A Woman You Should Know

I’m not exactly sure when a girl becomes a woman, but I’ve watched this incredible girl grow into the most incredible woman. Meet Mariella Satow, a woman you should know.

This is a bit of a long story, but on the other hand, it’s not long enough.

During the pandemic, a flyer showed up in our mailbox from a high school girl offering dog walking. At the time, we had five dogs, so you can imagine how quickly we called her.

Mariella came every single day, like clockwork. She was basically the Mary Poppins of the dog world. Calm, kind, completely in control, and I’m pretty sure she was actually communicating with the dogs.

She had been at boarding school in the UK when the world shut down and ended up back in Sag Harbor with her family. In between classes, she walked our dogs. That was it. That was the relationship.

Or so I thought.

Over time, she started walking more dogs in town, picking up families not just because she was reliable, but because she had this way about her. People trusted her. Animals loved her.

Then one day, I got a Google alert with my name in it. It was an article from a UK paper about a teenage dog walker who had built an app so deaf children could watch Disney cartoons, funded entirely by her dog walking money. Somewhere in the article, it mentioned she walked our dogs.

That dog walker was Mariella.

She had quietly started a nonprofit that was already making a real impact.

It’s very easy to fall in love with Mariella. She’s sweet, smart, upbeat, and somehow completely grounded. She started coming over for dinner, and we really got to know her.

Around that same time, we launched Jones Road at Liberty in London. It was packed. Total chaos. Lines everywhere, everyone overwhelmed.

And suddenly, there was Mariella.

She had popped in just to say hi, took one look around, and without asking, walked behind the counter and started helping. Not just casually helping, reorganizing everything, calming the energy, talking to customers, explaining products like she’d been doing it her whole life.

“I’m not a makeup artist,” she’d say, “but you don’t need to be to sell Jones Road. Let me show you.”

Brilliant.

Since then, she’s worked with us in the store whenever we need her. She’s also become one of my favorite Jones Road faces. She has the most beautiful porcelain skin, so light we actually had to expand our foundation shades to match her. And somehow, on camera, she just lights up. There’s an energy about her you can’t teach.

Now, if you’re wondering what happened to that nonprofit…

It’s now a full-fledged company. She has a CEO who used to work with Oprah, has raised nearly $2 million, and has built a team of around 40 people.

All while still dog walking, babysitting my grandchildren, working in the Jones Road store, and—just casually—attending Stanford.

I spent two weeks with her recently while she was helping with my grandkids. She’d step out for a Zoom with Netflix, come back, and not miss a beat. The kids were happy, cared for, and completely adored her. I truly don’t know how she does it.

This kid is one of a kind.

And shoutout to her mom, who I’m sure is just as proud of her as I am.

Happy birthday, Mariella. I can only imagine the stories still to come.