ASSIGNMENT 13A: READING REFLECTION #1

ASSIGNMENT 13A: READING REFLECTION #1

I read “Coco Chanel: an intimate life” by Lisa Chaney

1.     What surprised you the most?

I think what surprised me the most was seeing how Gabrielle Chanel, better known as Coco Chanel, suffered so much in her personal life, from the death of her mother when she was a girl, to the abandonment of her father, death of sisters and partners when she was older. However, despite all this and having nothing to start with, Chanel emerged and achieved success, in addition to a designer she is a great businesswoman, she interacted with high society people and then she opened her first store. She started designing hats, then move on to dresses, pants and even perfumes as is the great success "Chanel no. 5". The author, Chaney not only brought to light her great contribution to fashion, she also talked about her personal life as she had lovers of both genders and of all social classes.

2.     What about the entrepreneur did you must admire?

I think the thing that makes me admire her the most, is how Chanel was different, she came out of the common, that for that time was the discomfort of women wearing tight corsets in order to have a minimum waist, Chanel’s idea was to wear more comfortable things but still being classic, she began to use hats smaller than those that were used by that the time, then step to skirts and loose blouses, to then design the “jerseys" for women. I think she had the vision that many people for that time did not have, she was not afraid to express her ideas and that is why today she is an icon.

3.     What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?

It seemed to me that Chanel could be an emotionally unstable person, who later became cold, having a lot of loneliness even if she had company, it's just my point of view. But it seems to me that everything is due to her past, the abandonment and death of relatives, in addition to the times of war that she lived.

4. Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?

I think her greatest adversity was that the women of that time used to dress differently, with big hats, corsets and high collars, uncomfortable for anybody who would wear it. Chanel being classic, changed the way of seeing this, she started only designing hats and little by little and with financial help from lovers like Boy who believed in her she managed to open her first store to then build an empire

5.      What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? 

As I said before one of her competitions was to change the way women dress, make it a more comfortable style, even a little manly when she introduced jerseys and pants to their collection. Another difficulty that Chanel faced at the beginning was the money, but she managed to find the financial help she needed, she opened her first store, by the success of that store she was able to open more stores around different countries.

6.    Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you

The part of the book that was the hardest for me to understand, was the part of World War II, since the author, Chaney, does not explain explicitly what happened during that time with Chanel, she only says that she closed the stores, but she continued with the perfume business

7.    If you were Abel to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask?

a) With all the success you have achieved and all the people you have met in the process, did you achieve the happiness you were looking for?

It would be a question, because as I read Chanel said that when she was young she only used to look for love and that many times he thought about ways to end with her life

     b) What do you think is the most important lesson you have learned in all the years you had as a business woman?

8.    What do you think the entrepreneur’s opinion was of hard work?

She once said "Nothing replaces hard work; not titles, not nerve, not luck.”. So, I think that hard work for her was to fight for her dreams and never give up, give her opinion before everything, never settle because she always kept innovating. She said that she did not want to depend on anyone and managed to achieved it.