indiana, new york, london

I absolutely go crazy when I discover that someone huge in the fashion industry was bred in Indiana. I think immediately of Bill Blass, Eleanor Lambert (the creator of the International Best Dressed List) and Scott Schuman (The Sartorialist). I just discovered the CEO of Burberry, Angela Ahrendts, is also from Indiana. (Love her initials!) The day after she graduated from Ball State University she moved to New York City on a one-way ticket. 30 years later, after developing both her analytical and creative sides in New York, she's living in London  and is now Burberry's CEO.

Even more, AA and Christopher Baily, Burberry's Creative Director, established the Burberry Foundation in 2008, a charitable organization dedicated to helping young people realize their dreams and potential through the power of their creativity. The foundation recognizes that the twenty-first century requires new skills amoung young people who are looking to become successful adults in today's multicultural, diverse global community, and therefore provides educational programs that build skills in language and relationships so that they can be technologically and culturally fluent to navigate difficult decisions and locate trustworthy mentors to open doors to professional careers and meaningful lives.*

*www.burberryplc.com

Oh, to remain grounded enough to excel beyond my wildest dreams and outrageous enough to keep my life focused away from myself.