Jen Rubio

Co-Founder and Executive Chair Away

Last Reviewed: September 26, 2026

Executive Summary

Jen Rubio co-founded Away, the direct-to-consumer luggage brand, in 2015 with Steph Korey, a former colleague from Warby Parker, and has been its Executive Chair since May 2025. Away was one of the defining brands of the direct-to-consumer era. It sold a well-designed hardshell suitcase online, then opened its own stores, and by 2019 it had been valued at more than a billion dollars. Rubio’s chief-executive years were less straightforward. She took over in 2021, after a public controversy over workplace culture had ended Korey’s tenure as CEO, her successor had left within months, and the pandemic had cut the company’s revenue by more than half. As CEO she widened the business beyond its original model, adding soft-sided luggage and selling through Amazon and Nordstrom. In May 2025 she handed the CEO role to president Jessica Schinazi, formerly of Dyson.

Career Highlights

• Co-founded Away in 2015 with Steph Korey, initially as Co-Founder and Creative Director.
• Named CEO of Away in April 2021 after two months as interim chief executive.
• Led Away through the pandemic travel collapse, when its 2020 revenue fell by an estimated 55 percent.
• Oversaw the brand’s expansion into soft-sided luggage in 2024 and onto Amazon and into Nordstrom in 2025.
• Became Executive Chair of the Board in a planned transition announced 12 May 2025, with Jessica Schinazi succeeding her as CEO.
• Earlier led early social media and partnerships work at Warby Parker and was global director of innovation at AllSaints.

Professional Journey

Rubio was born in the Philippines and moved to New Jersey at seven. She studied supply chain management at Penn State through a co-op programme with Johnson & Johnson, and left before graduating when she was offered a full-time role. She moved into digital marketing. At Warby Parker, in its early years, she led social media and partnerships, and that is where she met Steph Korey. She was later global director of innovation at the British fashion retailer AllSaints, a job that kept her travelling for more than a year.

In 2015 she and Korey started Away around a single idea: a better-designed carry-on suitcase, sold directly online with a built-in phone charger. They developed the product after gathering travel stories from nearly a thousand people. Rubio’s early title was Co-Founder and Creative Director, and she was the face of the brand’s marketing and its move into physical retail. Within a year of launch Away had stores in six cities. By 2019 it had sold more than a million suitcases and was valued at about $1.4 billion.

The next two years tested the company. Reports of a harsh workplace culture in December 2019 led to a leadership change. Stuart Haselden was named in January 2020 and briefly shared the chief executive role with Korey, who stepped away later that year, and Haselden left for Arc’teryx after only a few months in sole charge. Meanwhile the pandemic grounded travel, and Away’s revenue fell an estimated 55 percent in 2020. Rubio stepped in as interim CEO and was named permanent chief executive in April 2021, aged 33. At that point the company carried a $1.45 billion valuation.

As CEO she moved Away beyond its original model. The company added backpacks and travel accessories, launched soft-sided luggage alongside its hardshell cases in July 2024, and began selling on Amazon and through Nordstrom in 2025, a notable change for a brand that had defined itself by selling direct. She brought in Jessica Schinazi, former president of the Americas at Dyson, as president in late 2024. On 12 May 2025 Away announced Schinazi as chief executive and Rubio as Executive Chair of the Board. “This transition is a natural next step for Away,” Rubio said. She remains co-founder and executive chair.

Education

No degree was found. She studied supply chain management at Pennsylvania State University but, according to a 2025 Asian Journal profile, left before graduating.