MEET THE REAL LEADERS 38 REAL-LEADERS.COM / SPRING 2022 “ALWAYS KEEP ‘WHAT’S NEXT’ ON YOUR RADAR, AND DELEGATE A MEMBER OF YOUR TEAM TO STAY ALERT TO WHAT THIS MIGHT LOOK LIKE.” — REBECCA MINKOFF Rebecca Minkoff built a fashion empire through hard work and a relentless drive to live her dream. It wasn’t easy and took tremendous resolve to remain hungry and persevere. By never giving up, she has created a space for herself on the shelves of luxury department stores across the world. 4. POINT OF VIEW IS EVERYTHING When you’re genuinely interested in people outside of your comfort zone and not trying to use them for something, you can attract great value to your business or idea. For a long time, I foundmyself operating exclusively within the fashion community. For new opportunities to arise, you sometimes need to break out of your social circles. I once met a designer who was worried about a negative review in the New York Times. It occurred to me that others should not define your success or failure and that broadening your network beyond your industry can unearth newways for others to support you. Look beyond your niche interest or business and keep your eyes wide open to new opportunities. What two unrelated companies might benefit from collaborating? Who can you reach out to for cross-promoting your brand? We grew our website sales by six figures when we adopted this strategy during the pandemic. 6. IT’S ENDLESS: SUCCESS IS BEING ABLE TO KEEP GOING I certainly wouldn’t be here today without my team. When the pandemic hit, we went from a team of 60 to 27 people, and each took on multiple jobs. There will be days when you ask yourself, “Can I still do this?” It becomes easier if you keep a strong team that supports each other. I take a lot of walks without my phone to get out and see new things and carve out time to not think about work. Whatever dream youmay have been sold about success being easy is fake. If you woke up each day in a world where everything was easy, I can guarantee you’d become bored. Each time I see a new mountain in front of me, I see it as a unique experience fromwhich I can forge a lesson and fromwhich I can grow as a leader. n 5. PUT COLLABORATION OVER COMPETITION When I first started in fashion, there was another designer with a handbag that I wanted to emulate. My attitude at the time was, “I’m just going to eat your lunch.” But she was so gracious and friendly tome and never expressed any outward resentment. I realized that there is enough success to go around and that women also have multiple handbags. There are enough consumers and demand today to compete with someone without needing to get nasty. We shouldn’t have an attitude of, “I’m going to win, and you’re going to lose,” but rather: “How can I help you? What do you need fromme?” Some people might say you’ll go hungry by adopting this attitude, but I’ve never seen this happen fromhelping somebody. COURTESY OF REBECCA MINKOFF
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