May 6, 2019
Ray Hoffman introduces his guest
Veronica Dagher in the form of a note: “I like your work, Veronica
Dagher. I like your Wall
Street Journal columns
on successful women, your Secrets of Wealthy Women
podcasts, as well as your new ebook
based on the columns and podcasts. It’s called
Resilience,
and it offers a lot of lessons in
life. And, take it from me, not just lessons for other women. And
you and I would both agree, the timing is perfect for the column,
the podcast, and the book.”
Listen in for fascinating stories of women
overcoming challenges.
Key Takeaways:
[:20] Ray Hoffman introduces Veronica Dagher.
[:53] Veronica says there is a current wealth transfer of about $33 trillion from one generation to the next in America. Women will inherit a lot of that money. Veronica shares stories about wealth, success, and entrepreneurship, featuring some very well-known women in her Wall Street Journal columns and podcasts.
[1:10] Maria Sharapova, Josie Natori, and Rebecca Minkoff are a few of the subjects of these stories about how they built their successes and the obstacles they overcame. The book Resilience came after the columns and podcasts.
[1:33] All the women in the book Resilience have overcome obstacles such as bankruptcies, difficult divorces, loss of a child, or business difficulties. Some faced people telling them they would never be successful. They didn’t listen to those voices. When they were knocked down, they just got up faster than other folks.
[2:31] Veronica’s optimism and faith come from her family background and personal experiences of overcoming the devastating loss of her father and still pushing on. Her mother instilled in her from a young age the desire to be a financially independent woman while relying on people she trusts among family, faith community, and friends.
[3:37] Veronica took leave for four months when her mother grew suddenly very sick. Veronica watched her mother face illness and unanswered medical questions, and come back to good health. This experience helped Veronica to grow tougher and more assertive.
[4:20] When Veronica’s father passed, they were able to keep the house and lifestyle, with very careful management of their resources. The constant conflict between how her mother managed the budget and how her father had regarded money more casually informs Veronica’s work today in her attention to family dynamics.
[5:41] Veronica studied finance in school, with no thought of journalism as a career. It seemed to be a solid choice, given her family background.
[6:53] The subjects of Resilience range in age from Ayesha Curry, 29 when interviewed, to Mary Higgins Clark, “90-something.” Veronica shares her ideas on how their age demographic affected the choices of the women interviewed.
[7:44] The “entrepreneurial gene” is not found just in America. Josie Natori came to America from the Philippines and is very proud to be an American. The Natori Company is known around the world. She has the attitude that as a woman it is okay to be successful. It’s okay to believe that anything is possible. Don’t limit yourself.
[10:03] The Philippines has a huge matriarchal, entrepreneurial culture. Josie Natori was a working mom from the beginning. Josie and her husband worked together and had an agreement that their marriage and family would take precedence over the company. They’ve been married for over 50 years. Their son is taking a big role, now.
[11:37] At age 91, Mary Higgins Clark, the Queen of Suspense, is amazing. Veronica taped the podcast with her in the Clark home in New Jersey, and Mary told Veronica she had enjoyed the process immensely.
[12:01] Mary Higgins Clark did not have an easy life. Her father had died when she was young. Her first husband died suddenly when she was in her thirties with five children to raise. Her short stories, a popular form of the day, were rejected “something like 50 times.” Editors told her she would never be successful. She didn’t give up.
[12:37] Mary Higgins Clark eventually became a best-selling novelist — one of the highest-paid women and highest-paid novelists in U.S. history. She stays very humble.
[12:57] Mary Higgins Clark and Veronica Dagher are both Fordham graduates. They had met at a Fordham event several years ago and Veronica had asked Mary for writing advice. Mary shared that at one point the family was almost on food stamps. She needed to write for money. Obviously, that worked out.
[13:46] When Mary Higgins Clark had first submitted a short story to Cosmopolitan Magazine, an editor called it light and trite. Years later, a Cosmopolitan editor called asking for her to write something for them and Mary told her agent, “Tell them yes but make them pay.”
[14:14] When Veronica started the podcast, she wrote names of women to interview. Oprah topped the list, but that one hasn’t happened yet. Maria Bartiromo was taped “today.” Maria Sharapova was on in the fall. Bobbi Brown was another name on the list.
[14:58] Using a Google Docs spreadsheet, Veronica had put together her list of dream people for the podcast and the people she knew who could connect her to them. She did a lot of pitching people trying to make connections and attended a lot of events to introduce herself to people.
[15:36] Veronica is still going to events, tracking people down and trying to meet them but now she is getting a lot of high-quality incoming pitches from big names.
[16:00] The common thread between the millennial entrepreneurs and the older entrepreneurs is the resilience. The younger entrepreneurs see opportunity everywhere. They are not limiting themselves to one sector or area of business. For example, Ayesha Curry is into cookware, media, and other ventures. She leveraged her network.
[17:49] Ayesha Curry faced the criticism of having opportunities through her husband. Other women Veronica interviewed also faced criticism because of the advantages of their family circumstances. Yes, certain doors were opened, but they had to walk through the doors, to follow up, and to build the companies and brands they have.
[18:41] Loreen Arbus is the daughter of the founder of ABC. She is a philanthropist, a programming executive, and she has her own production company. She does so much, and she didn’t have to do any of it for the money. She works for the sake of work.
[19:13] The first daughter of Loreen’s father, Leonard Goldenson was born with cerebral palsy. In those days, the family was turned away from hotels and restaurants because of her disability. This was an important influence in Loreen’s advocacy for people with disabilities. Loreen helps people with disabilities to become successful in media.
[20:09] Loreen deliberately changed her last name as a young teenager to avoid riding on her father’s coattails. Veronica was at a party at Loreen’s NYC apartment recently and it is incredible in its decoration and style. Loreen is not afraid to take risks.
[20:55] Barbara Bradley Baekgaard of Vera Bradley told Veronica she wasn’t very good at math and didn’t have an MBA, but she and her friend had an idea for cute luggage. They borrowed $500 from their husbands, bought some fabric, and hired some people to sew the bags. They knew nothing of marketing or finance.
[21:50] They learned everything they needed from SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives), which is a huge resource for entrepreneurs who want to learn.
[22:14] An unexpected lesson for Veronica in her interviewing came from Bonnie St. John, an Olympic athlete with a disability, who had suffered childhood abuse. Bonnie said that, as a child, you have a lot of people around you who push you. Her success, as an adult, has been from seeking out people who helped push her to the next level.
[23:17] Veronica thinks that lesson, to seek out people who are going to challenge you and push you to the next level, is really important for entrepreneurs and for women in business.
[23:31] Many of the interviews in Resilience touch on work-life balance and being a working mother. Katia Beauchamp, co-founder of Birchbox told Veronica the whole idea of work-life balance is a myth. You’re never going to feel fully in balance. The best scenario is that you love what you do at work and you love your home life.
[24:11] Katia Beauchamp told Veronica that there are certain times when a mother is going to have to focus on her career more than on her home life. As a mom, you don’t have to be perfect all the time. No one is perfect. Just do your best and focus on the good that you are doing and the things you are doing right.
[24:44] Kate White would leave her office at Cosmopolitan at 5:00 p.m. and have the babysitter make dinner while she spent time with her children. After dinner and more time with the children, she went back to her office.
[25:01] Veronica knows a lot of women today who are logging back on after they put the children to bed. It’s not the ideal situation, but there are times when the work has to get done. It’s a way to work things out. Hopefully, the boss understands that you need to leave sometimes at 5:00 for the soccer game or whatever.
[25:40] Veronica has learned not to be afraid to ask for what you want. The stories in her interviews have reinforced that principle for her. It’s not always easy to tell people what your expectations are. There is a way to do it that suits you as a person, even if there is pushback. You’re never going to get what you don’t ask for.
[26:31] Next for Veronica is a video series, more on Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, a lot more of the Secrets of Wealthy Women podcasts, and hopefully, branching out into more stories on women in finance and the workplace.
[26:56] You can download Veronica Dagher’s ebook, Resilience, at WSJ.com. This is Capitalism.