.What is a “successful woman” according to Russians?

The life of a modern person is fleeting, it is full of stress and difficulties, every new day is filled with events and emotions, which as a result puts considerable pressure on our psyche. As a result, there is often a desire to change something in your life, to catch that same wind of change and learn to live differently, but is it really that simple?

In an effort to achieve great success, we often drown in the cycle of events, getting lost and dissolving in time, forgetting about many important and valuable things.

As a result, certain patterns emerge: women who are successful in their careers lose the opportunity to build a personal life, and staunch homemakers who devote themselves entirely to family and children are unable to realize themselves in other areas.

But there are also pleasant exceptions, examples when women of different eras and times achieved considerable heights in a wide variety of fields, succeeding in everything at once, making all their dreams come true! How do they do it? Is it true that there is some kind of “success formula”, if you follow it, you can come to a successful life without much care and hassle?

How to become a successful woman in the real world, and not indulge yourself with constant pipe dreams in your own imagination? Let's try to understand this difficult, but very important for purposeful people, issue.

Secrets of real success

What is success? What does this concept include for you? After all, this is the main problem; for everyone, the concept of “success” hides something of its own, personal, and this is not a character trait. It is rather an acquired quality that can only be developed through hard and painstaking work.

In order to become a successful woman, it is not enough to have good external data; for this you need to learn how to competently apply certain knowledge and skills.

As a result, a successful woman is not one who has a well-paid job or a large family, but one who has learned to value and respect herself and has found her favorite business, which brings her not only material benefits, but also real joy.

What, then, is joy and happiness? Perhaps this is the most important thing that a harmonious personality should strive for. After all, it is a happy woman who can really do everything that is not included in this promising and capacious concept: easily combine a career and household chores, have a strong family, manage to take care of her appearance, and also have time for creative self-realization, while feeling comfortable and receiving pleasure from life.

If you try to communicate with successful ladies who have long been able to realize themselves, their secrets of success may be very different, you will be surprised how different the advice you will receive. Some believe that the main key to success was his unshakable faith; indeed, there are people who, from childhood, clearly know what they want and, as a result, achieve it.

Others believe in luck, and still others even insist on a good environment and the right connections. All of these answers can be combined into a general list of basic steps that will help you achieve your goals.

Svetlana Ganeeva - Head of the Investment Policy Department of the Ministry of Economic Development

What are they like, successful women of Russia? Success stories of the fair sex are truly true only in the absence of outside assistants and “producers”. The life and work of Svetlana Ganeeva is an excellent example of such fair success.

Ganeeva's parents were simple physicists. Svetlana followed in their footsteps: she showed great love for the exact sciences. After graduating from school, Svetlana enters MEPhI. In the 90s she worked as a programmer. But this seemed insufficient to her: not wanting to stay with what she had, Ganeeva entered the master’s program at the Higher School of Economics. There she wins a major competition, after which she receives a prestigious position as a consultant at the World Bank.

In 2000, Svetlana got a job at the Ministry of Economic Development. There she soon receives the position of deputy head of the department. Ganeeva’s career took off: she was offered a position in the reform strategy department, and soon in the investment policy department. Thanks to Svetlana, the mechanisms of the private-state apparatus received their qualitative development. It would seem that a woman who has already achieved success should remain in her job. However, Svetlana fundamentally disagrees with this: today she is studying the basics of jurisprudence at MGIMO.

What does Svetlana herself say about her success? Ganeeva believes that adding stories of successful women is not very difficult. In her opinion, these days there are every opportunity to achieve the coveted success. The main thing is to have motivation and healthy gnosticism, not to get upset by problems and not to stop there.

Believe in yourself and only yourself

Most successful women who have found their “place in the sun” are united by their belief in their own abilities, as well as a clear awareness of the goals they want to achieve. The main problem of many girls who just can’t find themselves is the lack of understanding in what area they would like to succeed, as well as a clear understanding of what is needed for this.

Unfortunately, many ladies who dreamed of one profession at a young age end up doing something else, which often does not bring any satisfaction.

SUCCESS STORIES OF WOMEN

Some people think that a man in business is like a fish in water; It’s not without reason that in this area there are so many outstanding figures of genius among the stronger sex: Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Evgeny Chichvarkin, Richard Branson, Pavel Durov and others. But the ladies have not been left behind: every year more and more women conquer the most inaccessible heights of the business world.

Usually only movie heroines manage to make a fast and dizzying career. In real life, moving up the ladder without obstacles, conflicts and problems is much more difficult.

Estee Lauder was born on July 1, 1908, a woman who built a cosmetics empire from scratch and became one of the most influential business people of the 20th century. Do you still think that a woman’s place is in the kitchen? Then I will tell you a few stories about women who, by their example, prove the opposite.

ESTEE LAUDER

Estee Lauder, the daughter of Jewish immigrants, born in the slums of New York, went from selling natural homemade face creams to the owner of a cosmetics empire. In 2003, the company she founded, Estée Lauder, ranked 249th on the list of the 500 largest US corporations with annual revenue of $4.74 billion.

The secret of Estee Lauder's success was anti-aging cosmetics based on Uncle John's recipe plus a successful advertising strategy. She was the first to offer her customers free samples and gifts with purchases and loved consulting clients herself.

One of her famous advertising slogans: “Time is not on your side, but I am!” The most important business principle for her was: “Once you turn your back on a customer, you lose him.”

The system launched by Lauder very soon bore fruit. Lauder preferred to work personally not only with clients, but also with staff: she spent a lot of time behind the counter, inspiring sellers with her example. “My current position is the result not of dreams or hopes, but of hard work,” she reminded her employees.

Her husband Joseph supported Este in all her endeavors, being responsible for the financial affairs of the company; her sons, daughters-in-law and grandchildren continued the business when she retired at the age of 87. Now Estee Lauder is headed by the eldest of the two sons of Estee and Joseph - Leonard Lauder. He started working for the company as a delivery boy at the age of 10, and is now ranked 131st on the list of the world's billionaires.

COCO CHANEL

A girl from a shelter, a seamstress in a ready-made dress shop, a singer in a café - Coco Chanel did not immediately have her own empire. But now the house of Chanel is an example of luxury and elegance with an annual turnover of about 1.089 billion dollars. Gabrielle (Coco) Chanel, a fashion legend of the 20th century, said: “Fashion must be embraced, otherwise you will look ridiculous. However, new things should be taken quietly, in small portions.”

Her secret to success was a little black dress and Chanel No. 5, and her business principle was “Don’t marry a man with a coin purse.”

Coco Chanel did not hide the fact that talent is talent, and her men helped her get on her feet. The first, Etienne, a wealthy heir and sportsman, put his apartment at Gabrielle’s disposal, where she opened her first workshop. A real support for her was the young Englishman Arthur Capel, Chanel’s greatest love. He saw Coco as a promising entrepreneur and in 1910 helped her purchase premises on Rue Cambon in Paris, where she opened her first store. Very soon she opened a fashion house in the fashionable resort of Biarritz.

She offered women unprecedented outfits, partly borrowed from the men's wardrobe, and was able to destroy the stereotype that black is a poor and mournful color. For five years, she produced only black, and things flew off store shelves in an instant. Chanel created fashion without paying attention to traditions, regardless of what was accepted and what was not. In 1953, Chanel in Paris began to produce not only women's clothing, but also bags, shoes, and accessories.

Coco Chanel died in 1971, leaving no heirs. In 1965, the son of Chanel's longtime partner Pierre Wertheimer, Jacques, began managing the fashion business. Since 1983, the fashion direction has been led by Karl Lagerfeld, who has “revitalized the brand” and taken it to a new level.

RUTH HANDLER

Ruth Handler is an American entrepreneur, president of Mattel, and creator of the Barbie doll. The Barbie doll as an idea really turned the whole world upside down. And even though this plastic beauty is already an adult lady (53 years old, after all), but, as we know, time has no power over her. To this day, girls all over the world dream of having her in their toy collection, and older girls want the same proportions, skin, smile and hair.

The future famous entrepreneur worked from the age of 10: after school, she stood at the pharmacy counter and delivered soda to visitors. True, Ruth’s parents still wanted a different fate for her: a quiet family life.

But the purposeful girl had her own program: college and career. She got married really early: her chosen one was Eliot Handler, her faithful business associate, co-creator of Barbie and father of 2 children - Barbara and Ken (yes, the dolls are named after their daughter and son). They founded Mattel, whose products were created based on Handler's talented sketches. But Barbie was “born” only in 1959: it is believed that the Handler couple was inspired by a trip to Switzerland, where they saw a Lilly doll, different from the usual infantile dolls (it was an appetizing beauty). However, the idea of creating such a not quite children's toy did not really appeal to Puritan America; The doll was still released, but at first there was no commercial success.

Ruth did not give up: she was already well versed in technology, so a bright advertising campaign on TV saved the enterprise. Over the first 10 years of sales, this charming plastic beauty brought its creators a profit of almost half a billion dollars! Ruth and Eliot turned from outcasts into real heroes and favorites of America. But this is only the beginning of success, and then regalia literally rained down on Ruth: she became the first woman - vice president of the Toy Manufacturers Association, an outstanding businesswoman of 1961, a woman of 1968 in entrepreneurship, the first woman to be a member of the board of directors of the Federal Reserve System... And in 1970 President Nixon himself appointed Mrs. Handler to the President's Business Advisory Council.

In 1970, Ruth was diagnosed with breast cancer; despite the fact that this strong woman still remained the president of the company, there was no longer any talk of the previous leadership. Business is a cynical thing, so yesterday’s comrades, feeling weak, quickly become enemies. Accusations of financial fraud fell on Ruth, she was sentenced to probation, community service and payment of a tidy sum.

A serious illness, a lost high position, rejection - what is not a reason to give up? But this is not the case with Ruth. She coped and went into another business: she opened her own company, Ruthon, for the manufacture of breast prostheses. Who, if not she, having experienced all the stages of the disease on her own skin, could modify these products!

Ruth put together a team of fellow cancer survivors. The result was not long in coming: already in 1980, sales of the Ruthon company exceeded $1,000,000. Ruth Handler has again become a number one figure and has achieved not just respect, but also adoration from women with breast cancer.

LILLIAN VERNON

Lilian Vernon is a real business guru, a kind of many-faced and many-armed Shiva, from the most ordinary and modest girl of non-aristocratic origin, she has turned into a confident lady, whose opinion is listened to by a huge number of people.

Lillian Vernon's rules for success:

1. Always be considerate of others 2. Don't be afraid to get dirty 3. Work on time to have leisure 4. Use common sense in all decisions 5. Plan with your intuition, but use your head.

She worked from the age of 14, Vernon (then still Menashe) managed to try herself as a saleswoman and usher in a movie theater. Her family fled Nazi Germany to Holland and then to the United States. All these upheavals, however, did not break the future business star. Working with different people, on the contrary, gave Lillian strength and, in her words, “helped fight natural shyness.”

A dropout psychologist, Vernon started her business at age 23, while a pregnant housewife and with a capital of 2,000 wedding dollars, almost 500 of which was spent on advertising in Seventeen magazine. However, such a bold and semi-fairy-tale venture turned out to be more than successful: in 12 weeks of activity, Vernon received orders worth $32,000. Not a bad start for a beginner, isn't it?

Insight, courage and the desire to offer a unique, personalized product, and not consumer goods, are what helped Lilian become a real businesswoman. Someone will say: excitement, easy money; but no. Otherwise, our heroine would not have stayed afloat for more than half a century. Vernon sold belts and purses (that's where it all started), shipping bags, and brass door knockers.

Already in 1954, 3 years after starting her own business, Vernon published a 16-page catalog of her products, sent to 125,000 actual and potential clients. And here the talented woman made the right decision: this enterprise raised her annual income to $150,000. At that time the company was still called Vernon Souvenirs (this is just the name of a suburb, not a surname), but in 1965 it grew to a very respectable and autonomous Lillian Vernon Corporation. By 1970, the company was earning a steady income of about a million dollars annually.

It is said that Vernon, to this day, scrupulously reads every word of the application on each published catalog and personally writes the final approval on any item of the order. Her company still guarantees money back and offers the client to choose the appropriate form of service for their capabilities: by phone, fax or mail. A good approach to the client: how can you be dissatisfied?

MARION LUNA BREM

Marion Luna Brehm owns two auto centers with a turnover of $45 million a year and writes books.

“Sometimes it’s not enough to just knock on doors. Sometimes you need to break them out!” says Marion.

She, originally from Texas, married a military man at age 17, and a year later gave birth to her first son. The family lived very well and comfortably.

5 years after the wedding, a second boy was born. In 1984, when Luna Brem was thirty years old, she was diagnosed with double cancer. In this regard, she underwent two difficult operations - gynecological and breast removal... After this, painful chemotherapy began, due to which Marion completely went bald. At the same time, the doctors promised her no more than two to five years of life. But these were not all the problems.

Not wanting to continue the fight together, Luna Brem's husband leaves her. She is left alone with two children aged 5 and 12, without a job and at the same time owing a huge amount for treatment (the doctors considered her case unusual and interesting for research, so they agreed to carry out treatment on credit, and she did not have insurance ).

Marion had been a housewife almost all her life and now she had no idea how she would support herself and her children. One day she was really bad - she was vomiting after chemotherapy and she couldn’t even get up from the cold tiles of the bathroom, and the voices of children could be heard from the kitchen. Something switched in her head and she firmly decided not to succumb to the disease, with an effort of will she picked herself up from the floor and decided not to give up despite everything.

Luna Brem knew that selling cars brings in good money and so she decided to get into this business. She hoped to get a job at car dealers, despite the fact that they were all men. Marion described her situation to employers, but within two weeks she received 16 refusals. Hope was leaving her, but against all odds, Luna Brem decided to continue her search and changed her strategy. For the 17th time, she did not come to ask for a job, but told the employer that she could sell cars and that the company needed her! It worked!

Based on the results of the first year of work, Luna Brem received the honorary title of Salesperson of the Year and a Rolex men's watch to boot. At the same time, doctors recognized that her oncology had entered the stage of remission, which gave Marion the strength to work even more productively. For the next two years, she was the top salesperson, but she didn't want to stop there. She offered herself to the employer for a management position, but was refused, motivated by the fact that “You would have to be an idiot to remove you from sales, considering how much money you bring in!”

As difficult as it was to leave a stable job and client base, Marion leaves the company in search of the desired position, which means that she will again have to knock on closed doors. After several weeks of trying, Luna Brehm was accepted into a management position at another car dealer.

She quickly moved up the ranks and within two years was ready to become a car dealer herself. For this, she lacked some $800,000, but for her this amount was unattainable, just like $800 million. Marion rolled up her sleeves again. She wrote a business plan, placed it in 50 folders along with her biography, publications, certificates, and sent it to 50 auditors representing investors. Two weeks later, an investor was found and Luna Brem opened her own car dealership selling Chrysler cars.

So in 1989, just five years after the sale of the first car, “Love Chrysler” appeared with a heart on every car. Motto.

Marion's efforts brought great results. Today she is cancer-free, owns two auto centers with a turnover of $45 million a year, and writes books. It’s hard to imagine that when she was thirty, she lost her breasts, her husband, and the doctors predicted the loss of her life.

I gave you examples of some women, and there are a lot of women who gain courage, determination, confidence, and professionalism.

What do women in Russia need first of all to become successful? This is an interesting idea, the desire and willingness to work, the presence of many positive examples of successful women, to be persistent and not to give up. We must act!

Overcoming difficulties helps you grow! Without effort there is no taste of victory, triumph!

We leave work at work

For many women, it remains a mystery how you can succeed at work, but also not forget about family and home, how to find time and energy for all this? Make a few important rules for yourself: never have an affair at work, even mail and social media accounts should be separate, which should only be used at work.

The first will help you avoid unnecessary gossip and disapproval from your superiors, as well as possible subsequent problems or even dismissal. The second rule will allow you to come home and completely forget about what remains outside the office.

Even at home, you won’t have to look through photographs and notes of colleagues, or receive unexpected messages about the need to redo the annual report overnight, until you check your email during working hours.

Never take work home, and do not mix work relationships and life outside of work. Thanks to the time saved in this way, you will be able to find time for loved ones, spend weekends and holidays exclusively with your family, without being distracted by work-related matters.

Political success

Are there stories of successful Russian women? Of course they do. However, statistics show that there are not so many of them - only 3% of the total list of the richest people. The criterion of independence “cuts off” several more women from here.

Before starting the story about Russian business women, it is worth paying attention to high-ranking officials. Are there many women politicians in our country who have managed to achieve success on their own? Stories of successful women who were able to obtain a high position in power are quite numerous. Here it is worth remembering Svetlana Ganeeva, head of the investment policy department of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation, and Elena Fastova, director of the finance and accounting department. It is quite misleading to imagine that the persons represented do not play a special role, and their positions are small. After the administrative reform of 2004, Ganeeva and Fastova became equivalent to deputy minister under Mikhail Kasyanov. Moreover, at the time of receiving their duties, both women were not yet 40 years old, which, by the way, is very rare even by today's standards.

One can recall women politicians at the regional level. The most prominent representative here is Valentina Ivanovna Matvienko, the former governor of St. Petersburg and once deputy prime minister. The success story of this woman is idealized by some people, criticized by others. Some argue that Valentina Ivanovna could not have achieved anything without the goodwill of the president. Others say the opposite - that only thanks to her strong and strong-willed character this woman was able to reach such heights.

Faith in the best and the destruction of laziness

Laziness is an evil vice that needs to be eradicated in our minds at the root, because it is it that takes away many of our opportunities and prevents us from achieving our goals.

Remember, if you do today what others don't want to do, tomorrow you will live better than others can afford. The main thing is to never despair and believe that each successive failure brings you one step closer to triumph.