Letter #261: Ivanka Trump (2010)
EVP of The Trump Organization and Advisor to the US President | An Interview with Ivanka Trump
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Ivanka Trump was most recently Advisor to the President of the United States of America, where she focused on the education and economic empowerment of women and their families as well as job creation and economic growth through workforce development, skills training, and entrepreneurship. Prior to joining the Office of the President, Ivanka oversaw development and acquisitions at the Trump Organization as an Executive Vice President of Domestic and Global Expansion. She also operated an eponymous lifestyle brand that included apparel, footwear, handbags, jewelry, and fragrances, which she shut down to pursue a career in public policy. Ivanka started her career as a Project Manager in the Retail Development division of Forest City Ratner.
Today’s interview is the transcript of one of Ivanka’s earliest longer-form interviews. In this interview, Ivanka shares when she realized that real estate was going to be her path, what advice she would give to those looking for their path, what lessons and skills she’s learned transferable across the different domains in which she operates, what’s been her biggest challenge to date, what are the constants in her life, where the future will take her, who were her early mentors, the best piece of advice she’s received, what she knew “now” that she wished she did five years prior, and more!
I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did! It’s a fascinating look into Ivanka’s early professional years before she entered the world of politics.
[Transcript and any errors are mine.]
Related Resources
Real Estate
Trump Advisors/Cabinet
Other
Transcript
Host: So we are here in Trump Tower, the headquarters of the real estate empire that you are such an instrumental part of. And I'd be really curious to know when you realized that real estate was going to be your path.
Ivanka Trump: Wow. I mean, I don't know that there was ever a point in my life when I thought I would take another road. So pretty much since inception this was something that I wanted to do. I think part of it is hereditary. I think part of it is that my family, for so many generations--on my mother's side, as well as my father's--have been involved in development, building, engineering, construction. So most of my formative memories involve a bulldozer or construction site. So I think it's something I always grew up with, and I just really love doing.
Host: Especially in today's climate, there are so many people who are looking for the kind of direction and the kind of passion that you clearly have. What kind of advice would you give to those people who are looking for their passion, looking for their path?
Ivanka Trump: Well that's one of the reasons, actually, I wrote my book. It was meant to be geared towards a younger audience, an audience akin to me and my peers that are in the first few stages of their career. And I think all too often, I look around at my girlfriends and my guy friends, and they're in jobs that they don't really have a lot of growth potential in, that they're not passionate about. And I think if we're ever going to make bold decisions, it has to be at this point in our life. We have to be out there, we have to be experimenting, we have to be looking for that which makes us tick. And I think a big part of that evolution for me was really summer jobs and working and making sure to actually get into the world and try different things, and eliminate those, which is as useful--eliminating those career paths that you're not interested in--as it is doing things that do interest you. But I think just being bold and taking risks when you're young is so important, because I can't imagine working the hours that I do if I didn't fundamentally love it. And I think that's the difference between somebody who is successful and somebody that's extremely successful, somebody that's good and somebody that's exceptionally good, is the level of drive, which directly stems from passion.
Host: You talk about trying different things. You've tried different things, and you've been successful in everything you've tried, from a best selling--
Ivanka Trump: Sure not everything.
Host: Most things: a book, a jewelry line, real estate. Are there any trends, any lessons or skills that you have found to be transferable or even essential across the different sectors in which you've been successful?
Ivanka Trump: Over here at the Trump Organization, I've had the opportunity to learn in so many different areas of the business world. But then the ancillary projects, as you mentioned, have been great for me as well. I have a jewelry company which has survived what has been a very difficult time in its early years, to open a luxury jewelry store in September 2007 is a challenge. So I think it's a great validation of both our designs and our business strategy that we're here today and we're thriving. So that's been terrific. I have a shoe company that we're launching our first collection next spring. And the book, which thankfully was a best seller. But I think all of these things I learned a lot through what I do in my day job here at the Trump Organization, which is really positioning everything you do appropriately. I'm not interested in writing books for the sake of writing books or developing a shoe line because I think it would be fun to have a closet full of very expensive shoes. But rather, I think that there's a need and a place for every area of business that I venture into.
Host: Through all these different ventures, what's been the biggest challenge? Or even personally, what's been your biggest challenge so far?
Ivanka Trump: I think I have a tendency sometimes to micromanage. And I think that that is a characteristic of being young and having a thirst for being extremely hands on and learning through every every possible point where you can really glean inside and develop, as a person, your business skills. But I think being a great business leader means that you have an ability to delegate and think big picture as well. So I think that I'm trying balance being young and doing the grunt work with being being, hopefully, visionary in terms of what I look to do next. So I think that that's an area that I have to improve--my ability to sort of step back and not have to do everything myself. Because it obviously creates a lot of time to focus on other larger initiatives.
Host: Are there any constants in your life that you depend upon to get through your day, to get you up in the morning, to spend all these long hours at work--
Ivanka Trump: Outside of coffee? Coffee is definitely a constant. No. I mean, I think that's where you go back to this idea of finding that which you're passionate about. I wouldn't be very capable of doing what I do and keeping the schedule that I keep if I didn't really love it genuinely. So that's what I encourage all people to seek.
Host: Where do you see the future taking Ivanka Trump?
Ivanka Trump: Who knows? That's sort of the exciting part. I mean, I know that real estate will always be at the core of anything that I do, but being entrepreneurial by nature, I can only imagine. So I'll continue to look at great opportunities in different industries, but ultimately, I look forward to being here at the Trump Organization, continuing to grow our hotel management company, which is something I'm incredibly proud of, and I started with my older brother Don, and, more recently, Eric, several years ago. It's been a great success for our company. And then obviously, stay true to our condominium roots, and development and construction roots.
Host: Did you have a mentor early on in the beginning of your career who really helped you craft what is a very, very clear direction?
Ivanka Trump: I had many of them. And they range from, of course, the obvious: my parents, to professors I had at Wharton, who I remained very close with, to then industry leaders who I have had the good fortune of either developing relationships with since I joined the business or that I've known since childhood. So one of the things in my book I tried to do was share with readers some of the insights that I had learned through the observation of those people. And I included a section called "Bulletins for my Blackberry," which was basically a question I posited to multiple people across very different industries, a very diverse group, from Tory Burch to Roger Ailes, in just a very interesting, different group of people, Russell Simmons. So I asked them: "What was the single most profound piece of advice that they received early in their career?" And then they wrote about it briefly. And I introduce each chapter with with those insights.
Host: What's the best piece of advice that you've received so far?
Ivanka Trump: I think being young really is an opportunity to be bold, take risks, calculate it hopefully, find what it is that you love doing, but also to learn. I'm in a unique position where I'm young but have a tremendous amount of responsibility. So I can't forget the fact that while I do have a lot of experience, and I grew up sort of tailing my grandfather and father around development jobs, and I grew up basically in this office, there's still an experience gap that I have to compensate for through being prudent in my decision making, through asking people who know the right questions, and making wise judgment calls.
Host: What do you know now that you wish you knew five years ago?
Ivanka Trump: Oh, gosh. Five years ago, I was quite young, I was right out of college. So hopefully a lot. But I think I just developed, as well, great relationships. And I think, in life, it's a lot of the great opportunities that we see in the business world come about based on relationship. People you meet, whether it's a younger, lower level analyst who ends up growing to a position of power or influence, or whether it's somebody in a position of power. So I think over the past several years, I've met a lot of great friends who have given me great advice, and a lot of very interesting people I look to do many deals with it.
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