Quick Question
She shares whats next for every cool girls favorite brand.
As a teen, Reformation CEO Hali Borensteins favorite hangout was the mall.
According to her, she wanted work in the fashion space from day one.
Since Borensteins takeover,Reformationhas taken huge strides in terms of buzzy new drops.
Below, Borenstein shares more sustainability insights plus, whats next for Reformation, every cool-girls favorite brand.
What was the biggest challenge on your road to becoming CEO?
That humility was really important.
Stepping into areas that were less natural and figuring out how to navigate it was definitely a challenge.
Studies showmany women dont apply for jobs unless they feel 100 percent qualified.
Do you have any tips for those hesitant to take on bigger roles?
Some of the people Ive interacted with who never thought they were ready, were defining a role.
Ive never actually done the operations side of it.
Do they have a really good sense of economics?
How do they interact with people?
How do they inspire big teams?
Those are things and capabilities that you may have without always having direct experience.
Thats what I would be solving for when I think about anyones career progression.
Its less about defining it based on, Heres the role I had.
And more about, Here are the capabilities Ive demonstrated and heres what Ive learned.
Do you have a go-to outfit or a beauty look that helps you feel most confident?
I love getting my hair blown out.
It always makes me feel great and its always better than what I could do.
Im actually quite terrible at it.
The other thing that makes me feel great is a power suit, but a feminine approach.
Recently, I wore an oatmeal linen skirt with a blazer look.
Theres something about this traditional power suit, but then modernizing it and making sure its a feminine approach.
Whats your first memory of sustainable fashion?
For me, it was about people.
That was the beginning of my education in, and my focus on, sustainable fashion.
Whats inspiring you in the world of sustainability right now?
Im really excited about our new circularity commitment and the push for circularity becoming more prominent.
Just yesterday I was sitting in a meeting, we were looking at all-new fibers and fabrics.
Some of these are just so cutting edge, so incredible, much lower waste than ever before.
Thats really inspiring for me.
What is the biggest myth taught to women about furthering their careers that youd like to debunk?
Something I got wrong for myself [was] I thought my career was going to be linear.
Heres what I need to do.
I don’t think life works like that and I dont think lifes fun like that.
Its not always a plan, sometimes you have to let life happen.
Or, I wasn’t the best at that.
But, I learned something from it.
I encourage everyone to be a bit more risk-seeking in their own career.
Try things that you may not know how to do and just take advantage of all the opportunities.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
This article was originally published onMay 31, 2023
