Brick Sandwich exists to empower women with common sense and humor, but sometimes we also need inspiration.
I love reading about extraordinarily accomplished women. It reinforces my belief that anything is possible. If these women are living their dreams, then I can too. We all need these reminders to keep us going and to keep us strong. To that end, Brick Sandwich will now feature a Woman of the Week. Someone who is fiercely living her life, without apologies, like a true Brick Sandwich.
Hopefully, it can inspire the rest of us to do the same.
Introducing Brick Sandwich’s inaugural Woman of the Week:
Name:
Desirée Rogers, 51
Personal:
Mother of one; Divorced
Current Gig:
CEO of Johnson Publishing Company (Publisher of Ebony & Jet Magazines)
Prior Gig:
White House Social Secretary (the first African-American to hold this post.)
Education:
Wellesley College and Harvard Business School.
Why she’s a Brick Sandwich Woman of the Week:
She's polished, educated and sophisticated. She's mastered the art of networking and making connections. Even under incredible and sometimes hostile, scrutiny, she graciously used interviews to keep the focus on the goals of the White House, instead of her personal feelings. She used her role as Social Secretary to bring forth the Obama’s vision of making the White House the “People’s House”, by planning over 330 events during her fourteen month tenure. She’s a woman of style, intelligence and unafraid to speak her mind. She’s forthright and unapologetic, and now she’s taken on the incredible challenge of bringing two major African-American household brands, Ebony and Jet into the age of the Internet.
Personal Quotes:
“I think I confuse people,” she says. “In this country, there is a bias against people who have a certain look or style. I have fought this all of my life. People only see this package, and it’s a tall and vocal package. So people think, Wait a minute, you can’t be this stylish and intelligent, too. I take people out of their comfort zone.”
“At 50, I have learned who I am. I am not going to change who I am. But I will work hard to make people feel more comfortable. For me to change who I am would be the end of my soul. But I can keep this in consideration as I am talking, socializing, and enjoying other people.”
