Building Anya & Niki: Niki Hoaglund & Laura Cashill on Partnership, Retail Growth & Human Connection

In this episode of The People-Driven CEO Podcast, Shane sits down with Niki Hoaglund and Laura Cashill, the women behind Anya & Niki, to talk about partnership, retail, entrepreneurship and what it takes to turn decades of industry experience into a lifestyle brand of their own. Niki and Laura first met more than 30 years ago while beginning their careers in retail. After building complementary expertise across merchandising, sourcing, sales, design and marketing, they eventually brought those strengths together at Anya & Niki.

The brand began as a digital-first accessories company built around a simple observation: women needed products that could move naturally between fitness, travel, the beach and everyday life without sacrificing style. The conversation explores what it really looks like to build a company with a longtime friend. Niki and Laura talk about trust, healthy disagreement, recognizing each other’s strengths and staying aligned around what they are ultimately trying to build.

They also share the realities of growing from direct-to-consumer into apparel, luxury hotel boutiques and a physical retail location in Naples, while remaining close enough to their customers to continually learn from how women actually live and shop. At the heart of their approach is connection. Niki and Laura believe transactions may generate revenue, but relationships are what build a brand. Whether they are talking with customers in-store, documenting the messy founder journey or designing products around real daily routines, they are building Anya & Niki around people rather than abstract demographics.