Chelsea Starr Alexander

Co-founder & Chief Bag Lady, Smith & Starr

San Francisco

Chelsea is the co-founder and "chief bag lady" of SMITH & STARR, makers of the first-ever hydration handbag line. SMITH & STARR has been featured on Bustle, ClassPass, MentalFloss, Reader’s Digest, Women Catalysts and others.

Chelsea is a seasoned and driven storyteller, connector and project manager with nearly a decade of agency and in-house brand marketing and communications experience. Prior to founding SMITH & STARR, Chelsea led communications efforts for an array of consumer technology brands including OpenTable, Autodesk, Twitter and Foursquare.

Chelsea and Fallyn met in New York City in 2011 working part-time for LivingSocial’s Adventures department - leading outdoor excursions such as whitewater rafting, ice climbing, ziplining and wine tasting. The two started SMITH & STARR in 2015 after Fallyn took to Facebook to air her frustration about always looking like she was going on a hike just to stay hydrated. Chelsea not only liked the post, but told Fallyn that they should team up to create the solution. The two met for coffee at Maxfield’s House of Caffeine in San Francisco the next day and the idea for The Conway was born.