You may already know me as Mignon Gould, founder of Mignon Media, a network of brands including The Chic Spy, an online style and entertainment magazine; Art of Preneur, a platform for women entrepreneurs and FashFilmFete, a fashion film festival. But what you don’t know is that the journey to get me there has been anything but easy. This is my story:
After graduating with a B.S. in Communications, I worked in communication and marketing positions developing my writing and storytelling skills. I wrote for a nationally-ranked newspaper, writing style-centric articles and interviewing celebrities. I later left that position to attend graduate school in San Francisco, receiving an MFA in journalism and multimedia. TheChicSpy.com, which I had launched in 2007, served as my thesis. On the website I featured interviews with fashion and film insiders from designers and filmmakers to celebrities such as Salma Hayek, Emma Stone, Kevin Hart and Ashton Kutcher. After running the online magazine for more than a decade, I archived the website and focused on working with other female founders to help them gain exposure for their businesses through the platform ArtofPreneur.com. But, my love for fashion and film led me to found FashFilmFete.com, to celebrate the role of fashion in storytelling.
Who has Influenced your life the most?
My mother and my grandmother have been the most influential in my life. They both encouraged me to pursue my passion and do it with grace and dignity while remaining true to myself. To watch these two dynamic women from different eras live their life unapologetically with so much vigor, has always been an inspiration. They both inspired my sense of fashion and style. I’ll never forget my mom’s advice to me as a young woman when I discovered fashion. She advised me to never become a billboard for any brand. Wear fashion that speaks to me because of its aesthetic, not because it was made by this designer or that designer.
What are your proudest achievements?
Frankly, I am still awaiting that one thing that I can say is my proudest achievement. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had some great opportunities that have led to accomplishments in my life, but it’s too soon to crown my proudest achievement. However, I would have to say that becoming an entrepreneur has been career-defining for me. It has been challenging at times, but I wouldn’t change a thing.
Who Inspires you?
Anyone living life to the fullest. I meet a lot of people and often you find people who just live in the moment. I am so inspired by people who go for it, and do what makes their light shine.
What advice would you give someone pursuing a career in what you do?
If it is being a business owner I would first say it’s not for the faint of heart. It takes a lot of determination, hard work and there is risk. Not every decision you make will be the right one, but never look at it as failure, it’s just a lesson learned on doing it differently the next time.
What makes an inspiring woman?
A woman who takes pride in herself and the work she does. She goes after her dreams and she takes setbacks in stride because she knows no road worth traveling will be without bumps.
Tell us five things no one knows about you?
- For a few years up until the 9th grade in high school I thought I wanted to be a nun.
- I’m afraid of horses. I discovered this when I was about 7 or 8 years old during summer camp when a camp counselor was trying to convince me to mount a horse. One of the most beautiful creatures on earth, but they just frighten me!
- I originally wanted to be an architect and even attended a summer program at Frank Lloyd Wright Taliesin West before entering college. In my second year of college I took an engineering course and I was not feeling that, so I decided to change my major.
- Even though writing is a big part of what I do now, I geeked out on math in high school and college including geometry, calculus and finite mathematics. I was taking math as an elective in college. I think I liked math so much because no matter what the problem, there was a definitive solution. Only thing in life where you can say that.
- I want to learn how to fly and surf. They are both on my bucket list.
