27A- Reading Reflection No.3

Kalie Novosedliak
Professor Pryor
ENT3003- Assignment 27A
April 14, 2020


Coco Chanel by Lisa Chaney

1) What surprised me the most about this biography was Chaney's ability to actually write a biography solely based off of letters and commentaries from other people. I thought it w really interesting that they were able to speculate Coco Chanel from these outside sources to make a full, in depth biography about her. Something I admire more about Coco Chanel is her ambition and her willingness to work as hard as she needed to in order to get her designs out there. She didn't come from a necessarily stable childhood or background and it is inspiring to see someone as successful as her to work hard to get where her business is today rather than the success being handed to her. Something I least admire about Coco Chanel is her dependency on men. Although I knew this is most likely a result of her upbringing and a lack of a male figure because her father wasn't necessarily involved in her life, I would have admired her much more if she grew to be an independent woman that did not rely on a male. Coco Chanel most definitely experienced challenges and failures with her business, mostly involving a loss of money or lack of bringing money in. She did not let this discourage her and she continued to work harder in order to overcome this challenge.

2) Coco Chanel was very good at finding opportunities to help her business. She paid close attention to current events that could possibly allow her to take advantage of in order to better her business. She was also very good at networking and was good at ensuring people would invest in her business. She was very determined and seemed to go the extra mile in order to get something she knew would help her business.

3) I was confused about the speculation of Coco Chanel being a spy during the war for the Germans. This seems so far out of her character, however knowing her determination I do believe she would do anything it took in order to get her brand name out there so it could definitely be a possibility.

4) 
  - What is your relationship with the Germans and were you ever a spy?
  - What is one piece of advice you would give to any individual who wants to follow the same path you did in regards to owning  a business in design?

5) I think Coco Chanel's opinion of hard work is you get out what you put in. Working as hard as possible for your brand or in whatever you do will eventually lead to a success with patience. I think Coco Chanel would encourage how important working hard is especially as an entrepreneur in such a competitive market. She definitely believes her hard work and unwillingness to give up is what made her brand so successful in the end.