Master Class: Anna Wintour

Background:

– She grew up around it but also just did everything because no one could afford to have special people. She watched her dad work formulatically and she didn’t like that. She grew up in the 60s that allowed her to feel cultural revolution where class barriers broke down.

– She got where she is by being creative, by keeping learning, and networking and hearing ideas, travelling – be well rounded

– You need to have a deeper meaning for everything you’re doing

Getting the Work Done: Management Tips

• Strong Vision
• Developing taste: its just kind of in you, but you expose yourself to culture, arts, reading, travel
• Don’t spend time glued to your phone or computer: see a thing in person
• It also comes with maturity and time
• People aren’t great early on unless you have to be (like an athlete) – it’s about just exploring it
• If you do it well, they should be able to look at your product and know who you are
• You are driven by your heart, talent, and instinct: don’t look at what other people are doing; listen to the information, but just do who you are
• Take time to learn and gain experience:
• You don’t know what you want when you’re young, try everything
• Find out what you don’t like vs what you do like
• Don’t lock yourself in to one path, you’ll pick up so much over time
• Be wary out of people out of school who want to start businesses: you need to stand on the shoulders of giants by exposing yourself to them through working
• Act like nobody is telling you “no.”
• Freedom develops leadership and creativity.
• PUSH people – mentors should push, not pull you back
• Take the risk because you never are going to do it
• Young people who aren’t told “no” will do different things, and it’s cool.
• Understand and respond to criticism
• Take full responsibility for tough decisions
• Hire a great team and always give the credit
• Surround yourself with people who you enjoy, who’s opinions I respect, who dream of things you can’t do, who you respect
• Diversity of age, backgrounds, opinions – they will help protect you and inform you 
• Hire someone who is a self starter, who can make decisions on our behalf, who is discreet, loyal, positive, straight talker, passionate about the world they are entering – it’s NOT a job
• Give them leadership decisions on their own – no to micromanaging, it suffocates
• Discourage settling in: don’t let people just hang out and chat with you. Informal meetings and weekly meetings. Just get the work done, in and out.
• Prioritize fast, direct feedback that is honest; nobody works well if it feels lazy or slow moving. Let people know where they are. Pushing people will make them feel confident and everything is possible.
• Scheduling
• Get up early – read the news, work out
• Work
• Take home bag is: copy, pitches, resumes, publications to look at 
• Get everything done so no one is waiting to move forward
• Build a system that keeps track of your work

• Always tell the truth
• Don’t say you love something that you know someone loves if you really don’t
• Prepared
• On time
• Be yourself: clear and honest
• Don’t worry about what you wear; surface doesn’t matter
• It matters what movies and books they read, why they want to work there, WHO ARE THEY?

• Have a good relationship with your boss. You need to trust and talk to them. And expect truth. Then the boss should support you after you talk to them.
• Think about the person you’re going to be working for: if you don’t respect or see them as a mentor, don’t accept it
• Don’t exhaust your mentors:
• Establish a network of people whose advice you can count on and follow
• Shouldn’t be barraging people with questions: careful, serious, and direct questions, and you will be taken seriously
• Listen to all the advice in the world, but make decisions that are right for YOU.

• Not everyone will agree with you – you’ll be criticized
• Don’t ignore it, listen to it and hear it, and maybe learn from it
• BUT remain true to your own vision
• It’s even more important to be true to yourself because of fake news – make sure your audience knows what you stand for
• You can’t be everything to everybody
• Plant your flag in the ground that’s appropriate to the route you’re taking
• Weekly meetings
• Everybody comes
• Post postmortems of big events for everyone is key
• Lead with your own point of view
• But also listen to others’ perspective
• Daily meetings
• Meetings work out what is important, but you as the leader take the direction
• People meet in the leader’s office
• Asks questions for what you expect and then clarify if the answer isn’t right
• Passion and conviction are key
• Give people the assignments they are passionate about, that they’re moved by
• Diversity brings it all
• Be decisive. Don’t agonize.
• There’s a double standard for women leaders for being decisive or critical or strong
• You can’t let criticism worry you – explain it to those who are involved, but move it on
• Be clear on your thinking, then turn the page
• Worrying about others will dilute your judgement and effectiveness
• Own and trust your choices and instincts, even if it’s against the advice of others
• Don’t bow to consensus or pressure

• Data can’t tell you everything
• Research and facts exist, and who cares?
• We talk about what we care about and what we understand. Our voice will draw the demographic in.
• Your passion reaches the audience, you don’t do it through data and analytics
• The heart, soul, and vision is what matters – if you’re true to that, then okay
• Always think big picture
• Truth, meaning, saying something – weight
• Just shut down ideas aren’t working out instead of letting people keep yapping
• Make “wrong” choices
• If someone says it doesn’t fit the vibe, maybe take that as a push to break the rules in the right way
• If it’s cultural, relevant, and controversial: lead the way
• You might shock people and get complainers and cancelers, but you are leading.
• Fail: it’s worth it
• You have an idea? Just do it. If it fails, you learn and then be relieved that you tried and you never have to do it again
• It will help you refine what you should do going forward
• You won’t understand it until it’s out in the great wide world – don’t be frightened of the mistakes
• Own your mistakes
• Own it, then move forward
• Choose your controversies
• You can’t do a big controversy every month: choose, think, have meaning
• Recognize the controversy of the day
• Keep the controversy quiet until you launch it
• Balance risk for reward or downside vs opportunity
• Stay open
• You can end up too removed or open to what is going on the world
• Make a strong point of being available:
• Walk
• Travel
• Read
• Movies
• Theatre
• Museums
• You need to not seem too disconnected or cut off, give the impression of being open and available and engaged

• It takes time to make a bold initiative
• Opportunities come in unexpected ways
• Building a relationship with traditionalists is hard
• You have to understand stakeholders needs and the push them for what it could be
• People’s instincts are to be conservative and protective so they can support a stronger vision
• You have to learn diplomacy – understand how far you can push with something public and traditional
• Build excitement
• You need a subject matter/theme that can be talked about in the press
• Compelling guest list
• Diversity with a theme
• Why are the guests there, why do they want to be there, and why does it have to be a better experience than elsewhere
• Detail to EVERYTHING
• Show you bring real value, don’t give away any piece of it
• To achieve important heights, have patience

• Photographs define you, tell a story, and reflect a time
• Tell the story
• Studio shows you just the thing
• Intentional locations tell a story
• Reflect culture
• Show your work and rise to the challenge
• Hone your eye
• Show it off
• Trust the artist and balance the vision
• Room for creativity but also remember what your business needs
• Pull a lot of images that you like, and look through portfolios with that
• Look for resonation over time
• Read about the subject, study, talk to them, learn about them and then shoot
• Define your brand
• Culture, what you see, tell a powerful story and important message
• Use models that stand for something
• Interesting, charisma, personality
• Don’t be cookie cutter

• What is it, what does it stand for, how do you move it forward?
• People want change
• Make your mark, but make it intentional
• They expect the change
• Lead from the heart
• Instincts vs insensitive thinking
• What do you want to do? Do that
• Don’t listen to anyone else unless you have deep concerns
• Ear to the ground
• Eyes open, and recognize culture changing, be aware and antennae out there
• Let the master lead
• You have to listen to them if you want to earn them
• When you come across great talent, remember, let them lead
• Bring others into the process
• Trust your team
• What you have in your mind, isn’t always the right thing, let the team do the magic
• You’re only as good as your team
• You’re only as good as the process
• Don’t get stuck in your old ways
• Post cover and essays ahead of publication because the print made it collectable and looking forward to it
• Instant response is lovely, but never surprising
• Do what you feel is right, and then you know it’s going to happen
• Do not look at what’s trending
• You have a voice, use it
• Do the work and research
• Make a clear statement with subtlety to give voices to others
• Be Inspired

• Be bold, your industry needs it
• Do the most creative, most extreme
• People want you to succeed
• Success comes from all directions
• Show us a strong point of view, something different – originality
• Know what you want to achieve and own that
• You don’t have to be loud
• Just meet with the important people and show off what you have
• Think creatively and true to who you are
• Think about presentation
• Get well advised, think about fuller detail of wat you do
• You need a Five-Year plan
• Your own company isn’t always a path to success
• Celebrity is a pitfall, you need planning and tactics
• It’s unusual for creatives to be business people
• Business partner: compatibility, strengths you don’t have
• The partnership actually makes people invest and secure it
• Go for the shock of new
• Not a good idea to look for a replacement that is identical – grow
• It’s more successful if you find brilliant talent, not a watered down version of what came before
• just look for the creative spirit

• Developing talent is a process: create a fund or contest that results in mentorship? Work with your industry
• Look to see what can you do to mobilize and be helpful? Talk amongst your team and . . . 
• Lead: reschedule, help create a show for smaller people, 
• It’s better to be engaged and help and be positive than to sit back and give up
• Admissions program with fill out in great detail
• Strong sense of self
• Vision
• What distinguishes them in the industry
• Video submissions
• What is that person like, how do they present themselves in front of a camera
• Business success, resume
• Narrow applicants, divide to selection committee – present who they think of final 10
• Site visits
• Everything tells the same story
• Intention, love, effort
• Clean your apartment, be dressed, have coffee, go with someone else
• Portfolios:
• Don’t be too tricky
• Everything needs to have a meeting, should be clear, avoid being “clever” – be earnest
• Panel interviews
• Feedback and advice
• Ask direct question
• Nudge toward other careers

• Christopher Bailey – his experience working for the best allowed him to give him confidence and efficacy
• Someone right out of college just is few and far between on success
• Work for strong people
• Stayed strong in his vision and fought the establishment
• He also left when he was at the top 
• Miucca Prada – she made things desirable by creating an aesthetic
• Strong sense of character – who it’s for
• She won’t veer from her path but she’ll explore it
• Michael Kors – strong sense of self
• He found a way when he was stressed out
• Found investors and became successful
• He’s super grounded
• Understanding his customer and loving her, do a mood board, do an inspiration board

• How do we change, how do we use it as a platform
• What can we do from an extracurricular to help the community?
• How do we talk to our audiences in a personal, meaningful way?
• What is it to be a climber today, a gym owner, a  . . . whatever, vulnerable
• Conference for inside look for what we do and creative visionaries do
• Simple and direct videos: do you wear sweatpants? No. 🙂 
• There are times when you need to respond, not just lead: give hope and activism as a message
• Make a stand and say, “Follow us.”
• It is very important, whatever you’re doing, you have a responsibility to give back to the world
• Engage thoughtfully, take a point of view, be thoughtful and stand by it