Portrait No. 001
Maria Shum
Founder & CPO
AI Agentic Fashion
When I think about why I built Lila, it was the accumulation of where I was in life at the time. When I was at Meta, I felt like I had lost purpose. What I was building no longer felt meaningful. I found myself like a zombie every day angry, constantly fighting to build what was right for the people who needed it most. Then my mom had a stroke in 2019 that left her paralyzed and unable to verbally communicate. This broke me. All the emotions I had been carrying forced me to stop fighting. I had to heal, refocus, and rediscover joy. That was the moment I knew I wanted to build something centered on confidence and self-expression. Lila is the embodiment of the joy, the pain, the insecurities and the experience we want when we’re trying to show up as the best version of ourselves.
In her words
“The problem I am obsessed with solving is helping users curate looks that meets their needs in minutes.”
Chapter I
The toughest challenges you've faced as a founder.
When I built Lila, it came from both a personal turning point and a deep frustration with how people discover style today. I was a non-technical founder trying to find the right partner to build with, and I made the classic mistake of scaling too fast, too soon. When we launched our first version, I broke up with my co-founder the same week. The app kept crashing as real users were trying it out. I could have stopped there, but I didn’t. I rolled up my sleeves, taught myself what I needed, and rebuilt the backend with the help of AI. Within two weeks, I stabilized the product and kept going. Our first version was a simple three-question survey meant to help users narrow choices faster. But after analyzing just a few weeks of data, we saw a huge drop-off after the first question. That became the real insight: users weren’t looking for a structured quiz. They wanted to start with their own words — their insecurities, their event, their context — and feel understood before being shown options. Today, Lila is in alpha as a conversational AI stylist, and I’m testing it with early users focused on eventwear like prom and homecoming.
Chapter II
Your vision.
The problem I am obsessed with solving is helping users is curating looks that meets their needs in minutes. The change I want to see in the world is people being comfortable in their own body and finding clothes that helps them feel amazing.
Chapter III
The impact you want to leave behind — for your industry, your community, and the women who come next.
The impact that I want to leave in my industry is that women can feel stylish no matter where they are in life, where their body is and all the changes they have been through.