Who

Founded in 2017, our Collective is an eclectic, sophisticated, and experienced group of creative alchemists with backgrounds spanning strategy, brand, customer experience, archive and collection development, the arts, and design. What we share: a love of craftsmanship and connoisseurship, good food, and quick (sometimes irreverent) wits.

Founders

Regina Connell

Regina has spent the last 20 years as a brand strategist, experience creator, and market developer for modern luxury and heritage brands.

Having worked with Apple, Landor, and premium megabrands, she turned her attention to alternative luxury, craft, and heritage-based brands, including Heath, Sundance, Refractory, Guittard, Cartier, Stanford, and clé. A noted speaker, design writer/editor, and moderator, her work has been featured in the New York Times, Business of Home, San Francisco, Luxury Daily, LeanLuxe, San Francisco Chronicle, Agei.st, and elsewhere.

She was the founder and editor-in-chief of Handful of Salt, a magazine that early on, flew the flag for alternative luxury and collectible design. An inveterate community builder and connector, she founded The Joss, a members club for cultural and “silver” creatives over 45, and By Invitation, a community of women leaders in creative fields.

Born in Tokyo and raised in Hong Kong, she’s also lived in Paris, London, and, most recently, California. She now lives with her partner in New York’s storied Hudson Valley, where she nurtures her fascination for perfumery, connoisseurship, and their two very needy Burmese cats. Connect with her on LinkedIn here.

Julie Muñiz

Julie Muñiz is a Brand Heritage Consultant with 15+ years of expertise in the luxury and home goods industries. She advises brands on how to leverage their archives and history to create meaningful legacies that speak to current and future consumers.

Julie received her Master of Arts from the Bard Graduate Center in New York. Her extensive background in material culture and design history, coupled with a refined curatorial eye have made her a recognized thought leader in the design industry. With an intuitive sense of societal shifts, Julie’s unique insight into future cultural and consumer patterns has become sought after by leading brands.

Julie’s past partnerships include the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Oakland Museum of California, and Heath Ceramics (to name a few). Her expertise has been applauded and featured in the New York Times, Forbes, and the The List TV.

Learn more about Julie here.

Gail Piccirilli

Gail helps companies capitalize on emerging trends to build, update and improve their customer’s experience.

Her specialty: Uncovering customer insights through primary and secondary research and tracking emerging competitive, regulatory, technology, channel and buyer behavior trends. Gail takes this knowledge and turns it into insights to help build and update brands, develop corporate and marketing strategies, and design new product and service offerings.

On the client side, Gail has over 20 years of experience in leading marketing, product management, brand management and communications in multiple consumer and business services. She’s worked with Paychex, Blue Shield of California, AT&T and Hutchins/Young and Rubicam. 

As a consultant, her clients include healthcare payers and providers, advertising and brand agencies, clothing manufacturers, and educational institutions.

Gail has fundraised for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Susan B Komen Breast Cancer Fund, created a fundraising charity which supported small, women-focused organization in San Francisco and was a board member of Social Venture Partners

An enthusiastic cyclist, hiker and kayaker, she loves to read both fiction and non-fiction and is a frequent host of dinner parties and networking events.

the collective

The Collective are a set of influencers, trendsetters, thinkers, and creatives from a wealth of fields ranging from food, design, journalism, athletics, psychology, politics, community building, economics, to art, architecture, philanthropy, technology, and art. They advise, contribute, inspire, provoke and instigate our ideas around luxury, how they’re evolving, and how it can be a force for good.