Starella Arbouin was born in Smithtown, New York, one of seven children born to a single mom who taught her how to be resourceful in the midst of struggle and paved the way for her to be the first in her family to graduate from college. Starella achieved a B.S. in interdisciplinary studies with concentrations in business, communications, and math/physics. Shortly after graduation, Starella found herself challenged with being a single mom. She had to figure out how to raise her children as a stay-at-home mom yet bring in an income to sustain her family. After calculating how much the state was paying her as a worker at a childcare center where her children attended, she decided to open her own home-based, state-certified childcare program.

While in business, she was able to come off of public assistance, fund an in-house pantry for the parents and her program, and began to help her clients to plan their exit from public assistance to self-sufficiency. She began to sit with the struggling moms to assess their goals, identify obstacles, and help them create a plan of action to overcome those obstacles.

After her confidence was restored from the loss of that business during the pandemic, Starella started a new journey of opening a business to continue furthering the advancement of the women she will serve at its completion. Her drive is “I have to succeed so that I can help more women to succeed.” Star has participated in multiple media engagements with Dress for Success, showcasing its mission and values to the general public.