SUCCESS STORY

Ivanka Trump and Family Legacy

By: Mackenzie Madsen | Accounting and Finance Major, Mathematics Minor

Counting all of their combined crumpled up five dollar bills and loose change, Ivanka finishes her calculations and realizes they have enough for the procedure. As she hesitantly turns to show her boarding school friends, she bumps into a larger set man covered with tattoos. “What can I do for you ladies?” His voice was a low echo through the small, dingy tattoo parlor (Trump 17). Ivanka is struck with silence due to the fact that her guilt has taken over. She was a typical rebellious teenager, caught up in a moment. “We want to get our navels pierced,” exclaimed her one friend, who was always wearing Vans to make her uniform stand out. The tattooed man shot Ivanka a slight smile. Nervously waiting for her turn in the worn out leather chair, Ivanka’s favorite Brittany Spears ringtone blares. Saying a silent prayer, she answers her pink flip phone. Her dad Donald, was calling just to check in and see what she was up to. Without even trying, dad saves the day.

Ivanka Trump’s success is a great reflection of Gladwell’s theories about cultural and family legacy, opportunities do matter, and the significance of 10,000 hours.

Dov Cohen and Richard Nisbett, two psychologists at the University of Michigan conducted an experiment on the culture of honor. This experiment was conducted to see if there was a correlation between how you acted compared to where your ancestors are from (Demetriou). The experiment was set up like this: a large group of men were divided into two equal groups: southerners and northerners. Each group was instructed exactly the same; to leave the classroom with the questionnaire, walk it down to the end of the hallway and return. But here is the interesting part. While they were walking down the narrow hallway there was a man who would open a filing cabinet, thus making the hallway narrower. The man in the hallway was instructed to act angrily and rude toward each man trying to walk down the narrow hallway. Cohen and Nisbett’s experiment was to analyze each man’s reaction to the situation they were just involved in. The results were shocking. For the Northerners, there was no effect in their behavior. They waited for the man to move before they attempted to get around him. That was not the case for the Southerners. They became very hostile and provoking. They left the experiment agitated and under distress (Gladwell 174). From this study conducted in the early 1990’s, we find that under certain circumstances you act very similar to your ancestors. This study shows us how important cultural legacies are.

Fred Trump, a son of German immigrants, began his own business building single family homes (Fred). Trump’s timing could not have been any better. He started his company at the end of World War II. During this time, thousands upon thousands of soldiers were coming back from war, needing places to stay. The end of WWII was also the spark to a new era: the automobile. Fred decided to expand his company from building single family homes to building garages too. “He saw an opportunity and rose to meet it — a thread that runs through our family quilt in an intricate way” (qtd. Trump 25). Shortly after Fred Trump’s business took off he met his wife Mary MacLeod, daughter of Scotland immigrants. Mary MacLeod met Fred Trump when she was on vacation in America. In Queens, 1936, Fred and Mary Trump got married and decided to settle down in the heart of the city (Fred).

On June 14, 1946, Mary gave birth to their first son, Donald. As a young boy, Donald Trump was not known for making the best decisions. At the age of thirteen, MacLeod and Trump sent Donald to military school North of New York City. Shortly after graduating from Military school he decided to get a degree in business and continue what his father worked so hard to create. Donald Trump enrolled at Fordham University in the Bronx. After two years at Fordham University, he then transferred to Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania. Donald Trump’s career exploded after graduation. He went on to purchase and refinish the old Commodore Hotel above Grand Central Station (Trump 26–28).

An electrical engineer, Milòs Zelnicek designed many stadiums in Czechoslovakia. Milòs married Maria, a homemaker who enjoyed reading and cooking. Milòs and Maria Zelnicek were proud parents of Ivana Marie Zelnicek. Ivana Zelnicek’s father taught her how to ski at the age of two. Through hard work, dedication and lots and lots of practice Ivana Zelnicek became an Olympic skier. She became a member of the Czechoslovakia Olympic ski team in 1968. During this time in her life, she began to model. She did photoshoots here and there, in order to have some extra spending money. Zelnicek was given so much more than just fame through her time on the Olympic team. This opportunity gave her an advantage over all the other girls her age in Czechoslovakia. She was given access to better food, clothing and housing. The most important gift Zelnicek received from the Olympic team was the ability to travel. “The most significant benefit of my mother’s athletic power was the freedom it afforded her for international travel — and she took full advantage of it.” (Trump 24) Shortly after her Olympic career ended, she became more interested in modeling. Ivana was selected in 1976, to be part of the New York tour with a prestigious modeling company (Rayford 68). It was during that time in 1976 that Ivana met Donald.

Ivana and Donald Trump wanted Ivanka Trump to be successful through her own success, not theirs. They wanted to teach their children the importance of hard work. “Let’s face it, when you come from a place where good enough is not quite good enough, you’re bound to push yourself. You’re disinclined to take anything for granted” (qtd. Trump 3). Ivanka Trump’s cultural and family legacy are just one of the many factors that helped her achieve her current level of success. Through Gladwell’s research we are able to conclude that Trump would not have been successful without the opportunities her family legacy is able to offer her.

In Outliers, Gladwell explains how it takes 10,000 hours to become good at a certain task. In the early 1990’s, K. Anders Ericsson, a psychologist conducted a study on talent. He divided violinist into three different groups. The three different groups were categorized by each violinist’s likelihood of becoming professionals. Ericsson then asked each group; how many hours do you think you have played since the first time you picked up your instrument? The results from each of the groups were relatively similar. Most of the violinist started at the age of five, and practiced about the same amount. But Ericsson noticed that the breakthrough age was eight. He found out at age eight, the better students in each class would practice more than their peers. Ericsson realized this is where the division was between professional players and good players. But that was not the most interesting thing Ericsson found. Ericsson found there was a strong correlation between how good of a violinist you were and how well you did in school. “Practice isn’t the thing you do once and you’re good. It’s the thing you do that makes you good” (qtd. Outliers 42). Through Ericsson’s research we can conclude that one should abtain at least 10,000 hours to be considered good at a certain task.

May 25, 1935 the Braves take on the Pirates. Top of the first with one out and Urbanski on second. Babe Ruth, up next, carrying his thirty-six inch Louisville Slugger struts up to the plate (Fact). The first pitch is low and outside. Lucas delivers the second pitch; slightly high and inside, right in Ruth’s sweet spot. Ruth sends the ball over the fence. Top of the third, Braves 2, Pirates 0. Ruth is up again with one out and Mallon on first. Ruth is given the perfect pitch, which again he sends flying out of the park. Top of the seventh, Braves 5, Pirates 7. Babe Ruth hits his final home-run of his baseball career (May). The ball explodes off his Louisville Slugger sending it 500 feet over the fence of Forbes Field. Ruth went four for four that day, hitting three homeruns and driving in six runs (history).

George Herman Ruth Jr. was born to George and Kate Ruth in early February 1895. George Jr.’s parents worked long hours and were unable to watch him and his little sister. This resulted in George getting into a lot of trouble. His parents decided it would be best for George Jr. to be sent to St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys at the age of seven. It was at this school that Babe Ruth not only fell in love with baseball, but he earned his 10,000 hours as well.

Babe Ruth and Trump are just two examples that prove this Gladwell Theory.

Donald enjoyed bringing his kids to work. He believed that showing them the right way to run a business did not need an age limit. Just after Ivanka turned six, her dad was dragging her along to construction sites, teaching her the ins and outs of running a company. His hard work paid off when she joined his company in 2005 (People).

A prestigious boarding school in Wallingford Connecticut, Choate, is where Trump attended before heading off to college at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Finance. She followed her dad’s footsteps, when she decided to attend Wharton. Trump was treated differently by her classmates because they thought she knew everything about the business world. They assumed because of her last name that she knew the most difficult of questions. Unfortunately that was not the case. Trump was given a lucky break though. Just after graduation, her dad offered her a job in the family company. Ivanka Trump was the youngest member of the Trump Organization. At the Trump Organization, she was given a lot of responsibility without necessary earning it. A few years later, her dad asked her to be an adviser on his show The Apprentice (Ivanka). The Apprentice gave Trump just what she needed, practice.

Ivanka Trump learned a lot about sales through her mom’s success. Shortly after her parents got divorced. She was able to spend more time with each parent separately. During this time she was able to learn the real estate aspect of business from her father. From her mother she learned everything about luxury jewelry, how to purchase and sell jewelry, how to interact with customers, and how to run a successful company. After a few years of settling in, Trump was given another opportunity from her mother. Ivanka Trump was able to open her own jewelry company in 2007. At the time of opening, Trump was receiving a substantial amount of support in assuring her company’s success.

Legos are scattered all over the white marble floors in the family room. Donald Trump crouches down next to his daughter Ivanka Trump, who is gluing together her tower of Legos. “You can’t do that to the legos, they are not made to be glued, that is not good Ivanka,” Donald said trying to scold his little girl. Ivanka Trump was a brown-eyed little girl who was trying to impress her older brother. In doing so she only made her brother mad, she was gluing together their shared Christmas gift, or so she thought (Trump 30–32). Ivanka reminisces about this memory which seems to be oh so clear.

Sitting down around the giant oak table, sorting through pictures of their childhood. Ivanka tells everyone the story that her pigtailed picture conveys. It wasn't until she was done that she realized her brothers were upset with her. They couldn't believe that she was claiming “the Lego incident” as her own. Each of her brothers were under the impression that this funny Lego story was their own. They were the ones who were trying mimic their impressive dad by building their own tower of Legos. Being that it was a huge controversy that needed to be solved, there was only one person who could answer the question of who really did it: dad. Donald’s low laugh fills the room as he explains to his children that the Lego story is none of theirs, the Lego story is his. “In my father’s book the Lego story was just a cute and possibly revealing childhood memory, but in mine I set it out in hope that it will reveal something more: how we were as a family, how we kids tried to be like our father — and, ultimately, how we relied on one another” (Trump 21).

Success does not happen overnight. And it surely does not happen to anyone. There are a multitude of factors that need to come together in order to become successful. Ivanka Trump was given opportunities not only in her schooling but also in her company endeavors given by her parents. Trump exceed her 10,000 hours by learning and working in the businesses that not only her father created but herself. The most important attribute to Ivanka Trump’s level of success is her cultural and family legacy.

Works Cited

“Biography.” Babe Ruth. Web. 3 May 2015.

Demetriou, Dan. “What should Realist say about honor cultures?” Ethical Theory and Moral Practice. 17.5 (2014): n. pag. Web. 2 May 2015.

“Fact or Fiction: The Babe Used Bats That Were Less Than 35-Inches.” Fact or Fiction: The Babe Used Bats That Were Less Than 35-Inches. Web. 9 May 2015.

“Fred Trump.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 8 May 2015.

“Ivanka Trump.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. FL: Wikimedia Foundation, 2 May 2015. Web. 4 May 2015.

“May 25, 1935 Boston Braves at Pittsburgh Pirates Box Score and Play by Play | Baseball-Reference.com.” Baseball-Reference.com. Web. 9 May 2015.

Gladwell, Malcolm. Outliers: The Story of Success. New York: Little, Brown, and Company, 2008. Print.

Rayford, Janine. “Growing Up Trump.” People 1 December 2015: 78–80. Print. 4 May 2015.

Trump, Ivanka. The Trump Card: Playing to Win in Work and Life. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2009. Print.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mackenzie Madsen, a freshmen at Bethel University. Plans to graduate in 2018, with a degree in accounting and finance with a minor in mathematics. Madsen likes participating in sports, watching Netflix, and loves her pug.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED

Drop the readers in a moment; make the readers care about what you are writing about.

Name the dog.

Readers will want to continue to read what you wrote once you have given them a character to care about.

Use a hook.

You do not need fancy words to assure your readers you know what you are talking about.

Great writers have guts. Great writers are not afraid to share their opinion with you or worry about what the reader is going to think or feel.

Write sentences that have never been written before.

Avoid anything that grandma would say. Avoid common comparisons.

Finish your writing where you started. Bring your reader back to what they began reading.

Great writers give their readers suspense. Great writers make their readers wait.

Know what is important as apposed to what you should leave out.

Details matter.

Great writers appeal to the senses.

Do not write in a passive voice. I've learned to avoid using is, are, was, were. Good writers write actively.

Drop gold coins. Show the reader something before we hear something.

Pose a question.

Gladwell’s formula for writing. 1. Tell a story. 2. Reveal there is more to the story. 3. Show academic research. 4. What does it mean? Give connections as to why this is important in this moment of the paper. 5. Return to the start. Remind the readers where the story began.

“Courtney put four minutes on your phone please. Gabe when you are ready.” Gabe shouts, “GO!” My pencil begins to move before my brain can comprehend what is happening. Time feels like it has stopped, as I am hunched over my college ruled notebook. I am scribbling down word by word the memories I have shared with my dad, and watch as my black pen fill this small page. As time is passing, people start to move as they are finishing their own stories, but times still remains. The covenant rule is to never stop writing until the timer has buzzed.

I've learned to never stop writing.