Ivanka Trump, mostly known for holding the position of secret weapon in her father’s presidential campaign, has, in fact, 34 years of mostly unknown work behind her. The real estate fanatic and the working women’s supporter has had quite the life in the spotlight. She has had every right to turn out like a washed-up, pretty-faced mess, but Ivanka has refused that lifestyle. Instead, she worked (and continues to work) harder than the majority of millennials and marries that work ethic to a poised, warm and feminine personality.
Ivanka Trump grew up rich. She was and is beautiful and was offered the best of the socialite life. Similarly to many celebrity children, at 10-years-old, her mother and father divorced and young Ivanka was in the middle of a quite disgusting situation. Just one year prior to the finalized divorce, Ivanka recounts going to school where photographers waited to pester her with gossip and questions. Nine-year-old Ivanka was asked by a reporter who stood outside her classroom, “So is it true that Marla (Maples) said that your father was the best sex she’s ever had?” I cannot image the hurt, embarrassment or confusion young Ivanka faced. As a young adult, I fail to fathom how I would respond if someone asked me that now. My respect for Ivanka starts to grow at that moment in her life.
Ivanka went on to start a modeling career. Her father has stated, “She was a very successful model, and she just gave it up and went to Wharton.” He is right. Ivanka was a fantastic model and posed for Seventeen Magazine and Tommy Hilfiger. She has said that real estate is her passion and that the character of a high profile model is not her cup of tea. Ivanka graduated from Wharton with honor and went on to work for a real estate company other than her father's.
Ivanka worked on "The Apprentice" and is currently Executive Vice President of Development and Acquisition for the Trump organization. Her role is primarily acquiring buildings for Trump hotels around the globe and designing said hotels. Her most recent project is the Old Post-Office in Washington D.C.
Aside from being an executive at an organization that is worth $4.5 billion, Ivanka is also CEO of her household (according to her husband Jared Kushner). The two married in 2009 with 500 guests in attendance. Ivanka then converted to Judaism to be in accordance with her husband’s religious beliefs. Their family of five, Jared, Ivanka, Arabella, Joseph and Theodore, respect and participate in Sabbath. For 25 hours, Friday night to Saturday night, the Kushners turn off their cell phones and stay in their apartment on Park Avenue. They take walks, play with their children and spend intentional time as a family. Another remarkable aspect of Ivanka and Jared’s family is that, while they employ a Chinese nanny for their children, (she teaches them Mandarin, so cool) Ivanka refuses to let anyone but herself or Jared put her children to sleep at night. She goes into work early so she can come home at a reasonable time and feed them dinner, play and read with them, tuck them in and then she goes back to the office or on a date with her husband. Ivanka has remarked that often these dates end up with the power couple looking at real estate in New York, and Ivanka doesn’t mind that one bit.
So why is Ivanka always working? Other than her executive position at Trump, she is also the founder of the Ivanka Trump Collection and the spearhead for the Women Who Work campaign. In 2007, Ivanka designed a line of jewelry. Then she realized that most working women who cannot afford Prada or Chanel work attire needed something better than Ann Taylor and less childish than H&M. She put fashion and design experts from Kate Spade, DVF, Oscar de la Renta and Michael Kors all in a room and wrote the Ivanka Trump Collection brand book (a brands manual). The team still works together and is expanding. Inside the brand book, it reads, “We are feminine. We are not girly. We are appropriately sexy. We are not sexpot. We are detailed. We are not overdone.” Ivanka’s line of jewelry, clothing, handbags and shoes fits that motto perfectly. The designs are modest, classic, modern, feminine, and youthful. This vision was born from not only the lack of clothing for women in the professional realm, but also from the heartbeat of the millennial generation. Johanna Murphy, the e-commerce expert from Kate Spade said, “We (Ivanka Trump Collection) are targeting millennials who aspire to have very big careers but they are also training for a marathon or learning French or starting a family.” Ivanka is completely against the idea which flourished in the 80s that compartmentalized women’s work from family. Ivanka said that her favorite moments were when she was playing Lego’s on her dad’s office floor, building plastic brick buildings while he did the same with steel. Her lifestyle website, ivankatrump.com, hosts career advice, including how-to’s on negotiating deals and managing teams and then there are recipes, parenting advice and a style section. Ivanka wants to see the world of women undivided, with work and home thriving together.
Ivanka Trump is more than what the media feeds us: her involvement with the Republican Nominee campaign, her meeting with Rosie O’Donnell, her "unnervingly pleasant public demeanor" or her ideology about maternity leave. Trump represents a generation of hard working women and shows them that they can truly have a thriving family and career. The times are changing for women, we can more than ever before have the best of both worlds. Ivanka Trump is a forerunner in this. She is beautiful, smart, motherly, career savvy and an excellent wife. She knows what she wants and goes after it.
“Ivanka was able to find that niche because she is that niche.” – Donald Trump Jr.
