"Fashion’s Godmother," Fern Mallis on Why Being Nice is Underrated

9 to 5ish with theSkimm

theSkimm

Entrepreneurship, Careers, Business

4.7 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 31 January 2024

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Fern Mallis – aka “fashion’s godmother” – is a legend in the industry. She’s the founder of New York Fashion Week and the former executive director of the Council of Fashion Designers of America. Over decades working behind the scenes, Fern has seen it all – from disasters, to demanding personalities, to less-than-friendly behavior. So it makes sense that Fern told us her best piece of career advice is refreshingly simple: Just be nice. Your move, Miranda Priestly. In this episode, Fern shares: Her behind-the-scenes look into the fashion world The origin story of Fashion Week How she’s thought about reinventing herself and her career Why she’s never stuck to a career plan How she got her biggest opportunities by raising her hand Psst: Need a movie rec? Catch “Scrambled,” at a theater near you starting February 2nd. Rated R, under 17 not admitted without parent.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode is brought to you by the movie Scrambled. It is heartfelt, hilarious, and in theaters February 2nd.
0:07.0	We're going to explain more in a bit, but first let's get into the episode.
0:12.0	We spend a lot of time with the people we work with more than almost anybody else.
0:18.0	And nobody wants to be around people that aren't nice.
0:21.0	If you're a divar or you think the world owes you something or you
0:24.4	think that's going to get you more attention or more cloud or more business, forget it.
0:28.5	It's not going to work. People want to like the people that they're working with.
0:33.2	And nice goes a long way.
0:36.7	I'm Carly Zakin and I'm Danielle Weisberg.
0:39.5	Welcome to 9-to-5-ish with the skin.
0:42.3	We've run into so many questions over the years and had
0:45.6	so many moments where we needed advice and we got it from women who'd been there.
0:51.5	And that's what we're bringing you at this show.
0:54.0	Each week we're helping you get what you want out of your career
0:57.0	by talking to the smartest leaders we know.
1:00.0	Because we know your work life is a lot more than 9 to 5.
1:04.0	All right, let's get into it.
1:08.0	Today, our guest is Fern Malus.
1:11.0	She's known as the Godmother of Fashion and she's the woman who
1:14.8	found it New York Fashion Week. Fern was the executive director for the Council of
1:19.2	Fashion Designers of America for 10 years and in that position she created New York Fashion Week as
1:26.0	it's known today. She went on to become the senior vice president of
	...

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