Channelizing Chanel: Leena Nair’s story to success
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Leena Nair is a British Indian business executive who is the first female and youngest-ever Global CEO of Chanel. Her achievements throughout her career have attested to her truly being the epitome of empowerment and breaking gender-related stereotypes.
Leena was born in Alleppey, Kerala, India and arrived in the UK when she was 12. Motivated by her parents’ unwavering belief in her ability, Leena pursued a degree in law from Nottingham University and a postgraduate law degree from the London School of Economics. After completing her education, she worked as an attorney with Linklaters & Alliance before joining Unilever in 2003.
For over ten years at Unilever, Nair rose to be Chief Human Resources Officer — Global People where she led people strategy for more than 170,000 employees across 70 countries. She lived in five of those countries and managed an international team of over 2,500 people.
Despite her success, Leena Nair ensured that she never forgot where she came from, visiting India regularly despite the hectic schedule she’d kept for over ten years.
In 2015, L'Oréal approached Nair concerning a job opportunity in mainland Europe, leading a global team of 30,000 people. Although this was a great career move, Leena chose to decline the role as it would have meant living in Paris — away from her family and friends in London. Upon receiving a congratulatory call from her son, Leena realized that she had taken the decision the wrong way round.
After six years abroad, she returned to India to start a family of her own and welcomed twin boys. When asked about how she had overcome this tough personal choice, Nair said: “The interesting thing for me when I came back was not about whether I would work or not — I had already made this choice in 2003! The real task was to find out what it was that was stopping me from working. I realized that I had a lot of stuff going on in my head that was distracting me and I needed to think more clearly. I decided to take time off and reflect on what it was that made me happy.”
In October 2015, Leena Nair took up the role of Chief Executive Officer at Chanel, replacing Bruno Pavlovsky who had run the company for over 20 years. Being just the second female CEO in Chanel’s history, her empowerment is obvious and an example of true success.
In 2017, Time Magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world. She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2019 New Year Honors for services to business, education and fashion industries. In March 2018, she was featured on Forbes’ list of The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women. Leena Nair is a believer in the value of mentoring and providing opportunities for young women. She has benefited from mentoring and being surrounded by people who believe in her ability. She has always been committed to helping young women achieve their dreams.
She founded the Chanel Mentorship Initiative, which aims to connect girls from the UK, India and Ghana through a unique partnership between Chanel and MIRA — the charity Imelda Marcos founded to empower marginalized communities globally. The partnership aims to connect 400 girls for mentoring, fashion shows and business training sessions at MIRA Brindavan School in Kerala, India.
The one thing that Nair has learned from her career is that “nothing is impossible.” This belief was important in her life as it helped her believe in herself — and that no matter what, she could achieve what she wanted. Her passion and faith in herself have led her down a path of success. Her beliefs have helped her maintain a positive outlook on life and achieve everything she has today.
Leena Nair’s story is a perfect example of how a woman can be as successful in her career as anyone else. She is a driving force for women everywhere, especially those in the business world, proving that women have what it takes to be the CEO or leader of any industry. Nair demonstrates how women can be parents and still excel at work. Her story serves as a reminder that anyone can stand up for themselves, break all barriers and strive to achieve their goals.
