Where You're From, Doesn't Mean That's Where You Stay

What could a 5'7 Jewish boy from the Bronx who never graduated from college and sold ties for a living accomplish?

If you answered, not much, SURPRISE!!!

That boy was named Ralph Lipshitz and became Ralph Lauren you know, the Polo fellow.

Mr. Lauren came to mind when I heard Oprah Winfrey would be interviewing him this week. This was his first interview in 20 years. What you may not know is that I was also interviewed by Oprah several years ago...However, I was not invited to her farewell shows.

Hmm...

So, Mr. Lauren and I have Oprah in common, but theres more. I actually met Mr. Lauren for the first time many years ago at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York. At the time, my mother was a controller, his division was responsible for the design and manufacturing of womens suiting. At the same time, I worked weekends with designer Leo Lozzi, who taught me the intricacies of sample design. I was responsible of coordinating buttons, linings etc.

I was only 20 years old and Mr. Lauren was interested in how I learned so much about fashion at such a young age. He was intrigued that by the age of 16, I created a job for myself at a high end dress shop where my mother shopped.

I convinced the owner that he need to develop a younger clientele. So, I hired 3 other young gals and we all became Fashion Advisors for the store. I trained them, managed them and got a commission on their sales.

Hmmm kind of sounds like what I do today!!!

Meeting Ralph Lauren and hearing his success story fascinated me. Even though I was young, I knew exactly what I wanted to achieve in life.

I recently read that when asked by his yearbook editors what he wanted to do in life, Mr. Lauren said, I want to be a millionaire. Ironically, on my honeymoon, I wrote some lifelong goals. On the list were things like: have a picnic with great wine and cheese and visit Paris. My last goal in big bold letters was, I WANT TO BE A MILLIONAIRE.

So, the short Jewish boy from the Bronx certainly achieved his goals. And, the not-so-little Italian-Greek girl from the mill town of Lawrence, MA didnt do so badly either!

We lived our dreams.

But let me ask you one more thing do you think that young people today can still live their dreams? Id love to hear your thoughts and your dreams!