Our Featured Guest for February 8, 2026 is Wombi Rose

Wombi Rose is the Co-Founder and CEO of Lovepop Cards, a design company on a mission to create one billion magical moments through unique laser-cut pop-up cards and gifts. Lovepop combines imagination and engineering to add meaning to people’s lives, helping customers build and strengthen personal relationships in a world increasingly dominated by superficial digital connections. The brand believes love is the foundation for a brighter world, and that it grows when it is shared—whether celebrating a holiday, a major milestone, or an everyday moment.

Lovepop’s cards and gifts are designed to create a memorable, shared connection between giver and receiver—an experience that is meaningful, creative, and fun. Available online and through retail and partner locations across the U.S., Lovepop has created thousands of designs that bring people together and turn simple gestures into magical moments.

The company gained national attention after securing an investment from Kevin “Mr. Wonderful” O’Leary on ABC’s Shark Tank in 2015. Since then, Lovepop has grown from a three-person startup into a nationally recognized brand and is now considered one of the top ten most successful Shark Tank companies by lifetime retail sales, as well as the #1 online destination for greeting cards in the U.S.

Wombi Rose and his co-founder John Wise became best friends while studying naval architecture at the Webb Institute. Years later, during a Harvard Business School trip to Vietnam, they discovered the ancient paper art of kirigami. Inspired by its beauty and complexity, they combined this art form with sliceform structures used in ship design to create Slicegami™—Lovepop’s signature fusion of art and engineering.

Trained as a naval architect at Webb Institute, with advanced study in Computation for Design and Optimization at MIT, Wombi began his career at McKinsey & Company, consulting with global energy and shipping companies before earning his MBA at Harvard Business School. His background in engineering, design, and business is deeply woven into Lovepop’s creative and operational DNA.

In addition to his entrepreneurial success, Wombi is also an inventor and creative at heart. He is a Grammy-nominated designer for his recent collaboration on album artwork for the band OK Go, nominated for Best Album Design. This work reflects the same rare ability that defines Lovepop—translating emotion, storytelling, and imagination into tangible, beautifully engineered physical experiences. Read more at: https://www.lovepop.com/

Our Entrepreneur Presenters:

Christina Muller, LCSW is a Workplace Mental Health and Wellness Strategist who helps leaders create workplaces where people thrive—not just perform. She works with organizations to build cultures where people feel seen, valued, and essential to the mission. Through her firm, Mind Your Workplace™, Christina blends psychology and leadership strategy to help teams prevent burnout, strengthen connection, and turn stress into sustainable performance. Her guiding belief is that when people feel good about what they do, they do their best work.

Christina’s work focuses on translating behavioral science into practical leadership tools and building human-centered systems that prioritize well-being alongside results. She emphasizes prevention over reaction, helping leaders address the root causes of burnout before it starts, while balancing empathy and accountability to create lasting trust. At the core of her philosophy is the idea that people don’t burn out from hard work alone—they burn out when they stop feeling like they matter.

Mind Your Workplace™ is a workplace mental health and leadership consulting firm that guides organizations in strengthening culture, developing emotionally attuned leaders, and creating psychologically safe environments where people can do their best work. Christina is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, specializing in workplace mental health, organizational wellness, traumatic stress, and maternal mental health. She provides consultation and short-term support to leaders and employees navigating stress, transition, burnout, and critical workplace moments.

Her work includes consulting and culture strategy, leadership workshops and training, speaking and thought leadership, and the upcoming Mind Your Workplace™ Model, a B2B course designed to operationalize mattering at scale. Christina’s background spans business, psychology, leadership development, and crisis response. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Management and a master’s degree in Clinical Social Work, with advanced training in traumatic stress and maternal mental health.

For nearly two decades, Christina has supported Fortune 500 companies, healthcare systems, universities, and national organizations through growth, disruption, and recovery. Her work has been featured in Forbes, Fortune, Fast Company, Newsweek, and other national outlets. Through Mind Your Workplace™, her mission is to help leaders align intention with impact and ensure that work remains human, even as the pace of change and AI continue to accelerate. Read more at: https://www.christinamuller.com/

Alyssa Pettinato, known as the “Wedding Whisperer,” is an NYC-based event planner who prides herself on having never seen a design challenge that scared her. With a natural knack for events and an intense attention to detail, Alyssa founded Alinato Events at just 23 years old. She initially focused on charity and corporate clients before expanding into weddings in 2019, quickly rising to the top of the New York City wedding scene. To date, she has planned over 500 events and more than 150 weddings throughout NYC and the Tri-State Area.

After graduating from Penn State University with a joint degree in Psychology and Advertising, Alyssa spent a year on the corporate side of advertising but felt called to do more meaningful work. She pivoted toward supporting charities close to her heart, including Social Tees Animal Rescue, the ASPCA, and The Humane Society. Through executing more than 30 charity events that generated donors, members, and funding, Alyssa discovered her true passion for event planning and saw firsthand the impact thoughtful events could create. That experience led her to launch Alinato Events with the goal of helping people bring their visions—and dreams—to life.

As an artist, Alyssa brings a strong eye for design and creativity to every event. She prides herself on delivering unique, customized experiences for her clients and believes her artistic background sets her apart in a crowded industry. Her approach blends creativity, organization, and vendor expertise, allowing her to keep clients on track, on timeline, and within budget while creating seamless, memorable experiences.

Alyssa describes herself as her clients’ “new best friend” throughout the planning journey. Known for her strong vendor relationships, she works seamlessly with both new and existing vendors to create effortless experiences at the best possible value. Her ultimate goal is to make every event—whether intimate or large-scale—the most beautiful, memorable, and stress-free experience for both hosts and guests.

Before opening her own company, Alyssa worked on a wide range of high-profile events, including Big East Conference and Volvo partnership events, programming for a New York–based charity, and concerts and promotional events for a music start-up. Her client experience has ranged from small California-based companies to working as a vendor with major brands like PepsiCo. In addition to event planning, Alyssa has a strong background in marketing projects for CPG clients, known for quick turnarounds, strong results, and strict confidentiality. Read more at: https://www.alinato.com/

Alyssa is also the host of the MissJudged Podcast, where where she interviews guests about the highs, lows, and unexpected twists millennials deal with. Using comedy, heart, and a whole lot of very real talk, discussions surrounds topics such as navigating career shifts, relationships, health, and the pursuit of happiness.  No topic is off-limits (except politics!)- hence the point of finding out why millennials are missjudged as a whole!  Read more at: https://www.missjudgedpodcast.com/