Following the fourth annual WWD x FN x Beauty Inc 50 Women in Power, which took place at the 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge in September, the WWD Voices podcast compiled five conversations from the event to share with listeners. Each moderated by WWD's editorial team, the conversations take a deep dive into women in today's workforce with insights on leadership, vision and success.
In the first episode, WWD Editor-in-Chief Eugenia Richman interviews Tiffany Dufu, President of the Tory Burch Foundation, about reforming work culture for women. Dufu's focus, she said, is on women entrepreneurs, something the foundation aims to champion nationally by aligning access to capital, education and community. "My life's work is to promote women and girls. It's not just my job. That's why I wake up in the morning. That is why I am here on this planet."
More from WWDDuring the conversation, Dufu discussed the foundation's biggest challenges, which are linking revenue and partnering with financial institutions to collaborate to get capital into the hands of women. Reflecting on her own journey, Dufu spoke about her book 'Drop the Ball: Achieving More by Doing Less', in which she shared that it is important to start by clarifying what is most important, regardless of what is important to advertisers or in - laws or maybe the people you grew up with.
During the second episode of the series, WWD West Coast Editor-in-Chief Booth Moore interviewed Erin and Sara Foster, co-founders of Favorite Daughter, about fame, authenticity and the dangers of hustle culture. Whether it's entertainment or fashion, the sisters said they've learned to live by a golden rule: stay true to themselves.
"We have to make sure there isn't too much of a gap between who we are and what we think is cool," said Erin Foster, who said she doesn't follow trends and would never, for example, unscramble a kitten. (Her husband calls them cat heels.) "There are some ugly things and people are like, 'Oh my God, I'm dying,' and I'm like, no, you're not."
Looking at beauty, in the third episode of the series, Jenny B. Fine, editor-in-chief of Beauty Inc and executive editor, beauty, WWD, interviewed Christina Oster-Daum, president and founder of Cosnova Beauty, about the company's passion: driven success , her journey as a perfectionist, the importance of female leadership and mentoring the next generation.
During the conversation, Oster-Daum shared key lessons from her own career, including her struggle with perfectionism. An optimist, she said her unwavering confidence has led Cosnova Beauty to success as the world continues to shape new consumer needs.
Cosnova Beauty was founded with the mission to make everyone feel more beautiful by offering the best quality and innovative cosmetics at the most affordable prices in the industry. Oster-Daum said she has seen the message resonate firsthand with her female employees, explaining that they have demonstrated a genuine passion and expertise in their roles. Today, women make up 70 percent of Cosnova Beauty's employees and as such have driven much success through passion.
Oster-Daum added that it is of great interest to her to see how Cosnova Beauty implements ways to also support the women who work at the company to become female leaders, including assistance with childcare and mentorship programs. Mentorship in particular is an area where Oster-Daum said she sees tremendous potential because she has received great mentorship herself.
"Having a mentor and a companion makes it [easier] to be very open and get into the company easily," says Oster-Daum. She explained that it was important for her to also participate as a mentor for young women and recently took on mentoring a 19-year-old student for the summer. "It was a great experience [and showed] how important and fruitful it is to have ambitious young people, and in this case a young lady who brings new ideas, who is not afraid to say something and makes us think about what a very ambitious and someone from our target group is [consumer] group has to say."
In the fourth episode of the series, Moore interviewed Gabriela Hearst, founder and creative director of Gabriela Hearst, about putting female empowerment at the center of Hearst's namesake brand. Inspired by her mother, who competed in rodeos in rural Uruguay and always challenged the status of what a woman should be, as well as countless historical figures, Hearst ensures that women's empowerment is reflected in all her collections.
During the conversation, Hearst also shared a behind-the-scenes look at the dress she designed for actress Gillian Anderson to wear to the Golden Globes in January this year. The design is now known as the 'vagina dress' and sets an example of sex positivity in an important way.
Concluding the special series, the fifth episode features Jane Lauder, Chief Data Officer and Executive Vice President, Enterprise Marketing at The Estée Lauder Cos., interviewed by Fine about the intersection of leadership and AI. Lauder said she believes AI powers products and the consumer experience.
"Sometimes we think that data is impersonal and takes away that personal experience, but what I've actually discovered is that beauty is personal and personally driven by data," says Lauder. "I share with my team that the technology of the past was that vertically integrated technology companies had the advantage. Now AI is driven by enormous amounts of data, so the more native data you have, the greater the advantage you will have."
During the conversation, Lauder also emphasized the importance of women seeing themselves in leadership roles. She has learned several lessons from her grandmother, but the most important one is that you can be anything you want to be.
To listen to WWD Voices and these five special episodes, CLICK HERE. The best of WWDSign up for the WWD newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
