Paving the Road Toward Success with Values
STORY BY: LOLA MENDEZ
SANDRA CAMPOS IS A FASHION INDUSTRY VETERAN PAVING THE WAY FOR LATINAS TO REACH C-LEVEL EXECUTIVE ROLES IN THE FIELD. SHE STARTED ON RETAIL SALES FLOORS AND ULTIMATELY BECAME THE CEO OF DIANE VON FURSTENBERG, WHERE SHE STILL SERVES AS A CONSULTANT. SHE CREDITS HER SUCCESS IN THE HIGHLY COMPETITIVE INDUSTRY TO HER MEXICAN-AMERICAN UPBRINGING.
“A LEADER NEEDS TO BE ABLE TO FIND THE RIGHT RESOURCES AND FIND THE RIGHT TEAM MEMBERS WHO ARE GOING TO BE ABLE TO HAVE A COLLABORATIVE ENVIRONMENT TO WORK TOGETHER TO EXECUTE THAT VISION.”
THE FASHION MOGUL is a first-generation American. Her parents immigrated from México to California, where she was born. The Campos family then moved to Texas where her father started a tortilla business while Campos went to school in Texas. A natural leader, Campos was the head cheerleader at her high school. “I grew up around the entrepreneurial spirit. There was always a new idea for a business venture.” She learned about sourcing, manufacturing, production, logistics, and shipping from her father’s business.
She always knew she wanted to be in fashion. She was constantly being creative; putting up new curtains, making slipcovers for sofas, and making clothes for her six siblings. She attended Texas Tech University, which she notes isn’t a fashion mecca. Her path towards leadership continued in extracurricular activities as she was the vice president of her sorority. In college, she’d create dresses out of T-shirts with her roommate. The duo sold a few of their creations launching Campos’ foray into the business of fashion.
After college, when Campos was 20, she moved to New York City with dreams of breaking into the fashion industry. She readily admits she was a bit naïve. The desire to learn and be a part of something bigger than herself motivated her to leap into the unknown. She didn’t know anyone in the city and wasn’t prepared for how much housing and transportation would cost.
Initially, she struggled to fit in. She had a thick southern accent and worked for a man who had a thick Brooklyn accent. They couldn’t understand each other. “He kept saying to me, ‘Enunciate your words.’ After a year, I lost the majority of my accent.” She built her confidence to speak in front of leaders by listening to the way leaders communicate. She suggests taking notes and applying the lessons to your communication style.
“YOUR ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE AND SPEAK TO OTHERS IS KEY.”
For the first three years in New York City, she worked a day job, an evening job, and a weekend job. Her immigrant parents’ work ethic was instilled in her. Her family showed her that pursuing your passion takes hard work. “You have to believe in yourself. I was pursuing a dream and had milestones I wanted to achieve.”
Campos started on the sales floor and would return to working retail today, as it’s where you learn the most about consumer behavior and selling. “I’m a big believer that no matter what you do, you’re selling. You’re selling yourself, your ideas, your passions.” In a training program about buying she learned about the wholesale business. There she realized that everything comes back to the consumer and making sure the product provides the value or the quality they deserve.
Her big break into major fashion houses came when she was offered a role at Donna Karen on the team launching the DKNY collection. While working with the iconic brand, she acquired skills in visual merchandising, wholesale sales, and buying. She developed the ability to analyze a brand from both a creative and analytical standpoint to figure out what businesses needed to successfully launch a brand. She also learned about supportive teamwork. Being exposed to camaraderie, community, cooperation, and collaboration crystalized Campos’ workplace values.
Sandra with friend, Diane von Furstenberg
The retail industry has since seen many changes as malls and stores are closing at unprecedented rates. Fast fashion retailers, social media, and influencers have changed the landscape of the industry and influenced how brands develop product cycles. Brands used to dictate what an outfit would be, clientele would be billboards for the brands “People would wear a brand head to toe. Social media made it okay to wear a high-low outfit with Chanel on top and Zara on bottom.” Campos has found that today customers want immediate gratification.
Her experience launching a division of Donna Karan positioned her to work with world-renowned brands. Campos became the CEO of Diane von Fürstenberg in 2018. “The CEO is the visionary. You’re visualizing the future, communicating that future, and getting your team to achieve results for whatever that vision is. A leader needs to be able to find the right resources and find the right team members who are going to be able to have a collaborative environment to work together to execute that vision.”
She joined Diane von Fürstenberg to redefine the brand, which she says hadn’t had relevance for a decade. “We don’t have to be everything to everyone anymore. We want to be a brand that stands for quality, that stands for consistency, that you know you can count on for a great pair of pants or that great wrap dress.” Her team developed a direct-to-consumer strategy-oriented between e-commerce and the brand’s brick and mortar stores rather than focusing on wholesale retailers.
Campos enhanced what was once one of the most celebrated womenswear brands. She applied what she believes to be the key to retail success, consistency. “Branding and creativity is the most important thing. Long-lasting heritage brands, whether it’s Diane von Fürstenberg or Hermès, never veered from who they were. They stood for quality, they stood for something, whether it’s Diane and the wrap dress, or Hermès and the scarves. These incredible brands have been long-lasting in the industry because they've been consistent with who they are and what they represent to the consumer.”
As the industry recovers from the impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic, Campos feels brands need to evaluate what they stand for and develop a better understanding of their customers. She advises that brands must be cognizant of what’s happening in people’s lives and pivot to offer today’s needs that didn’t exist three months ago.
Today, in addition to consulting for Diane von Fürstenberg, Campos is a startup advisor for female-led companies in technology, beauty, and fashion. She’s also an investor and key-note speaker. The entrepreneur founded The Fashion Launchpad, a Master Class workshop series with lessons taught by industry executives, founders, and CEOs. The webinars are inspired by the training programs Campos had access to early in her career.
Sandra with daughters and son
In addition to being a fashion power-house, Campos is a single mother to three. “My kids are all within the age of going into college. I tell them that academics get you to one level, but it’s really about your work ethic and who you know.” She credits her nanny for helping her raise her children and is quick to admit she struggles to cultivate a work-life balance. “I always have my phone with me. I’m always doing some sort of work and looking for the next great idea or innovation.”
Campos doesn’t believe you can have it all. “If you try to do everything you’re not going to do it well at all and you’re going to burn yourself out. If you just try to really focus on the things that are most important, perhaps that’ll be a little bit better and a little bit easier.” Over the years, she’s learned not to be so hard on herself. “Balance doesn’t necessarily exist all the time. Some of the time that you have great balance and some of the time you don’t. So take those times that you do and seize those moments and have happiness and joy when youhavethem.”
There’s very little Latino representation in leadership roles. Campos broke the glass ceiling in the fashion industry. She takes her position as a Latina role model seriously and is firm in her position that Latinas are not inferior. “The more we learn, the harder we work, the more that we communicate appropriately and effectively. I think that there’s room for all of us.” She recommends Latinas who want to break into the industry to be confident with who they are, how they communicate, and what their ideas are.
She emphasizes networking is important as you can learn from anyone. She’s obsessed with Linkedin and uses the platform to connect with her peers. “I’d encourage young girls to ask for help. Just ask. But be very specific on what you’re asking for so that somebody knows what they need to do for you.” She recommends avoiding broad questions. “People want to help, so the worst thing you can do is just not ask because you’re afraid to or because you think somebody’s not going to respond because you definitely won’t get an answer then. But, if you do go out and ask the question, you’re more than likely going to get a yes.”
“We’re all here for each other. I talk to Latinas all the time and hear the same thing from them. We just want to help each other because the more we rise, we rise together.”