I finally finished reading Amy Odell's biography on Anna Wintour and saying that I am impressed is an understatement. I am in complete and absolute awe of this woman.
Much of how Anna turned out is a result of her family and upbringing. As daughter of Charles Wintour, who was a legend in his field, Anna had the epitome of hard work and serious work ethics in her face at a very young age. Her father who was in office by 8 am every morning was responsible for putting out five different editions of the paper a day. "There wasn't any sense that he was an absent father, on the other side, he taught all of us what a work ethic is, and how important it is to love what you do in life." I think this set the tone for her life as she herself would also try to be in office by 8 am and often stay until 8 pm. Growing up, she was very much a part of her parents' lives. The glamorous parties and intellectual milieu was normalized growing up, and contributed to who she is today. Her childhood really gave me something to think about because as young working mothers of today, we are constantly navigating to make something of ourselves and would much rather leave our children with babysitters so they don't get in the way of who we are trying to become. The key thing to note here is that the kids weren't simply a part of random, pointless, drunken social gatherings. The "kind" of people we surround ourselves with will influence not only us but our children as well.
While reading this biography, I couldn't help myself from drawing parallels to my own life. Similar to how I find myself in the midst of social obligations, socializing and networking is equally important as getting basic jobs done for Anna (or even her father). "A successful editor, he thought must accept more invitations than he wants and knows more people than he likes" Important note being that they didn't let social events get in the way of work productivity. (So they clearly were not showing up hungover at work the next day). Anna considers hosting duties as much a part of her work as reviewing magazine layouts. Charles's success, and Anna's too for that matter, is a reward for his stoicism, a level of militaristic discipline. There is a lot to be done, and if you want to reach their level, you are going to have to go beyond what is expected and raise the bar for not only your particular job but of the entire industry as well. Reading this biography reinforced the notion that family background and network makes so much of a difference in opportunities. However, we cannot discount Anna's achievements to her family and the consequent opportunities given to her at the start of her career, because they were a result of her hard work, drive, and talent. Throughout the book, it is obvious that her power is a result of her personality, "which is informed first and foremost by her work ethic. They were impressed by her knowledge of fashion, her taste, her ability to manage a chaotic office." She was able to do it all because her work ethic is on overdrive!
What amazed me about Anna's life was her determination to become the editor in chief of American Vogue. Even when she wasnt the big shot editor, she was "actually living the life of the executive she planned to become" We hear the phrase "eyes on the prize" many times throughout our lives, she showed us how to live with the eye on the prize, never taking the eye off the prize. Her drive came with the knowledge of what her prize was. Even after attaining her goal, she has avoided complacency. She is Gutsy, not scared to shake the boat to make a statement. Instead of being content and sticking to what works for her, she changes them to make them even greater. Anna is not only about being the big boss making big decisions and focused only in the big picture and making her minions do all the work. She is very much a part of the process of the actual work being done. She reviewed every photo from every shoot herself. That level of attention to detail has contributed in taking her to heights I can only dream of. Anna has to be described by her work, not only because she has been on the job for so long, but also because who she is is reflected in her work.
She is my goal, the ultimate woman in my mind, which coincidentally is also the image of womanhood in the Vogue perspective. "Always moving, never slowing down, thoroughly devoted to her career and her own appearance." Except mine will be devoted to her career, her family, and her own appearance.
Anna is someone very sure of herself, someone extremely decisive, but at the same time not close-minded and stubborn, which she could have easily become in her position. Her agility/open-mindedness shows that she was very true to/in touch with reality and the culture of the moment, very in vogue indeed. Her ability to change according to the time, shows her objectivity and shows that she puts work over herself and her ego. She does not let ego get in the way of the greater good of the magazine. Whether it was moving from an exclusive model dominated publication to using celebrity influence on the covers or embracing the digital, she did not shy away from progress. With technological advancements, and the publishing industry becoming a dying business, she accepted reality and faced it with creativity. Instead of fruitlessly fighting the digital, she pushed to be more foreward in the field and wanted to be ahead of the game because she had the mind to see that this was the future. For someone her age to face such a drastic change would not have been easy, but she never really took the easy way route anyway. So, staying true to her nature, she worked towards the future. However, just because she is ready to embrace change doesn't mean she follows every new trend or acts on a whim. She is very clear about what she wants Vogue to be and she creates her own path. She says "resist any cheapening of the brand however popular and lucrative it might be in the short term"
I am not going to lie; I have very conflicting views of Anna on motherhood and her work/life balance. I honestly find it hard to believe that someone in her position with her work life (and the social aspect that comes with her work life) is able to give that time for her children/family and be that good at her job. So I do have my doubts about the objectivity in this portion of Amy Odell's biography, but at the same time I am such a fangirl that a part of me does believe that she is able to do it all. I may be biased because that gives me hope that I will be able to do it all as well. I feel like because she is so efficient and sure of herself, she is able to manage it all. She has many checks in place, every minute of her day is apparently scheduled, a system that works for her to maintain that balance of life. Having said that, to expect her to be as active a mother as a stay at home mom would be unfair. But the fact that she was able to have playdates and sleepovers does speak volumes. One of her son's mom said" she went the whole nine yards as an active mom, as much as her job would allow"
I want to end this with a portion of the book that really sums up what Anna is about "She's full throttle career and full throttle family and I think she has no time for bullshit... She doesnt have time to chitchat about whats going on and just hang out with people. She's dealing with her family and she's dealing with work and she's busy." What a remarkable woman, it's difficult to not be in awe of her especially after reading her biography.
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