Five Keys To Jenna Lyons’ Success
Jenna Lyons was named president of J.Crew yesterday. The news arrives after several consecutive raises and bonuses for the creative director. Want to get where Jenna is someday? Here are five key components of her success.
1. A Great Mentor
What can we say? Mickey Drexler is a retailing genius. He recognized Jenna’s talent in 2003 and helped her to design not only for her customer, but herself. The reason J.Crew works so well is because the designers actually wear and like the clothes that they design. Not so with plenty of other high street brands.
2. Consistency. Jenna’s been working at J.Crew since the early nineties, and while we’re sure she’s had plenty of offers to work for other designers and retailers, she’s stuck around, slowly moving up the ranks. Now, I’m not advocating sticking with a dead-end job, but it does feel like people tend to hop scotch from company-to-company without really considering the consequences these days. In the past, my mentors have said to me, “Don’t leave a job until you’ve stopped learning.” Just think how different high street fashion would be if Jenna had left J.Crew four or five years out of school.
