Not every creative builds from the ground up and then steps back to rebuild it again. Marie de Vera has done both. A Filipina creative director and entrepreneur, her work sits at the intersection of ideas, business and people – where creativity isn’t separate from strategy, but deeply embedded within it.

Working between Naarm (Melbourne) and a wider network of collaborators, her practice extends beyond a single discipline. From founding The Style Co. to co-creating The League of Extraordinary Women, she has built ventures that don’t just respond to an industry, but actively shape it.

Her relationship to creativity has always been tied to making – from food and materials to the rituals that carry culture forward. That sensibility carries through her work now, where ideas are not just imagined, but built and tested. There’s a clarity to how she works, grounded in experience across every stage of business.

What sets Marie de Vera apart is her ability to hold vision and execution at once. She works alongside creative founders and teams to refine what they’ve built – not by simplifying ideas, but by strengthening them. Her perspective challenges the idea that creativity and profitability sit in opposition, showing how the two can grow together.