An interview with Rebecca Minkoff on how she broke into the fashion industry, how she manages her time, who her mentors are, how she keeps her employees motivated and her best career advice.

Welcome to the 31st episode of 5 Questions with Dan Schawbel. As your host, my goal is to curate the best advice from the world’s smartest and most interesting people by asking them just 5 questions.

This episodes guest:

My guest today is fashion designer and entrepreneur, Rebecca Minkoff. Born in San Diego, California, she became interested in design in high school working in a costume department. Then, she moved to New York City at age 18 to pursue her dream as a fashion designer. In 2001, she designed an “I Love New York” t-shirt, which appeared on NBC’s The Tonight Show and became an overnight sensation. Then in 2005, she designed her first, and now iconic, handbag called “The Morning After Bag”. It was so successful, that she started her company with her brother Uri under her name. In 2009, she created her first ready-to-wear apparel collection. Then in 2011, she received the Breakthrough Designer Award from The Accessories Council. Today, she’s grown her lifestyle brand to include accessories, footwear, watches and a men’s line, distributed in over 900 stores worldwide. Rebecca hosts the “Superwomen” podcast, where she talks to women in different professions to show you what their lives are really like.

Video interview from New York City:

The 5 questions questions I ask in this episode:

How were you able to break into the highly competitive NYC fashion world?
How do you balance your time between your company and being a parent?
Who were some of your mentors that have had an impact on you?
How do you keep your employees motivated?
What’s your best piece of career advice?

Follow Rebecca’s journey:

Episode 31: Rebecca Minkoff