Episode 34: Elaine Welteroth

An interview with Elaine Welteroth on how she breaks barriers as being a minority, what she learned early in her life that has helped her today, how being authentic makes you more confident, who has influenced her the most and her best career advice.

Welcome to the 34th episode of 5 Questions with Dan Schawbel. As your host, my goal is to curate the best advice from the world’s smartest and most interesting people by asking them just 5 questions.

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This episodes guest:

My guest today is the former Teen Vogue editor-in-chief and current judge on Bravo’s Project Runway, Elaine Welteroth. Born in Newark, California to a white father and African American mother, Elaine majored in mass communication with a minor in journalism. Her first job was as a mascot wearing a bird suit. When she graduated college, Elaine went on to be an intern at advertising agency, Ogilvy & Mather. Then, she became a content producer at digital media company SomaGirls.TV. She broke into the magazine world with an unpaid internship at Ebony Magazine, where she later became editor-in-chief’s Harriette Cole’s assistant. From 2008 to 2011, Elaine worked full-time as the magazine’s beauty and style editor. Then, she joined Condé Nast, becoming the beauty and style editor at Glamour Magazine, followed by becoming the first ever African American beauty and health director at Teen Vogue. In 2017, She became the magazine’s youngest ever editor in chief. Elaine is a judge on Bravo’s Project Runway and is the author of the new book, More Than Enough: Claiming Space for Who You Are (No Matter What They Say).

The 5 questions questions I ask in this episode:

How did you break the barriers in your career as a minority?
What lessons did you learn early on that have allowed you to make better choices today?
How can being authentic, instead of blending in, build self-confidence?
Who has most influenced your thinking and what changes have you made as a result?
What is your best piece of career advice?

Follow Elaine’s journey: