Markus WilhelmAdvertisement - Continue Reading BelowChristine Beauchamp is either a fashion person with exceptional business acumen or a numbers person with an exceptional amount of Balenciaga in her closet. The Goldman Sachs investment banker turned consultant was tapped by a client, Limited Brands CEO Leslie Wexner, to overhaul Express and Victoria's Secret; in 2005, Wexner made her president (and eventually CEO) of cash cow Victoria's Secret Beauty. Beauchamp took on her biggest challenge yet in August when she became president of Ann Taylor Stores, a $2.2 billion company that plans to close 163 locations over the next three years. She's determined to make the brand cool again in the eyes of a cost-conscious shopping public that more often associates it with Sarah Palin– style power suits than with its fashionable beginnings. As she prepares for the brand relaunch this fall—having made key hires such as Club Monaco lead designer Lisa Axelson— she explains how she doffs both her finance and fashion hats.
More From ELLESometimes the biggest risk is not taking one. When Les Wexner offered me the opportunity to work for him, there was no job description. No guarantee. But when a visionary gives you an opportunity, you have to follow that person as much as you'd follow the job description.
When I start a new role, I listen to everyone on the team and see how much motivation there is to change. Together we create a new brand-position statement. You have to make sure everyone's making the same music so it's not that one person thinks we're playing jazz and another thinks we're playing classical. We talk a lot about vision and the story we want to tell. Imagery is important, so I actually went into our archives and pulled out old ads and posters from the '50s and '60s [see below], when Ann Taylor was a chic and hip place for beautiful clothing.
As a young manager I was too task-oriented, too transactional in my approach. If you build an emotional relationship with people and understand who they are, you can get through difficult times more effectively. One thing I do at the start of meetings is have a "Fun Diva" exercise. I like to push papers away, break down barriers. I ask the team to spend 15 minutes talking about something fun. When I was the Diva, I asked everybody to get up and dance. Some of my moves are stuck in the early '90s (I was a club promoter right after college), but I'm very enthusiastic.