Redefining What It Means to Win
- Feb 13
- 3 min read
By Francesca Kennedy
I have been called a TED speaker, a Project Runway winner, and one of People Magazine’s 25 Most Powerful Women. I have been featured in Forbes, the Financial Times, and Inc. Magazine. Those titles look shiny on a bio. They were forged in moments that were anything but.
I grew up with Lake Atitlán in Guatemala as my second home. It is one of the most beautiful places on earth, ringed by volcanoes and Mayan villages. In 2013, it turned a sickly green from pollution and neglect. Children were getting sick. Artisans were losing their livelihoods. I saw something simple and devastating. When people cannot earn with dignity, communities unravel.
So I built Ix Style, a fashion brand rooted in Mayan women and their craft. We sold to J.Crew and Anthropologie. We partnered with leaders like Richard Branson and Gwyneth Paltrow. Every product funded clean water and education in Guatemala. Commerce became a lever for change. It was proof that you could build something beautiful and something useful at the same time.
Today I lead PR and Corporate Social Responsibility at Shop LC, part of Vaibhav Global Limited, one of the world’s largest vertically integrated jewelry manufacturers. We operate across the United States, Germany, and the UK. At the center of everything we do is a simple promise called Your Purchase Feeds. Every item sold provides meals to children in the communities where we source and serve.
In Texas, one in four kids goes hungry on weekends. In India, where much of the world’s jewelry is made, it is closer to one in three. Right now we provide over 30,000 meals every day. To date, that number is more than 55 million. Our North Star is one million meals a day by 2040. That is what it looks like when a business answers a problem with steady, daily care.
Winning used to mean security through achievement. It meant more titles, more visibility, more applause. Now it means alignment. It means my work feeds families, pays artisans fairly, and builds systems that last. I measure success in the lives touched and the integrity of the machine we are building.
The moment that shaped my leadership most was being laid off. There is no faster teacher. It showed me that excellence alone does not keep you safe. You need a backup that is yours. I built mine in three ways.
First, relationships. I invested in people long before I needed anything. Second, skills. I learned how to tell stories, read data, and turn insight into action. Third, ownership. I kept creating, whether it was a brand, a book, or a platform for impact. When the ground shifted, I could stand because I had something to stand on.
That experience changed how I lead. I hire for curiosity and courage. I tell my teams to build their own backups too. Security is not a job. It is a network, a craft, and a voice.
Women support each other best when we tell the truth about the messy middle. We open doors with introductions and amplification.
We redefine success so it includes impact, creativity, and courage. When we do that, more women get to win on their own terms.
From a lake in Guatemala to a global platform that feeds children, my story is simple. Build things that matter. Create your own safety net. Use success to serve something bigger than yourself. That is how we lead. That is how we win.
Connect With Francesca
Comments