DEEP DIVE

As the chief brand officer of e-commerce destinations Revolve and FWRD, RAISSA GERONA is all about forming meaningful connections.

- TICIA ALMAZAN.

ON THE WEEK OF OCTOBER 23, 2022, Raissa Gerona’s calendar tallied 30 hours in meetings. This number might fluctuate here and there, but one thing remains consistent: the chief brand officer of multi-brand e-commerce destinations Revolve and FWRD sprints through consultations, interviews, and conferences like an athlete on a track.

She’s used to this. It’s probably why she logs into our call relaxed and lightly made up, long black hair cascading carelessly past her shoulders. “It is a lot of meetings,” she confirms with a small smile, when asked about her typical work week. “Lots of speaking.”

It wasn’t always like this; when her family moved to Silver Lake, California when she was seven, Raissa barely spoke the language. Born and raised in the province of Bulacan, her English was tinged with an accent that drew hostility from her peers. “I remember coming home and I was crying to my parents about, you know, not speaking English well,” she says. “And so then they were like, ‘Okay, from now on, we’re only speaking English.’”

This house rule would culminate in Raissa taking up political science at the University of California-Irvine, after developing a taste for public speaking in her high school speech and debate club. “I wanted to potentially be an immigration lawyer, because it was so hard for us to get a green card,” she recalls, “and so that was also something that always kind of stuck with me; trying to figure out how to help people like myself navigate through the system in the U.S.”