When people speak about innovation, they often imagine someone in a lab coat or seated behind layers of code. Rarely do they envision a former international model, turned Oxford-trained strategist. However, this is exactly who Maureen Lepatan is.
The talented entrepreneur and beauty is using AI to rebuild how fashion, marketing, and even legal services work. To do this, she isn’t following the script. Rather, she’s writing her own.
Maureen is the Chief Operating Officer and Head of Creative Innovation at Renzaire Group. Here, she has carved a singular space across industries which rarely intersect: fashion, tech, legal services, and events. The result of this has been a growing empire of human-centered, AI-driven companies which are elegant in design and powerful in execution.
Maureen grew up in a home surrounded by family-run businesses. Her entrepreneurial instincts were shaped early as she watched her relatives build ventures from scratch. This foundation has carried her across countries and industries. Her success has taken her from the catwalks of Asia to Oxford University, where she first learned of the wonders of AI.
Balancing her modeling career with rigorous academic training, Maureen pursued data, design, and strategy with laser focus. By the time she graduated from Oxford, she had already built a resume which included roles at McKinsey, Google, Airbnb, Amazon, and Meta.
Maureen is clear that in spite of her success, she has never been one to chase titles. She explains she has built her vision for the future on pursuing impact. “I wasn’t inspired by competition,” she reflects. “I was inspired by possibility.”
The vision behind Renzaire Group
Renzaire Group has provided the platform from which Maureen has explored the many possibilities she hopes will impact society. Renzaire Group is a collective of brands which she leads as both creative visionary and operations architect. Each venture is designed to solve a deeply personal problem.
Her fashion brand, Reenique, was born out of her frustration with inaccessible fashion. As a model, Maureen wore luxury garments made for select audiences. Through personal experience, she understands how exclusive and inaccessible fashion can be.
When she created Reenique, she wanted a brand which was fully inclusive and accessible to everybody. Reenique is a black-and-white online fashion store, which is powered by a multilingual AI assistant. Maureen explains that Reenique speaks to every shopper, no matter their language or location.
Then there’s Captigage. This is an AI-enhanced marketing automation tool designed for founders and creators. Maureen explains she has personally experienced the pressure of growing a personal brand. Now, she’s helping others replicate the success she has enjoyed by building marketing infrastructure which thinks ahead.
She has also developed Verdicta. This addresses yet another gap: access to trustworthy legal services. As a Notary Public in Massachusetts and founder of this AI-based legal tech platform, Maureen is introducing automation to a world often bogged down by bureaucracy. Verdicta streamlines global identity verification while upholding rigorous standards of trust.
She is also the founder of Strathwell, an event design and production agency which has hosted exclusive gatherings, from Boston to the UK. It combines Maureen’s eye for detail with her operational brilliance, serving professionals who demand quality and intention.
Loud results which speak volumes
At Renzaire Group, Maureen and her team have designed AI products which feel human, brand experiences which foster connection, and strategies which remove barriers across industries. Her ability to speak to both creative and corporate audiences makes her a sought-after speaker in Silicon Valley, Boston, New York, and the UK.
She’s a Google Women Techmakers Ambassador and a trusted mentor who has helped hundreds secure jobs through strategic guidance.
The impact of her work hasn’t gone unnoticed. Her personal brand is followed by top professionals from Google, Meta, MIT, Stanford, and Harvard, many of whom now see her as a thought leader in AI-powered innovation.
She also has an Instagram following of over 200K which is not built on gimmicks, but on stories which blend data, fashion, and culture. Her leadership style is minimalist, but her results maximal.
Maureen stays grounded in her mission. “You don’t owe the world an explanation. Just impact.”
Overcoming adversity to defy the odds
Maureen’s rise to success hasn’t come without resistance. As a woman of color and a former fashion model, she has faced assumptions and judgment on all sides. Early in her career, she was underestimated. Later, she was scrutinized for rising too quickly.
“Without the cushion of financial privilege or inherited networks, I had to build everything from the ground up,” she shares.
Her resilience has become part of her brand. She is both a founder, as well as a force quietly dismantling what leadership is supposed to look like.
“You don’t need permission to lead. You just need vision and action,” she says.
Looking ahead, Maureen envisions Renzaire Group becoming a global leader in creative automation and human-centered AI. She sees Reenique opening in major cities, Captigage supporting thousands of creators, and Verdicta revolutionizing how legal systems serve people. She wants to continue delivering keynote talks, publishing books, and investing in founders who haven’t traditionally been given a seat at the table.
Image Credit: Maureen Lepatan
Byline: Jason Phillips
