Black MBA - Fall 2008 - (Page 43)

Barbara L. Thomas: I recall during one of your speeches in Minnesota that you made reference to how much you enjoy the work that you’re doing – that you’re being paid to do something that you feel is fun. Tell us a little bit more about what that feels like. How can one create that environment for themselves? Anne Sempowski Ward: One thing those who know me well know is that I do my best when I’m passionate about what I’m doing. As I’ve looked at my career over the years, it’s been very important for me to identify those areas that are inherently points of passion for me. For example, I am extremely passionate about being a voice for African Americans and for people who are underrepresented in media or in brands. It’s also a passion of mine to solve problems – to actually figure out a business challenge that may have been given to me or that I may have walked into. I always remember those things because they’re what drive me. No matter what career move I’ve made, I have looked to make sure it had these two elements because they are what wake me up excited in the morning. This role with Fashion Fair is the perfect fusion of those two things. I have been afforded the opportunity to lead a brand that is targeted to women of color, and particularly Black women, with products that were designed with us in mind. This is tremendously fulfilling. Fashion Fair is a brand that makes women like me look beautiful every day – not that we aren’t already beautiful, but Fashion Fair helps us enhance our natural beauty. And then to have a brand that has been a mainstay in the Black community for 35 years, but honestly could use some contemporization, is a challenge. Fashion Fair is a brand that people know and love, but it also needs to be introduced to a new generation. This is the combination of a business challenge and an area that I’m passionate about. This makes it so that I can come to work every day to create a legacy for Black women in the business world and be a voice for us as valuable consumers. BT: You just applied my “Three P” (Passion, Purpose and Power) concept – looking for something that you’re passionate about, having a clear purpose about why you’re doing it and then using your power and that position to have an impact and make a difference in lives. I would describe you as being a catalyst for change for Fashion Fair. Would you say that you are a Catalyst for Change for more than just Fashion Fair the company, but also for the endusers? ASW: Absolutely. BT: As people think about you, they look to you and Linda as the leaders of this group to say what makes people beautiful. How do you think about that every day when you begin to take on the challenges of the work? ASW: There’s this saying – “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” What I believe is that every woman is beautiful in her own way and that beauty is about much more than just the outside, it’s also the inside. What we strive to do every day at Fashion Fair is to help women accentuate the outside so that they can feel like they put their best face forward. Obviously, we do this through cosmetics and skin care because, unfortunately, women of color have been underserved by beauty companies for many years. We want to be a brand that meets a woman’s needs so that when she goes to tackle the world’s problems or even just her own community’s problems, she feels just a little bit better about how she presents herself in these environments. However, the one thing I never want to say is that we change a woman’s beauty. We don’t change your beauty. We just enhance what’s already there and what you’ve already been given. It’s just that added little touch, that little special thing – whether it’s the lipstick you wear or whether it’s the foundation that truly matches your skin tone. It’s these things that, frankly, that we can’t always find everywhere when we shop. This is what this is for me – creating products that meet our needs and bringing something to the marketplace uniquely designed with us in mind. Lastly, every woman is different in what she wants, and so our goal at Fashion Fair is to offer her, as a woman of color, the broadest range of options. If she wants a particular shade of lipstick that makes her feel like she can conquer the world, our goal is to have that for her. If she wants the widest range of cosmetics because she loves makeup, we want to have that. Depending on what look she wants, depending on her skin tone – we want to meet her needs. BT: What would you say about how to really discover what your passion is and to go after it? Can you share your journey with us? ASW: The first piece of advice I always give anybody – and I don’t care where you are or what you’re doing – is to follow what it is that’s important to you. Don’t let anybody define success for you. I’ve seen young people, mature people and inexperienced and experienced people stay on the treadmill of just doing what somebody else told BlackMBA • Fall 2008 43

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Black MBA - Fall 2008

Black MBA - Fall 2008 Contents Online From the Chairman From the President & CEO Up Front Who is Middle Class? Life and Times of the Middle Class Modern Times CEO to CEO: Why Didn’t I Think of That? Pass it Forward 30 Years of Conference NBMBAA Board of Directors Honorary Co-Chairs Conference History Speaker Showcase Industry Theatre NBMBAA Case Competition® Scholarship Winners NBMBAA Chapter Presidents Conference 2009: New Orleans The New Face of Recruitment Part-Time is the Right Time Across the Pond On Campus Board Bound MBAs for the USA Market Reality: Good Tapping Company Resources On the Move Employer Profiles Leading Bias-Free Mentoring Matters Faith in Corporate Circles Mideast Region Steps Up its Game Collegiate Chapters All in the Family How to… International Markets Are You Happy? Survive and Thrive Striking a Balance Advertiser Index In Focus

Black MBA - Fall 2008

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