My Journey to the Top

Andrea Wong
President and CEO of Lifetime Network and Entertainment Services

My parents always allowed me to fail when I was growing up, and I think that gave me a lot of strength going forward in my life. I lost high-school and junior-high elections when I ran for class president. I learned early in life to get up and dust yourself off and keep going.

And though I've loved every minute of my career, it hasn't always been easy and I always tap into the lessons my parents taught me. For every one hit on television, there are umpteen shows that never or only briefly see the light of day. I've had some great successes, but I've put on some failing shows. And it's very painful.When you're in this business and you're developing TV shows, you get your ratings the very next morning, and sometimes it's really great and you feel good. And there are times when it completely ruins your day or your week or your month, because with the ratings, America votes every day.

And when you do succeed in this business, there's no better rush than having a hit TV show. When I was overseeing reality programming for ABC, I fought to bring "Dancing With the Stars" to the U.S. and people thought I was totally out of my mind. I knew it was a big risk, but it was something I believed in so strongly. And luckily for me, it garnered record ratings. All the stars have to align to make a hit happen. You have to have developed, scheduled, cast, and marketed the show correctly. The script has to be great. The director has to give the show life in a way, in the perfect way. And then you've got to have writers who can keep writing those stories every week. And that's really hard.

While in college at MIT (the hardest four years of my entire life), I was taught how to look at a problem, figure out how to break it down and attack each part on its own with a disciplined approach. I know that I will never solve harder problems than I did while I was there.

I am now dealing with the challenge of coming into Lifetime and growing this company and growing this brand. It's the same approach, the same mental confidence that allows me to know how to look at the issues. Whether it's breaking down the marketing issues, the issues with respect to programming, the building of the right team and putting the right team in place, or making our advocacy work for us. I break it down like I did in college.

I was gratified to walk through work the first day at Lifetime a few months ago. There were so many diverse faces. I think diversity is important not because it's the right thing to do, but because it's the right business thing to do. If we're targeting women, we're targeting the entire country; we need to reflect the entire female population, which is a diverse population.

We look carefully at female role models. I think it's really important to be a mentor to people that you think are promising. People did it for me, and it helped me grow and be a better leader. Women and minorities need that help more than anyone because there are less people like them who are successful in the higher ranks of companies.

Talking to people effectively is all about being encouraging. All the feedback, some of it negative, is meant to make them better leaders. When I have something bad to say to someone, it's always hard because I'm always thinking of the best way to say it. There are many times when I wish people would tell me when I could be doing something better.

Lifetime's been known for a long time for being an advocate for women, for taking on challenges, for helping get bills passed. The big initiative that we're going to push in the next year is our Every Woman Counts campaign. It's meant to ensure that women are heard in the presidential election. For me, it's the No. 1 advocacy project. This is a big push for 2008.

It's amazing how comfortably you fall into a role, in my case a CEO role. I'm sort of blown away that I have this job, and I feel incredibly lucky.

Rachel Roy
Designer

I grew up in an unassuming family, where the primary focus was on hard work and education--needless to say, our television time was limited, but as a treat we were allowed to watch old Hollywood movies. It was through film that I first found and began to cultivate an interest in fashion. I loved the way the actresses looked—they were strong and beautiful with perfect hair and makeup. These images were what piqued my interest, with their portrayal of equal parts glamour and strength.

In sharp contrast to the women I admired on film, the surroundings of my childhood were less glossy. So many young girls in communities like mine applied self-worth to the attention they received from men. This type of attention was instantly gratifying for some girls, and unfortunately still is. I wanted to portray confidence and positive self-esteem, and I equated a sophisticated look with this ideal.The juxtaposition of these circumstances versus my own dreams only inspired me to not lose sight of the woman I aspired to be.

When I was a child we went school shopping once a year, and got to spend $200 for an entire wardrobe at Mervyns. Fed up and fueled by the lack of interesting clothing options in the store, I was convinced that if given the opportunity, I could put better styles, silhouettes and fabrics into the stores I was compelled to shop in. My mother told me that this was the job of a buyer, and in turn, my new goal was born: I wanted to be a buyer for Mervyns.

In high school, partly motivated by my father's decree that all of his children had to have a job at 14 (or he would find one for us), I made a decision that I wanted to work at Contempo Casuals, which was the height of glamour at the time. If I couldn't work at Contempo, I didn't want to work anywhere.

I started in stock (decidedly unglamorous) and within two years I was assist-ant manager. When I went to college in Washington, D.C., they transferred me and I continued working, while also attending classes.

It wasn't the most natural thing for me. I'm not a salesperson and if you don't like how the dress looks on you, I will tell you not to buy it. Despite this, I was always the first one there and always the last one to leave. I learned so much, and loved every minute.

After college, I moved to New York and started all over again in a different area of fashion as a personal shopper at a store in northern New Jersey. I slowly transitioned into personal styling, which opened a new world of opportunity.

Eventually, I was styling for music videos through my now husband, who is Damon Dash. Ironically, that didn't go well because my esthetic was so different from the current look of the time. I remember showing up once with a beautiful gray Gucci sweater, a pencil skirt and bright red heels—I thought it was so chic and elegant for the girl I had in mind, and of course it was nixed.

But Damon saw me as someone who stood out in terms of style in the music industry and who was resolved in her opinions. He invited me to style the female artists on his label, which was during an exciting time of growth at his company, as he had decided to begin a clothing line. I couldn't have been happier about it, but once again, I had to start over.

Damon told me that if I wanted to work in his company, I had to intern. By this time we were dating, which was at first a bit awkward, but I was determined to prove myself. I threw myself into the work, interning in every company, tracking everything I did to contribute, and involving myself in as many facets of the business as possible. I wanted to make myself irreplaceable, and to learn the ins and outs of the business side of fashion.

After about six years, I approached the owners about doing a more advanced collection beyond T shirts and sweats, which they all loved, but then Damon sold his portion of the company, so I left when he left. Eventually, Damon backed me in my own line, which I've been doing for four years now.

In hindsight, my initial love for fashion was about hope and evolving to become the type of woman I wanted to be: strong, confident and feminine. I always loved the idea of dressing up--my wardrobe and how I present myself reflecting how I feel on the inside. That is what I do for other people now. I give women the means to express themselves and be who they are and who they aspire to be, and I think there is a real beauty in this.