How She Built a 15-Year Career at Coach Without Ever Code-Switching | Chee Smalls

Chee Smalls has spent fifteen years inside Coach, where she's now Senior Director of Product Development. She is also a style voice, a content creator, and a Harlem girl who has never—not once, not in a single meeting—code-switched to fit the fashion industry she built her career inside. That refusal is the whole conversation. In this episode we get into how she got into fashion without the resume the industry usually demands, and how curiosity became her actual professional currency. Her philosophy on luxury and why she refuses to follow trends—including a sharp question about whether the algorithm is killing our individuality. The features she was insecure about for years and what changed when she stopped shrinking from them. The partnership model she and her husband built where they take turns climbing—one head-down while the other holds it together. And how she's thinking about ambition, identity, and the life she's building on her own terms. She closes with an "I am" affirmation you'll want to write down. This is also the first Meanwhile, She episode with a behind-the-scenes intro—filmed as Chee arrives at the door and the two of us mix a rosé lemonade in the kitchen before settling onto the couch. Recipe below: Meanwhile, She Rosé Lemonade Makes 4 cocktails (about 5 oz each) Ingredients 1 bottle (750 mL) chilled rosé (The Beach Ros√©) 1/2 cup (4 oz) freshly squeezed lemon juice 2 oz Grand Marnier 1 1/2 oz simple syrup 1 oz agave nectar Ice Optional Garnishes Lemon wheels Fresh mint Edible rose petals (if you're feeling fancy) Frozen raspberries or strawberries Instructions In a pitcher, combine the lemon juice, Grand Marnier, simple syrup, and agave. Stir until fully combined. Pour in the chilled rose and stir gently so you don't lose too much of its freshness. Taste. Want it brighter? Add another splash of lemon. Want it softer? Add another ½ oz simple syrup. Fill glasses with ice and pour over. Garnish with a lemon wheel and mint. FOLLOW CHEE Instagram: @cheesmalls FOLLOW MEANWHILE, SHE Instagram: @meanwhileshepod FOLLOW AISHA Instagram: @aishabeau TikTok: @aisha.beau YouTube: @aishabeau Newsletter: aishabeau.substack.com Web: aishabeau.com/podcast Production Coordinator: Starr Callahan (@starr_callahan) Video Editor: Abiola Aina Original Music by Krisblak + Boo Follow them on IG:   / 9.5.4     / stezus   — — — CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro 00:20 Meet Chee 01:31 Behind-the-Scenes — welcome to my home, mixing the rosé lemonade 06:16 Who was Chee before she became an entity 11:39 Curiosity as her career currency 17:00 Never code-switched—the Harlem girl in the fashion boardroom 24:47 Getting into fashion when she didn't have the resume for it 29:34 Building the 15-year Coach career 34:00 "So what do you do?"—the fancy-bar moment 38:35 Being an executive and a mom at the same time 48:45 The role of solitude in creativity 50:03 What makes her feel most like herself outside of work 54:41 How she defines luxury on her own terms 58:37 Are algorithms killing our individuality? 1:14:34 The features she was insecure about—and what changed 1:29:31 Protecting her daughter's perspective 1:34:00 The partnership model she and her husband built—taking turns climbing 1:36:38 Rewriting her narrative: intentionality and alignment 1:39:53 Affirmations + Libations · Rosé lemonade recipe 1:40:24 "I am beauty. I am woman. I am ambition." — — — New guest episodes drop every Tuesday. New solo episodes drop every other Thursday. #MeanwhileShe #AishaBeau #CheeSmalls #BlackWomenInFashion #Coach #HarlemGirl #CodeSwitching