David Senra

November 18, 2021

The Autobiography of Estée Lauder

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My top 10 highlights from the book

1. Risk taking is the cornerstone of empires. No one ever became a success without taking chances.

2. I was single-minded in the pursuit of my dream.

3. I sometimes wonder if I had set my heart on selling tassels, cars, furniture, or anything else but beauty, would I have risen to the top of a profession? Somehow I doubt it. I believed in my product. I loved my product.

4. It's not enough to have the most wonderful product in the world. You must be able to sell it.

5. Visualize. If in your mind's eye you see a successful venture, a deal made, a profit accomplished, it has a superb chance of actually happening. Projecting your mind into a successful situation is the most powerful means to achieve goals. If you spend time with pictures of failure in your mind, you will orchestrate failure. Countless times, before the event, I have pictured a heroic sale to a large department store every step of the  way and the picture in my mind became a reality. I've visualized success, then created the reality from the image. Great athletes, business people, inventors, and achievers from all walks of life seem to know this secret.

6. Despite all the naysayers, there was never a single moment when I considered giving up. That was simply not a viable alternative.

7. We took the money we had planned to use on advertising and invested it instead in enough material to give away large quantities of our products.

8. Love your career or else find another.

9. Never underestimate the value of an ally. Today they call it networking—this sharing between colleagues. It is one of the most powerful tools in the business.

10. I've always believed that if you stick to a thought and carefully avoid distraction along the way, you can fulfill a dream. I kept my eye on the target. I've never allowed my eye to leave the particular target of the moment. 

About David Senra

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