But by her early 30s, Ms. Maldonado said, she had become uninspired by her career. In 2015, Ms. Maldonado, now 39, recalled thinking, “What if I start a modern gift shop?”Soon after, she started a website, Yowie, that sold housewares, like ceramic cups and bowls. (When considering names for the website, yowie, an Australian word synonymous with yeti or Bigfoot, emerged as a favorite and stuck.) Ms. Maldonado soon quit her job at American Eagle to focus on the business. Recently, she moved the store again, to a much bigger space on the ground floor of a new Yowie hotel designed and co-owned by Ms. Maldonado.

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Persons: Shannon Maldonado, Maldonado, Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, Ms, . Maldonado Organizations: Fashion Institute of Technology Locations: New York, Japan, Philadelphia, Queen