Founder and Chief Creative Officer, HILLARY LEO

Hillary Leo is by training a photo editor, writer and fashion editor. After nearly five years on staff at the National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, DC working as a photo editor, Hillary decided to follow her dream of heading out on her own and starting her own creative venture which is how Royal Scruff Creative came to be. Royal Scruff's main goal is to assist designers and writers in making their visions come to life through photography and illustrations, to visually inspire and entertain any and every audience.

Prior to National Geographic, Hillary was a fashion editor, stylist and market editor in New York City working on staff at Fitness Magazine (now merged with Shape Magazine) and for various clients as a freelancer. Her fashion shoot and styling experience include in studio, on location, runway, television/video as well as for private clients' personal wardrobes. As a stylist she focused mainly on workout and athletic shoots, celebrity covers, makeover stories, fashion wells and round-ups.

A graduate of Fordham University in NYC, Hillary majored in Journalism and hoped to make a career as an international news correspondent. The base of her interest and knowledge of fashion instead led her to her first internships which then landed her in her first editorial position. Never having wavered from her interest in world events and cultures, she was drawn after her six years in the fashion industry to the epicenter of culture, science and photography: National Geographic Society. 

Hillary's primary focus at National Geographic was on children's books, magazines, ePubs, iPad editions and websites. The genres ran the gamut from almanacs and encyclopedias to books of jokes and fun facts, tales of animal camaraderie to the life story of Jane Goodall, a complex history of fashion to a complete guide to Egyptian mythology and many others. 

Hillary resides in Arlington, Virginia just a short drive from downtown DC. A self described "travel-glutton", she takes as many trips as possible with her husband and finds a great amount of her creative inspiration on those trips. She very much enjoys running and yoga in her spare time, which is good, because she has a passion for cooking and eating as well. Her hope for Royal Scruff Creative is that it continues to grow and develop to encompass all of her creative interests: photography, writing, travel, food, interior design and fashion.