2012 Honoree

Frances Berwick

President of Bravo and Style Media

“In some respects young people face a bigger challenge today: the job market is definitely tighter, but expectations of success and the speed of success are also much greater, mainly as a result of the disproportionate amount of young success in the tech and digital worlds. It puts incredible peer pressure on young people to reach certain benchmarks in their career, to attain certain job titles, much faster than their experience and skills often warrant. In other respects, they have many more advantages and resources now: from the informational pipeline now at our fingertips, to social networks that are invaluable for career development and networking.” (On the challenges of today’s youth)

What do you think of the media’s portrayal of women?

I think, overall, it’s improving. The most egregious instances of stereotyping are often still in commercials–even if women might be the ones primarily still wielding the floor sweeper, why do we need to see them cleaning every glamorized TV kitchen?

Do today’s young people face a bigger challenge than you did?

In some respects young people face a bigger challenge today: the job market is definitely tighter, but expectations of success and the speed of success are also much greater, mainly as a result of the disproportionate amount of young success in the tech and digital worlds. It puts incredible peer pressure on young people to reach certain benchmarks in their career, to attain certain job titles, much faster than their experience and skills often warrant. In other respects, they have many more advantages and resources now: from the informational pipeline now at our fingertips, to social networks that are invaluable for career development and networking.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

I’ve been the beneficiary of tons of great advice, but something that’s really stuck with me, although perhaps self-evident, is that if you keep getting the same bit of feedback, whether in your professional or your personal life, you should probably take it to heart. Also, I’m a product of parents who came of age during and after the Second World War, so the ‘keep calm and carry on’ philosophy is always somewhere in the back of my head.

If you could have dinner with anyone, living or dead, who would it be and why?

It’d be a dinner party with lots of creative, fun, passionate people: Brandon Tartikoff–responsible for the most enduring tv shows.

Princess Diana – she brought glamour back to royalty, and I feel likeI grew up with her.
George Clooney – he is the definitional Renaissance man (from shining a light on injustices, to his proclivity for fun, and his love of Italy).
Aaron Sorkin – I love to listen to his quick-talking characters and ideas.
Peter Sellars – Inspector Clouseau! There would be no pregnant pauses in the conversation.
Jackie O. – to hear about her many lives.
Alexander McQueen – because he’d style me exquisitely for the dinner.

What is your favorite book (fiction or nonfiction)?

I can’t narrow it down to one, but I have favorite genres: I love all those nineteenth century novels about independent, passionate, usually ill-fated heroines like Anna Karenina and Madame Bovary. And, before I moved to the US, I was obsessed with novels about New York–I could have written a thesis on Jay McInerny. The book that made a huge impression on me recently is Zeitoun by Dave Eggers, the true story of a Syrian-American who was subjected to atrocious human rights violations during Hurricane Katrina while trying to help his beloved city of New Orleans. It’s a beautiful story about the human spirit against a backdrop of shame, and particularly resonant for my husband’s family who share the Zeitoun name.