She walked into Starbucks impeccably dressed in floral pants and a silk top with her long black hair flowing. She carried a wicker picnic basket filled with sparkling cider and feminine monogrammed napkins, looking more like a supermodel than a writer.

In great spirits, Gregory sat down and poured two glasses of sparkling cider. Her kind demeanor and optimistic attitude was immediately apparent. Seven years ago the Arkansas native moved to Dallas to work in the fashion industry, but her path took her in quite the opposite direction.

Abby Gregory is the editor in chief of MReport Magazine-a business magazine published by the Five Star Institute focused on technology, analytics, origination and the secondary market. She was hired to bring creativity and style to the often bland world of business. It’s a far cry from her dream of pursuing fashion, but she fulfills that love working as a freelance writer for DFW Style Daily. Gregory embodies the perfect combination of high fashion and business-and she does so with a sort of ease that you rarely see in people.

“As a journalist, I like any topic that gives you a chance to dig down and figure out the rest of the story,” said the Arkansas native. “Whether it be fashion or finance, it’s what keeps me going creatively.”

Gregory always wanted to be a fashion reporter, and that she got to be. When Carrie Bay, editor of MReports sister publication, DS News, approached her to work for them, it was Gregory’s creativity that prompted her to take the job. Although she didn’t know anything about consumer banking and housing finance, she knew she could provide the creative services they needed.

“We needed someone to make MReport more visually appealing and improve aesthetics,” said Bay.

Gregory lived up to those words. Alexander Linn is a young entrepreneur and regular reader of MReport.

“Whether I am trying to stay up to date on current events in the mortgage industry or seeking specific information, MReport has an interface that is visually appealing and intuitive allowing me to easily access information at varying depths,” said Linn.

After a three month trial period with MReport Gregory was offered an editorial position. In February 2012, she was named editor in chief.

“Nobody understands it,” said Gregory. “People who know me solely through MReport are shocked to find out that I come from a fashion background-and vice versa.”

The creative editor in chief enjoys doing different things. In fact, she believes having two different journalistic pursuits helps her keep her edge as a writer and editor.

Gregory discovered her creative need to write during her first job after graduating college from the University of Mississippi. She was offered the opportunity to co-host the morning show at CBS in Little Rock, Ark. At the time, she thought this was the chance of a lifetime, but she soon realized it was not for her.

“I hated being on air, it just wasn’t how I liked to communicate. I loved to write,” said Gregory.

After moving to Dallas, she got her start as a fashion writer when NBC DFW hired Gregory as their fashion columnist. This was the perfect opportunity for her to get involved with the Dallas fashion scene. During this time, she was also a freelance writer for DFW Style Daily.

“Abby can write about any aspect of fashion with ease and poise,” said DFW Style Daily Editor, Lisa Petty. “So it doesn’t surprise me that she can write about business the same way.”

Although MReport takes up a majority of Gregory’s time, her passion is still fashion-and writing for DFW Style Daily fulfills just that. Gregory loves it because it’s fun and she gets to write about friends.

Gregory currently writes two columns for DFW Style Daily: Obsession with Fashion and Stealing It. Stealing It is Gregory’s favorite because it’s all about fashion on a budget (under $100, to be exact). She especially has a soft spot for vintage pieces, a taste she adapted from her great grandmother who gave Gregory some of her most treasured items.

“I love her pieces because they all tend to be very large statement making belts, jewelry, things that speak to the culture she wrote about,” said Gregory.

Gregory’s great grandmother was a writer, and the only other on in her family; she wrote about Southwestern culture and heritage. Gregory hopes to follow in the footsteps of her great grandmother-and appears to be doing so.

As Gregory folded up her napkin and prepared to pack up her picnic basket, she revealed the meaning behind the unique napkins. She explained that her great grandmother collected monogramed cloth napkins-and that too is a tradition she hopes to carry on forever.