Mallis wears many hats. She's a boss — though a team player (warmer than your typical ice queen) — a mom, lover of biscotti, and now, the executive adviser of the shows at Pier59 Studios. Overcome with both chills and ease (if you've ever had the fortune of meeting her, you'd know exactly what we're referring to), we asked Mallis to tell us a story that made a serious impact on her life and she shared her experience from the morning of September 11, 2001, when the tents had to come down.

"And then, I was racing down to the tents on the morning of 9/11," she said. "Is that a fashion moment that made me crazy? But there you were, trying to put on fashion shows when the world came to an end. I had to go backstage to several people and different designers to tell them to stop what they were doing, we’d just been attacked by terrorists. Grab your things and go be with your loved ones. It was one of the most unbelievable days of my life.

"And at some point, you say, 'What are we doing? Putting on fashion shows? Who cares about fashion shows and girls walking down a runway?' I think anybody not in a civil service job at that point felt like what they did didn’t matter. Those were the moments.