A former publicist for Calvin Klein and PR director at Valentino, Peterson, who now runs Annelise Peterson Inc., is a fixture on the New York social scene.

Born in Laguna Beach, Peterson made her way to New York when she attended Columbia and made her way on to the social scene as a special events manager for Vogue. By working at every fashion event, she made herself ubiquitous with the fashion set and eventually became a publicist for Calvin Klein. She quickly parlayed her position with Calvin Klein to the director of PR for Valentino and Alberta Ferretti before deciding it was better to simply make herself a brand. Annelise Peterson Inc., a public relations and branding firm, was born in 2008 and has worked on campaigns for HauteLook and Luca Luca. However, don't let the fact that she founded her own company fool you: she's still no square and can be seen at fashion-y events throughout the city, probably in the name of research, of course. [Image via Getty]