MARISSA HEYL

FOUNDER + CREATIVE-IN-CHIEF

Anthropologist-turned-fashion maven Marissa Heyl fuses handmade artisan fabrics from developing countries with fashion-forward designs–or as she puts it, fair trade made sexy. She has worked with a multitude of artisan communities, thanks to her experience as a Duke Enterprising Leadership Fellow at Ten Thousand Villages. Heyl’s inspiration to start Symbology developed from her research as a 2006 Mahatma Gandhi Fellow, in which she researched how fair trade empowers craftswomen in India. She graduated from UNC with a dual BA in Journalism and Anthropology.

DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

As the head of business development, Megha oversees strategy for growth and expansion of Symbology. She has served as a financial analyst at Audible, a digital audiobook company. Prior to her time at Audible, Megha spent a year launching a social enterprise providing an alternative distribution system for marginalized farmers in India. She received her MBA from Harvard Business School and her BS in Business from the University of North Carolina.