Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, Co-Founder of Gilt Groupe

Who inspires you?

People who overcome adversity.

Why have you decided to become an entrepreneur?

I believed in the opportunity and the team. The timing was right for me in my career and my personal life. It was time for me to take a risk and pursue this vision.

Where do you see your company in the next five years?

I think Gilt will be a global leader in luxury ecommerce   How is your company different from its competition?

From a tech perspective, we make it fun, easy and exciting to shop. From a merchandising perspective, we go to painstaking detail curate everything that we feature on our site to bring our members the best of the best.

What was a defining moment in your career?

November 13th, 2007. The day of our very first sale on Gilt Groupe. It was a Zac Posen sale.

What is your next step within your career?

I am still very attached to Gilt Groupe. She is honestly like my child and she is growing up very quickly. I think she is in her adolescent years right about now. I must stick with her until she is at least in college!

How did you finance your business when it was at the early stage? (Self-funded, crowd-funded, Angel Investor, VC)

For our Series A we went the VC route, with Matrix. They have been a fantastic partner. 

Tell me something about yourself that we don’t know already.

I have a phobia of pigeons! I really don’t like them!

What is your favorite color?

My closet is like a rainbow… I love color but I also do wear a lot of black, I am a New Yorker after all. 

What is your guilty pleasure? (Real Housewives, Chocolate, 50 shades of Grey, etc)

Shopping on Gilt Groupe. I am serious.

Who is your celebrity crush?

I guess I would have to say George…

How do you define success?

Being happy with the choices you make in life.

If you had one year that you could say was the best year of your life what year would it be? Why? How old were you?

2007 . I got married to the man of my dreams and it was the year we launched Gilt.

Describe a time you failed. What did you learn from that experience?

I failed my first driving exam! That was depressing! 

What do you do for fun?

I spend time with my family.

  Keep Up with Alexandra Wilkis Wilson on Gilt Founders, Twitter and Facebook

Alexandra’s Interview conducted by WIM intern Jadine Joseph