Who: Ivanka Trump, author, designer, real estate scion, CEO and founder of the Ivanka Trump Collection, principal of Ivanka Trump Fine Jewelry, wife, mother, and now lifestyle entrepreneur.
Why: For creating the ultimate destination for women who work.

I want to be Ivanka Trump when I grow up.

For most humans, being executive vice president of acquisitions and development at the Trump Organization would be enough. But not for Ivanka Trump. In 2007, Trump seized an opportunity to launch a jewelry collection with a potential partner in real estate because she was drawn to the idea of creating a jewelry line for women buying for themselves. The concept of a self-purchasing female was lost among traditional jewelers, who catered their business almost exclusively to men, Trump said. And so, the Ivanka Trump brand was born.

A few years later, Trump identified a void in the fashion space — a brand that addresses the needs of the modern professional woman. In 2010, she launched her fashion label, Ivanka Trump Collection, that catered to this demographic. The business took off, and the line has grown to include apparel, accessories, home goods, fragrances and sunglasses. The Ivanka Trump collection currently has 11 different product lines sold in Nordstrom, Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s and more than 300 additional locations.

As Trump has built her brand, she’s kept an eye on how corporate culture supports women like herself, who are juggling young kids at home. According to Fortune, Trump doesn’t have a formal vacation or paid sick day policy for her apparel company’s employees. She focuses instead on hiring people who would never abuse this policy and use their time off so they can perform at their best for the company. Trump, the mother of three-year-old Arabella and one-year-old Joseph, also set up a “kid corner” in her office for employees who need to bring their children to work from time to time.

Trump also empowers her employees to set their own schedules so they can train for a marathon in the morning, walk their kids to school or pick them up after. Rather than build a “butts in seats” culture, Trump said she recognizes that face time in the office is hardly applicable anymore in our highly connected work. Everything can be measured, said Trump, so as long as you’re performing, you can excel at her firm.
Recently, Trump realized there was an opportunity to make an impact in the lives of the women buying her products. She put together a team to evolve the Ivanka Trump brand into a lifestyle concept dedicated to women who work, and subsequently launched IvankaTrump.com, a site that celebrates women working at all aspects of their lives.

“Women who transition between their various roles in professional and personal capacities: building careers, raising children, nurturing relationships and pursuing passions,” the site says. Editorial content features inspiration, tips, tricks and life hacks for categories including style, work, home and travel. Everything is designed to be serviceable and easy to share.

Trump told Vogue that refining the site’s message had its challenges. “I was interviewing some of the best creative agencies in New York about refining our message,” Trump recounts, “and I came to them with the premise that I wanted to create a company for women who work, and was blown away by the response that I got. They basically told me that ‘work,’ when associated with women, wasn’t marketable. And it wasn’t aspirational. And it wasn’t sexy. And they tried to have me change my tagline from ‘women who work’ to ‘women who do.’ I’m sitting there kind of rolling my eyes and looking at these mainly men in front of me who are giving me this feedback and I had this aha! moment — this is exactly why this sort of hilarious stereotype of a one-dimensional working woman prevails.”

As part of the launch, Trump unveiled a new initiative, #WomenWhoWork, that celebrates, well, women who work. “The modern working woman looks fundamentally different from women in previous generations,” the site says. “For the first time in history, we’re embracing the fact that our lives are multidimensional. We’re doing work we love, work that inspires us, and we’re also pursuing our passions and making them priorities.”

Women Who Work banner

What really got my attention about the #WomenWhoWork initiative was the official launch video. It features 13 powerhouse women who talk about the different roles they take on in both their professional and personal lives. The women featured include Lauren Bush Lauren, founder and CEO off FEED, a company that sells bags, accessories, and apparel with a portion of each bag donated to the United Nations World Food Program; Jodie and Danielle Snyder, founders of New York City-based jewelry label DANNIJO; and Alexa Von Tobel, CEO of LearnVest, a financial planning company. Visitors can watch the video and are then encouraged to share a video listing their own “extended job titles.” They can also post their videos to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or other social sites with the hashtag #WomenWhoWork, tagging @IvankaTrump. Their videos could be featured on Ivanka’s site, along with clips from other women.

What do you think of the #WomenWhoWork initiative? Does it speak to you? Let us know by posting a comment below!