Saturday 31 August 2013

Rosalia Mera(Zara)-Self Made Woman!


I was going through the Forbes site a few weeks ago, and I stumbled on this article about Rosalia Meras death. What struck me however, was the terminology used to describe her "self made woman". For most of us we let our present circumstances, the past failures, the outcome of the people around us, determine our perception of success or hardwork. Some strongly even believe, you have to be born into a particular family or a particular part of the world to be successful. However amazing things do happen most times when we break out of tradition. She dropped out of school at 11years of age, sure in this day and age, she would be described as a complete disaster however that didnt define her later on. She started sewing from her living room, hmmmm I was discussing my business plans with a friend over dinner last night and she goes Wow elly! how did you think about this and I smile and reply, I have got a lot I want to do, but the capital is the issue. Familiar story??? Dont wait for the capital, start from where you are. She started from her living room.
The article really inspired me, hope it does same for you too...

Rosalia Mera, cofounder of Spanish brand Zara and the wealthiest self-made woman on the planet, has died. She was 69.
Mera was vacationing on the island of Menorca with her daughter, Sandra, according to the Spanish news site ABC.es, when she suffered a brain hemorrhage on Wednesday the 14th of August 2013. She died 24 hours later.
Mera dropped out of school at age 11 to work as a seamstress. With husbandAmancio Ortega, she started making dressing gowns and lingerie in their living room. Together, the couple built their business into a 15.9 billion euro ($21 billion) global fashion empire, best known for its Zara brand. Ortega is now the fourth-richest person on the globe, with a net worth of $51.3 billion as of Thursday’s market close.
Mera was a billionaire, too, among the elite set of self-made women who could claim she’d earned her way onto the Forbes billionaires list. Although she and Ortega divorced long ago, Mera retained a 5.1% stake in the $21 billion (2012 sales) Inditex, the basis for her $6.1 billion net worth as of our latest Forbes count.
Mera diversified after the retailer’s 2001 IPO, which netted her $600 million at the time. She placed her money in causes dear to her heart: a marine fish farming group, a company that looks for cancer treatments in products from the ocean, and a maker of a fingerprinting system for newborns. She was also a major investor in London’s exclusive Bulgari Hotel, and ran a contest for young jazz musicians in Spain. Her Paideia Foundation works to integrate people with physical and mental disabilities, like her son Marcos, into larger society.
Mera is survived by her daughter, Sandra, and son, Marcos. Ortega’s youngest daughter, Marta, has a different mother.http://www.forbes.com/sites/erincarlyle/2013/08/16/rosalia-mera-worlds-richest-self-made-woman-dies-at-69/

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