When people want to lose weight, they get to a point where they are desperate and looking for the new thing that is going to work miracles. But at the end of the day, there is no such thing.
— Mindy Grossman
We are always focused on how can we differentiate ourselves. In today's world, where people are gravitating toward experiences, it is even more important.
I believe you have to get rid of toxicity in any company. Don't care how smart, how talented, how long they have been there. If someone is going to create a toxic environment, you have to make a change.
Too many people who come in as CEO of a poorly performing company assume that none of the incumbent executives are worth retaining. That's not always the case. Sometimes the talent is there, but it's not being led well.
I've worked for some amazing leaders, and I've worked for the opposite, and that gave me the perspective of what I knew I never wanted to be, and the perspective of what had lasting, sustainable impact.
As women, we can over-think things so much that we silence our intuition and only focus on the reasons something won't work.
The days of trying to get a consumer to come to you are over. You really have to be in the consumer's world, wherever, whenever and however.
The model of getting the consumer to come to you is old, and the new model is how can you get to the consumer on their terms, in ways they want to engage in. How people are choosing to interface with content is very different. You've got to marry different platforms.
I spend all day thinking of shopping. I love the thrill of finding that wonderful, perfect thing, the feeling of your heart racing because it's so right.
I've learned not to let people judge me in how I want to live my life. Every single woman is an individual, and there's no one path. You just have to take the path that you think is right for you.
Fear is not a motivating factor. You might be able to get a little bit more out of someone in the short term, but you will completely erode your business and your culture in the long term. You're going to lose all your good people. You're not going to have people tell you the truth, and it becomes the tradition.
I've always had a philosophy that position doesn't define power. Impact defines power. What impact are you making on people? What impact are you making on business?
You have to understand who your customer is and her motivations and marry it to what's happening in the outside world.
My first Weight Watchers meeting was when I was 14 years old on Long Island, and I went there with my mother. I'd gained that adolescent weight and wanted to try out for cheerleading... I lost the weight, tried out, and made the cheerleading team.
I'm willing to lose profits in the short term.
I started at HSN in May of 2006, and by October, we had rolled out a new brand image, a new tagline, a new vision statement, a new customer manifesto, and new advertising.
The only thing I liked on HSN was Wolfgang Puck selling cookware. He was funny and engaging. He gave you recipes. Even if you didn't want to buy anything, you could watch Wolfgang for an hour.
Command-and-control isn't the kind of corporate culture people want to be in anymore.
If you intend to do the right thing for yourself, your family, and for your business, it becomes more like a balancing act. It's juggling - and accepting the fact that it won't always be perfect will help you better manage the inevitable ebbs and flows.
What creates success on HSN is great product, a great story and a great storyteller.
I love hidden things. When you buy something with quality, you like the inside to be as beautiful as the outside. Nobody's going to see it, but you know it's there.
I've always been a risk taker; I've never believed in following the expected path.
There's a pure and simple business case for diversity: Companies that are more diverse are more successful.
I find out as much from the guy in backstage TV as I do from my C.F.O. Anybody can e-mail me. I do town halls with employees at least once every eight weeks. I'm out there, and it makes a huge difference.
If you throw the pebble in the pond and the rings start circulating that much wider, you've done things and created things for people that they didn't think they'd ever be able to do. That excites me.
We have to focus on what we can do. It has to be about experience; it has to be about unique product. It has to be about delivering our content as broadly as we can, and that's been a huge effort on our part.
I believe that if you don't disrupt yourself, you will be disrupted by someone else.
Companies lose some of their best employees when people are beaten down; then they overpromote junior people because they can't persuade outsiders to sign on.
I think that the CEO is responsible for setting the vision, for articulating the mission, and for building a team of powerful evangelists that share that mission and that passion, because no one person can do anything by themselves.
I have this whole theory that whether it's in your personal life or in your business life, you have to establish a culture of generosity wherever you are.
I've honed in on three questions that I ask myself when I'm evaluating where to spend my time. Is this something that I'm passionate about, is it purposeful, and will I have impact? And if I can't answer 'yes' to all three questions, then I have to sit back and ask, 'Is it really that important?'
Content is power in today's world, and if you can own that content, create it and make interaction more of an experience than a transaction, you create a different kind of loyalty.
I'm a love-it-or-hate-it person. I don't waffle.
Throughout my career, no matter what I've done or what decision I've made, I've made it with my family first. My priority was taking care of my family while I was taking care of business.
Four out of five HSN corporate officers are women. I'm a believer that a diversity of mindset enables us to have an engaged conversation.
I believe in accessibility. I believe in honesty and a culture that supports that. And you can't have that if you're not open to receiving feedback.
I've not been afraid to take risks, be resolute and passionate about purpose, and inspire people to do things that maybe they thought weren't possible.
