On a bright and early March morning, fifty promising young leaders, joined with eight visionary women for The WIE Suite’s annual 2 Million Mentors LIVE initiative held in partnership with Diane von Furstenberg. In honor of International Women's Day, the event provided career development advice and support at the DVF flagship studio in Manhattan. The room was abuzz of advice, encouragement and new ideas.
This year's prestigious mentors included Samina Virk, the North America CEO of Vestiaire Collective; Jessica Lomax, the EVP Global Head of Design at Calvin Klein; Cindi Leive the CEO and Co-founder of The Meteor; Leah Wyar the President of Entertainment and Beauty & Style Groups at Dotdash Meredith; Kristin Hooper, Managing Director at Deloitte; designer Tanya Taylor; Ita Ekpoudom, Partner at Gingerbread Capital and Ruzwana Bashir the Founder and CEO of Peek.
Of particular meaning were the words of advice on leadership and career navigation shared by the select group of mentors to those seeking to supercharge their success:
“To be a woman in charge is first and foremost a commitment to ourselves. It's owning who we are. We own our imperfections and we become our assets. We own our vulnerability and we turn it into strength. What is important for everyone to know, and what is the most inspiring for others is not your successes, it's your challenges.” - Diane von Furstenberg
“When I was supervising people, and they would come to me and ask for advice, I would see it as a sign of strength. I would understand that they recognized what they didn't know and were trying to improve. But that’s something that personally took me a long time to learn.” - Cindi Leive the CEO and Co-founder of The Meteor
“I would encourage you to have ambition and drive and know that it's okay that you don't know what you're doing. You'll figure it out. None of the past will define you. You can find your own path and make your own future.” - Ita Ekpoudom, Partner at Gingerbread Capital
