Anita Clarke is an Engineering Storyteller and the founder of the fashion blog “I want – I got.” She was one of the first and most prominent online fashion writers in Toronto and Canada.
Anita’s 14-year career as an award-winning Software Quality Assurance professional and a decade-long blogging career lead her to Shopify. As the Senior Managing Editor of Shopify’s Engineering blog, she brings her technical editor expertise to help developers craft and share their stories about Shopify’s engineering discipline. She’s spoken about her technology journey with DevTO, ITAC Inspiring Tech Careers Conference and TD Then and Now.
Fashion inspired Clarke for its ability to reflect an individual’s nature, and she spent the days of her youth (a self-described “tomboy”) watching Fashion Television. Clarke wrote for BlogTO, one of Canada’s largest city blogs, from 2006 to 2009 and has publishing credits in Variety Magazine, TVO’s The Agenda and Chick Advisor. She’s appeared on the pages of Fashion Magazine, Flare Magazine, Elle Canada, Metro, 24hours, National Post, Now Magazine, The Toronto Star, and The Globe and Mail. Clarke’s reach even made it to China with features in the China Textile News Weekly Magazine and the Ming Pao Daily News.
She was named a Toronto Mille Femmes in 2008 and was honoured to have two dresses named after her by fashion designers Greta Constantine. In 2009, Holt Renfrew featured Anita in a store window showcase across Canada, and Now Magazine named her a Toronto Fashion Hero. In 2014, Vogue Italia interviewed Anita, and Hello Canada called her one of Canada’s best dressed.
Anita has spoken on the topics of fashion, marketing, public relations, and social media at PodCamp, FW FashionCamp, Queen’s Business Forum on the Fashion Industry, the 3rd Annual Social Media Marketing Conference and Word on the Street. She’s guest-starred on Fashion Television, Global News, and CBC Radio One’s Metro Morning. Anita has worked with brands such as Microsoft Canada, MasterCard, Hudson Jeans, Levi’s, The Hudson’s Bay, Ford and The Gladstone Hotel.