The Vera Wang story
How many times have you felt the need to let go of your most heart-pounding goal to settle for what life offers…As we celebrate the beginning of Spring, I thought it would be a great time to revisit stories of people who never gave up on their dreams. In particularly we will be focusing on those who didn't even begin until they crossed the age of 40. My hope is that by the end of this series, a desire to pursue your dreams would have awakened in you. Let’s go!
My first person to profile is Ms Vera Wang… Born in 1949, Vera started out in life as a figure skater. Undaunted by the ‘seeming failure’ of not making the Olympic figure skating squad, she turned her attention to journalism. While I’m not sure if she chose to work in Vogue because she loved fashion or she fell in love with fashion while working in Vogue, one thing that we can’t deny is that Ms Wang must have learnt something at Vogue that has today made her a designer to be reckoned with.
In 1989, she experienced an event that would change her life forever. She tried hard to find ‘that wedding dress’ and much as she tried, couldn't find anything suitable so, she choose to take a BOLD step – design one for herself - and boy did it launch her to fame. Now Ms Wang is regarded as one of the foremost designers of all time… While reading Ms Wang’s story, I couldn't help pondering the following questions…
- What’s your passion? Is your passion leading your daily decisions or are your decisions guided by the lure of a ‘better pay check’. I strongly believe Ms Wang would have learnt one or two things in Vogue that she has now been able to leverage in her current life
- What’s your current frustration – the biggest breakthroughs are born out of a frustration and a desire to solve a problem. For Ms Wang, it was designing a wedding gown to suit her needs and hey, see where it has taken her
At 40, many would have thought it was over but not Vera, she left the comfort of what she knew and followed a less familiar path that has now catapulted her to fame & success. Why not spend the next couple of minutes writing down what drives you, then write the next steps that would take you there. It’s never too late to BEGIN….
