About
Elizabeth Haffner
I have spent a career designing experiences. This is the same work, applied to a life.
Born and raised in Los Angeles to parents immersed in creativity and business. Art school at seventeen, then costume design in film, then twelve years running one of Ojai’s restaurants — front of house, marketing, design and the kitchen’s economics.
Then a brewery. Then a wine label. Then advising other people’s businesses for the county.
Every one of those was the same job wearing different clothes: work out how a thing actually functions for the person using it, then remove whatever is in the way.
The record
- OTIS College of Art & DesignAccepted at seventeen
- FilmCostume department, then assistant costume designer
- AZU, OjaiGeneral manager, marketing director, food and beverage director
- Ojai Valley BreweryCo-founder, 2017
- Side Street WineCo-created with winemaker Fabien Castel, 2023
- Economic Development CollaborativeBusiness advisor, Ventura County
Which is the point. I am not a coach who took a course. I have built and run real things, and been responsible for whether they worked.