Temple’s Wisdom
TEMPLE ST. CLAIR CARR, ENTREPRENEUR AND LUXURY JEWELRY DESIGNER
I was honored to interview the extraordinarily talented and successful Temple St. Clair Carr. Her story is one of pure and distinguished achievement. She began her jewelry business by following her inner wisdom to achieve tremendous results.
Born in Norfolk, Virginia, she built a career from her passions for art and travel. Temple’s drive and leadership style began its development during this upbringing. She came from a family who supported her ideas and repeatedly told her that she could achieve any goal she set her mind to. Her family further influenced her with an early appreciation for travel and the arts, including exposing her to the Jeffersonian architecture and Country Gothic styles that accentuated her childhood home. As an early adult, she studied marine biology, but became dissatisfied with its limits on personal expression. Textbook in hand, she found her true inspiration in the streets of Venice and her sensitivities from the depths of Renaissance paintings. Some of Temple’s attraction to the style was explained by her fascination with the classic look of the era, the richness in color, and its timeless quality. She began combining her fascination with treasures of the earth with her lifelong connection to art and travel. Based on this foundation, she began to sketch her jewelry renditions of a “new classic” that incorporated color gemstones and classic designs from a different time period. This would lead to her discovery by a Barney’s scout who would later take her designs to New York City. Soon thereafter, Temple’s designs would attract premium pricing and a celebrity following that would lead to recognition and financial support from corporate giant, Tiffany and Company.
Today, the Temple St. Clair studio is located in Soho, NY, where Temple bases her operations and leads a staff of twelve employees. She describes her leadership style as the cement of her personal and professional styles: “I am the brand,” Temple proclaims. “It is my responsibility to protect the brand, believe in brand and all its values. After all, they [her values] are my own.” While she enjoys building friendships with her employees, Temple maintains that she protects her investment cautiously, maintaining a “keen” self-interest while striving to foster what she describes as an “egoless” workplace. Being involved in every aspect of her business gives her the ability to observe at multiple levels. Perhaps this is why she prefers the title “Creative Director” over “Chief Executive Officer.”
Temple sees herself as a transformational leader and feels that she and her company are constantly evolving: “I try and understand individuals and nurture the team to find a common goal. The corporate world can be emotionless. It is difficult to draw the lines so clearly.” This compassion and nurturing style is not to be confused with a lack of drive or discipline: “My work-style is tough, as I push myself. However, I don’t always take care of myself as I should.” Temple admits, “I expect everyone else to give 110% like I do. Mistakes and mediocrity are difficult for me to tolerate. My leadership style is progressive and improves just as the business improves.”
Temple believes that sharing information is critical, yet describes the process as a delicate balance in order to accommodate hierarchy and respect timelines: “Sharing business plans is useless if those individuals don’t already harness the context where the information germinates.” According to Temple, complex sexist issues exist in many contexts. Male executives can be uncomfortable if they find a woman attractive. Setting boundaries in these situations is complicated, as women are often forced to choose between monetary gains and “losing the connection” with their male counterparts.
Temple truly is her own “brand.” She, like many other successful individuals, has a difficult time separating her personal and professional “selves.” Her advice to potential entrepreneurs includes, “Just have the guts to do it, or you will be someone else’s employee. Well, some people like that. There is so much possibility in this country, and it is especially evident to me after living abroad. Mmmm… Italy!” (Carr, personal communication, January 25, 2006).
UPDATE:
You can read more about Temple St. Clair and her passions in her fantastical book called, “Alchemy”.
Harper Collins describes:
A Southern girl with a nomadic spirit and a voracious appetite for history and culture, Temple St. Clair grew up spending summer vacations in Morocco and Bavaria, studied at an international boarding school in Switzerland, and went night diving in Honduras with the son of Jacques Cousteau. In her early twenties, St. Clair landed in Florence, where she completed a master’s in Italian literature. In fact, she had no exposure to jewelry making until her visiting mother bought an ancient coin and asked St. Clair to commission a local goldsmith to make a piece of jewelry around it.
Armed with the coin and a sketch, St. Clair entered the ancient Palazzo dell’Orafo of Florentine goldsmiths, where she first discovered the centuries-old art of fine Italian jewelry making. Inspired by the distinctive craftsmanship, St. Clair continued to work with artisans to bring her designs to life. A new world soon began to open up to her—a world that engaged her multicultural education, vast experiences, and rich curiosity; a world that awarded her with a new identity as “an amateur anthropologist, a hopeless hunter and gatherer, a bit of a wanderer, and a self-made jewelry historian who loves to dream and draw.”
With an artist’s eye for detail and an unwavering esteem for the historic, St. Clair creates one-of-a-kind pieces that combine ancient influences with traditional craftsmanship and contemporary flair. In Alchemy, she takes readers on an idiosyncratic excursion into the intricate history and craft of jewelry making—from the ancient origins of talismans and charms, to the complicated pursuit of the perfect gemstone—all through the lens of her own fascinating experiences. The result is a mesmerizing and visually stunning book that will appeal to jewelry lovers, artistic dreamers, and anyone who suffers from wanderlust.
Sit Down, Shut Up, and Get a REAL Job!
JANICE ARIANTE, AUTHOR AND BUSINESS ENTREPRENEUR
Janice Ariante is an author and business entrepreneur at Ideal Job Offer, Nutley, N.J. With over 25 years corporate experience in Human Resources for high tech companies and specialization in the Silicon Valley, she has been an independent staffing consultant for over 12 years. Her primary enjoyment is mentoring aspiring business leaders and teaching. This passion has recently inspired her to condense her years of experience into a three-hundred page book and DVD for infomercial distribution. The DVD Project, entitled Sit Down, Shut Up, and Get a REAL Job! is her chosen venue in which she applies her knowledge to help individuals succeed in the not-always-fair business arena.
As an entrepreneur, she describes her leadership style as casual, informal, and hands-off. Ariante feels that people like working for her and attributes this to her management style, firmly believing that if she hires qualified individuals who can work independently, there is no need to be a micro-manager—that is, as long as everyone is doing their job and quotas are met.
Her extremely “Objective” and unstructured work style empowers people from within. “I have been told,” says Ariante, “that ‘Women Listen and Men Preach.’ I look at what their strengths are and recognize that people do best at what they like.” This means she might modify a position in ways that leverage the strengths of employees. For instance, she might take away the frequency of report-making from an individual that is keen at building relationships and meeting sales goals, yet give that duty to someone who enjoys recording the information. By building on employees’ strengths, leaders nurture individuals as they are which supports a healthy self esteem:
“Occasionally, this might mean losing someone valuable in order to help them achieve their career objectives,” Ariante explains. “You are either objective or subjective and there is no right or wrong or better. Objective personalities get their energy from interaction with other people, while subjective personalities get energy from inanimate objects. Subjective individuals often make better engineers and mechanics. This does not mean they are judgmental because they are not objective. The labeling often limits the understanding of their style. We do need both. I believe that the best managers are objective individuals that can handle certain things in a subjective manner. For that reason, Objectives also make the best entrepreneurs.”
The notion of Objective versus Subjective personalities is not a new concept, yet it is not well known. The Johnson O’Connor Research Institute, a non-profit organization has been testing inborn skill sets for quite some time. The objective of their two-day ($600.00) testing is to determine the best suited occupations for individuals. By identifying what is uniquely special about an individual, one can better gauge her potential risk or success as an entrepreneurial individual versus other occupational pursuits. “Star performers are in jobs that are suited for them!” Ariante explains.
“My leadership style is non-authoritive, and it allows others to come to their own conclusions. This does not mean, however, that I am afraid to draw the line, ultimately. If I’m not sure, I’ll get a book. How many men do you know, who would be willing to stop for directions…and more than once?” Women might be more likely to go out and seek the information they need. Interestingly, according to Ariante, some male CEOs have more of a feminine style and utilize pop-corning, brainstorming, or simply think creatively! Ultimately, people want to feel needed and listened to. Ariante reports that men are more likely to “preach” and use phases like, “This conversation is over.” Ariante continues, “My leadership style comes naturally to me because I am objective and connected to people.”
Only seven women run fortune 500 companies today. However, it is possible that this inequality is attributable to the fact that fewer women feel compelled to succeed in a male-dominated culture, opting instead to create their own by becoming entrepreneurs. This discrepancy is the subject of one of Ariante’s areas of research, focusing on the difference between confidence in one’s skills and self-esteem in the workplace.
There is an extremely high correlation between confidence and entrepreneurial success, yet many industry leaders, ironically, hit rock-bottom in self-esteem. The two concepts are, according to Ariante, very different. Confidence is so essential, yet without self-esteem, one might resonate the personality of a Woody Allen or Liz Taylor, outwardly successful, yet inwardly flawed. Sometimes, financial success will be granted if you have confidence or maintain the right job or personal health. This does not necessarily mean that you are connected to people. Self-esteem comes into play within all relationships. Low self-esteem may lead to alcohol or drug addiction. Sadly, Ariante states that women have more self-esteem issues than men do. In Ariante’s research, she has discovered a widespread tendency of women to deny themselves happiness and fulfillment in exchange for approval. To prove this point to me, Ariante asked, “How many men do you know that would date women in prison or wait for a married woman to leave her husband for him?” She continues:
“People are attracted to people who are most like themselves. What I want to do is help other people and if you do what you love, you’ll be good, the money will follow. When people are in the wrong jobs, it impacts everyone around them. ’Take this job and shove it, or take this job and love it’. When you love what you do, you never have to work a day in your life!”
Ariante’s research also focuses on the different communication styles across gender boundaries. For instance, when women talk, they use more words than men. While men are usually visually dominant, women tend to be more tactile. When men and women communicate, they should, at the very least, understand the basic parameters of male and female communication styles. For instance, metaphors of sense (sight, hearing) should be aligned when communicating (if a man states, “Do you see?” then it would be counterproductive to reply with, “I felt that too” and expect to connect with the problem.) By recognizing the dominant communication style whether it is visual, auditory, or tactile, one might minimize the language gap.
Dr. Ethne Swartz, Rothman Institute of Entrepreneurial Studies
FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON UNIVERSITY
One of the first women I interviewed for this study was Dr. Ethne Swartz. She is a woman dedicated to the positive development of female entrepreneurs as part of her work at the Rothman Institute at the Madison Campus. Dr. Swartz suggested that there are several covert problems that still exist for women entrepreneurs: “Women are still outsiders,” she says. “For instance, doing business with corporations continues to be a problem because the key decision makers often are not women” (E. Swartz, November 15, 2005, personal communications).
Fortunately, the United States has become an international role model for female leaders within corporations such as Xerox, Avon, Liz Claiborne, IBM and Merrill Lynch, paving the path for future female business role models. For example, at Xerox, women hold nearly one-third of top management roles as part of a corporate attitude that began to take shape 40 years ago. However, even in a company culture like this one, there is still a need for women to have more profit-and-loss responsibility and to be among the top earners (McGinn, October 24, 2005, pp. 68-69). Often, the corporate world makes it difficult to manage a family however, academic institutions are not much better. Childcare often becomes a source of guilt when time and attention are divided by work because men have not been socialized to take on this burden in the same manner.
According to Swartz, women often find their energy depleted by low self-esteem, which is at the root of self-sabotage. Investment in psychological and social capital (terms that refer to clarity with respect to one’s goals, the creation of a “place of security,” routines which reinforce wellness, and networks of diverse colleagues) is Swartz’s recommended defense against these workplace maladies.
Fortunately, companies like Xerox and Merrill Lynch have chosen to create atmospheres that support women and their conflicting roles at home and at work by providing flexible hours and childcare so that they may achieve higher-rank positions in a more fairly designed corporate culture (E. Swartz, personal communication, November 15, 2005).
McGinn, D (2005, October 24). In good company. Newsweek, Leadership for the 21t Century, 68-69.
Covert Problems Facing Women Leaders and their Success
I began a research project four years ago to find the more successful and feminine women in business. The scope of this research project comprises some of the covert problems that face entrepreneurial women and explores the challenge to succeed despite these obstacles. My interest in this topic is rooted in my own experience, both satisfying and frustrating, as a woman striving with aspirations to become a respected business leader. Covert problems are powerful yet subtle, as they may startle, distress, and disappoint. Many such problems are unanticipated, overlooked, or disguised within the institutional structure of an organization. For this reason, my interest is ever-growing in exploring determined women who emerge by succeeding despite these barriers. When covert problems are identified and labeled, awareness in an organization grows and its members become polarized, allowing for a possible solution. This research project provides a summary with anecdotal insights that identify the covert problems and reveal the attributes and methods that are at the core of effective female entrepreneurship.
Numerous articles and books provide the theoretical foundation for the project, in addition to personal interviews with a diverse group of female entrepreneurs, which form the basis for interpretation. The interview subjects include an entrepreneurial studies educator and several female entrepreneurs from domestic and international organizations. Personal observation has been included as a reflection of my unique experiences as a woman in business. A global perspective is increasingly important as globalization continues to shape the way business is conducted. Perhaps some of the most significant lessons are to be learned from women who expose themselves to the global public on a regular basis. Women like Martha Stewart and Oprah Winfrey are not only some of the most successful living female entrepreneurs; they are also global female entrepreneurs with an international social network and solid community.
Over the next several weeks, I will share trials and solutions from successful Entrepreneurial women and back up these solutions with field and textbook research. I hope that you will find this information valuable. Please share your own stories and comments here.
Exercise in your Skirt
Yes, you read that right. I recently read this blog by Victoria Arya and wanted to share her insight here. I may not be a mommy blogger but I thought here was some true wisdom. Why can’t we enjoy the freedom of exercising in our skirts? Here is a real gem of an idea to be free, girly and need I mention beautiful? So I tried this today and the novelty of it made exercising so much more fun as I felt compelled to dance in front of the mirror and admire my curves that would otherwise look less flattering. It was a feel-good time. Check out her article on momdot.com here… and let me know what you think.
I’ll be looking for your feedback.
My Philosophy
My art is to create experiences that resonate around history, places, events and time through words and the production and arrangement of color, flavor, space, texture, sound, aroma and movement.
I believe value is achieved through an authentic exchange that connects and enriches lives.
An old indian proverb says:
“Tell me the facts and I will learn. Tell me the truth and I will believe. But tell me a story, and it will live in my heart forever.”
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