Business meets bags for entrepreneur and fashionista Shari Phillips

Shari Phillips has a fun and bright personality that’s evident the moment you see her extensive bag collection.

Phillips has a purse for seemingly every occasion, and many of them have been photographed for this very section. They’ve caught our attention because of their nontraditional shapes. 

For Phillips, it’s not just a fun way to style herself — there’s power behind every purse.

She says she has always been a purse girl, but it wasn’t until she became an entrepreneur that they became her “thing.” Her positive reinforcement strategy started in 2003 with E2E Exchange. After getting her first client, she bought an outfit. Then another client, another outfit.

Now, instead of outfits, she rewards herself with purses. She estimates she has around 50 purses, most of them Kate Spade. She shops around before she has a new client, and then she keeps her eye on the prize until she’s done the work to buy it.

As Phillips moves into social entrepreneurship, partnering with Shannon Rohrer-Phillips in a new venture to empower women, she plans to continue her stylish tradition to show her personality. But, she says, the new realm of her partnership gives her more rewards than materialistic items.

Some of her favorite looks have been her dice purse for the 2018 Banyan Ball and her pink dress and cake purse for the 2017 Wine, Women & Shoes Signature Luncheon. 

Here are just a few of her favorite purses, some of which have never been photographed for these pages.