WIN Woman Spotlight: MICHELLE LEE
Michelle Lee
EDITOR IN CHIEF, ALLURE
Three adjectives to describe you: Creative, resourceful, unflappable
Biggest loss: My very first digital company failed when the owners pulled funding from our project. The staff of about 15-20 people were all let go. But, it ended up being one of the greatest learning experiences because that failure motivated me to never let that happen again. I sprung into action, creating my own branded content agency with 3 partners, learned a ton about business and technology in the years that followed, and gained so much insight into what *not* to do.
Biggest win: When Allure won Adweek's Magazine of the Year and I was named Editor of the Year in 2017. As a new Editor in Chief taking over a then-25-year-old iconic brand, there were a lot of questions (and doubts) about how I would change its voice and image. Those awards were the culmination of a lot of extremely hard work by my team who were committed to creating big cultural moments that went beyond what people knew about makeup and skin care and hair. We shifted Allure to be about that intersection between culture and beauty, challenging beauty standards and driving the social conversation about everything from skin color to gender to aging, when we announced we were banning the term anti-aging from all of our content. And, while still staying true to our beauty message, we made larger social statements, for instance becoming the first major women's magazine in the U.S. to feature a woman in a hijab on the cover when we had model Halima Aden with the line This Is American Beauty.
Words to live by: Being safe will only get you so far. I can attribute much of my success to taking risks. As a kid, I never considered myself particularly adventurous or risk-taking, but later in my career, I learned that trying to please everyone means you'll please no one. Take risks. And don't be afraid of making some people angry.
Fantasy dinner date: On a lawn in Tuscany with my family.
If I weren’t doing this I would be: Hosting a series about food and travel
Best negotiation tip: Don't be afraid to ask. I think women, in particular, are very concerned about the other person having a negative opinion of them if they aim too high. Unless you're being completely unrealistic, the other person will not think less of you for asking what you think you're worth. Also, stop looking at negotiation as a one-time event. You need to continually show your worth and build a story about WHY you're so valuable throughout the year, not just give someone a laundry list of accomplishments when you want something.
Favorite self-care ritual: A sheet mask, glass of wine, and listening to nature sounds on my headphones.
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