorite food? I appreciate all kinds of different cuisines. However, I have some weird obsession with spaghetti carbonara. If I go out for Italian, this will always be my only choice. Sometimes I miss Russian food and drive to the other side of Portland to the Russian store for cabbage pies, pelmeni and plov.
What's one thing you can't live without? I can't live without my phone and a solid internet connection. I always need to be able to Google to find things like a proper quesadilla recipe or where squirrels sleep at night.
If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would it be? I have a whole bucket list of places that I need to visit. It would be too long to name all of them, but you will definitely find Japan, Tanzania and Brazil there.
What do you like to do when you're not working? I spend my free time with my husband who also happens to be my best friend. Sometimes it's a camping trip, sometimes an international vacation, and sometimes movie nights with a frozen pizza.