Life (and Work) Lessons From Global Publishing Queen Laura Brown

 I’ve been fangirling over global publishing queen Laura Brown for years now, and was pretty much beside myself to see her in the flesh and hear her speak at this week’s Business Chicks event in Sydney. Until recently Laura was the editor of American Instyle mag, and she is anything but the icy stereotype. While her Instagram page is chock full of selfies with her A-list friends, the proud Aussie is down to earth, funny, gritty, gutsy, and hugely successful. For anyone who missed it, for me, the key takeaways from Laura’s convo were:

• You can miss the mark if you allow your head to be turned by the wrong people. Eg Doing it for money or doing it bc the group says you should.
• Have a point of view and put your hand up, and show up.
•Be confident in who you are. If you have the work ability to back it up, you should be able to be yourself.
• Fashion is not Mensa. It wants you to feel like it’s better than you… But I quickly realised there was no one smarter in the room. It’s cooler to invite everyone.
• Don’t follow trends. We’ve been through two years of crap. Wear what you like, and own it! Splurge on travel instead.
• That said, pockets in your wedding dress are the secret to happiness.
• As you get older you don’t take any shit.
Your face starts to fall down. That’s not great. But you’ve earned your stripes. You’ve earned that equity. You’re not trying to be someone else. You don’t suffer fools and you can sniff out insecurity.
• Do not attach your value to where you work. Carve out your own world. Don’t get lost in corporate garbage and don’t give power to people who don’t deserve it.
• Take your equity. And spend it, baby!