In 2013, after 43 years in fashion, McClintock changed her business strategy from designing and company-owned retail stores to a master brand licensing model.
Using skills she learned at an early age from her grandmother, an artist, once she began her career, McClintock made a name in fashion quickly.
At age 19, McClintock quit her studies to marry Al Staples, an engineering student at MIT.
[3] Shortly after her marriage, McClintock obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree from San Jose State University in California.
While living in San Francisco, in 1969 McClintock met Eleanor Bailey, who was the head of design and production and looking for investors for Gunne Sax Company, a local dress store.
[5] In 1970, McClintock invested $5,000 from her savings and became partners with Bailey, directly in charge of the designing and marketing of the new dress line.
[citation needed] By the mid-90s, McClintock had opened a total of 41 boutiques with reported annual sales of $100 million, and her dresses were sold in department stores in the U.S and other countries.