13 A- Reading Reflection 1
Book: Coco Chanel, Lisa Chaney
What surprised me the most:
The fact that she was a live-in mistress for a wealthy man, and became friends with his wife. It was also known by the people of the city that's what she was, and she embraced that. Though this doesn't necessarily have anything to do with her entrepreneurship, I still found it incredibly interesting and surprising, especially for the time she lived in.
What I admire the most & least:
What I admire is just her personality. The fact that the author was able to capture her personality in this book, years after her life, show's how strong and influential it was. Her personality contained a lot of desirable qualities for entrepreneurship. She was also very proud to be an independent woman, having never wanted to rely on a man for things.
I guess what I would say I least admired, was for a woman who was so unapologetically herself, she often lied about her childhood and early life. She seemed so authentic and true to herself, yet at the same time hid and lied about what made her, and the Chanel brand.
Adversity:
She definitely faced a lot of adversity and failures throughout her entire life. In her early childhood, becoming and orphan and having to dig her way out of the bottom. To even when she was 70 years old, relaunching Chanel facing critiques about her and her brand. She faced many difficulties between them, but she was always determined to pursue her dream, and it paid off
The fact that she was a live-in mistress for a wealthy man, and became friends with his wife. It was also known by the people of the city that's what she was, and she embraced that. Though this doesn't necessarily have anything to do with her entrepreneurship, I still found it incredibly interesting and surprising, especially for the time she lived in.
What I admire the most & least:
What I admire is just her personality. The fact that the author was able to capture her personality in this book, years after her life, show's how strong and influential it was. Her personality contained a lot of desirable qualities for entrepreneurship. She was also very proud to be an independent woman, having never wanted to rely on a man for things.
I guess what I would say I least admired, was for a woman who was so unapologetically herself, she often lied about her childhood and early life. She seemed so authentic and true to herself, yet at the same time hid and lied about what made her, and the Chanel brand.
Adversity:
She definitely faced a lot of adversity and failures throughout her entire life. In her early childhood, becoming and orphan and having to dig her way out of the bottom. To even when she was 70 years old, relaunching Chanel facing critiques about her and her brand. She faced many difficulties between them, but she was always determined to pursue her dream, and it paid off
What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited?
Coco Chanel was a very prideful, motivated individual. She was very intense and determines, and she made it a point to excel at everything she did. Her strong personality led to a lot of her success. She also had a unique sense of fashion, that was more unconventional than others. This style lead to the launch of her and her brand, and become what she was recognized as.
Coco Chanel was a very prideful, motivated individual. She was very intense and determines, and she made it a point to excel at everything she did. Her strong personality led to a lot of her success. She also had a unique sense of fashion, that was more unconventional than others. This style lead to the launch of her and her brand, and become what she was recognized as.
Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you:
I think what confused me was essentially the part where she evolves from this very poor orphan girl, into a fashion icon. It was essentially because of men she was with, but I kind of struggled to follow along with that.
I think what confused me was essentially the part where she evolves from this very poor orphan girl, into a fashion icon. It was essentially because of men she was with, but I kind of struggled to follow along with that.
If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?
The first question I would ask is do you believe getting actresses to wear your hats in magazines was more so luck? Or was it something you networked and wanted to set up?
- I ask this because a lot of times, entrepreneurship does involve a little bit of luck. And I'm wondering if she feels that luck had anything to with kickstarting the Chanel brand.
The second question I would ask is if she had not stepped away from Chanel for so many years, does she think it would have become the success that it is?
- I would ask this because I essentially want to know if she thinks coming back after so many years was the right decision, and if it helped her in developing items for the brand.
For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?
I think Coco Chanel's opinion of hard work would be that it is something you have to push yourself to do. She had a very difficult life, but she worked hard everyday to improve herself and her knowledge. She was self taught, and believed in herself and her capabilities. And I think her opinion of hard work was to combine all of those, and if you utilize those skills to your advantage, hard work pays off. I definitely do share this opinion as well.
I think Coco Chanel's opinion of hard work would be that it is something you have to push yourself to do. She had a very difficult life, but she worked hard everyday to improve herself and her knowledge. She was self taught, and believed in herself and her capabilities. And I think her opinion of hard work was to combine all of those, and if you utilize those skills to your advantage, hard work pays off. I definitely do share this opinion as well.
Hi Maddi. I read this book about Chanel too! I really like your blog post. I totally agree that Coco Chanel was a very prideful and determined woman. She really made it a point to not only succeed at everything that she did, but to excel at it. It is interesting when you talk about the thing that you least admired about her. I never knew that she lied about her childhood and about her upbringings. Now that you mention that, I do recall there being a few discrepancies when it came to how she was really brought up, so I guess that it makes sense that she was the one behind the lies.
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