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Adrienne Lazarus, 38
President
Ann Taylor Stores Corp.
Adrienne Lazarus learned Italian in just three months so that she would be able to converse with her husband's extended family. She brings the same kind of energy and dedication--not to mention a willingness to adapt to new circumstances--to her leading role at classic fashion brand Ann Taylor.
As she works to turn around the Ann Taylor division of Ann Taylor Stores Corp., she's trying to fix a problem she had a hand in making. Ms. Lazarus, who joined the company as an assistant dress buyer in 1991, spent five years working her way up the corporate ladder at the retailer's namesake chain. When the company decided to launch Loft, a spinoff with less expensive clothes, it tapped Ms. Lazarus to help. The concept became so successful that it began eating into its older sibling's sales some three years ago.
That's when Ms. Lazarus was asked to move back to the Ann Taylor division to give it a lift. The can-do executive created a list of 52 things that were wrong with the chain.
"If you put it down on paper, it's easier to navigate," Ms. Lazarus says. She has since updated Ann Taylor's styles, helping the brand reconnect with its customers. For the first nine months of 2006, sales grew 6.6% to $669 million, compared with the year-earlier period.
Ms. Lazarus has come a long way since she joined the firm, and industry experts believe she can revive the brand. "Adrienne is homegrown and she knows the brand inside and out," says Kirk Palmer, founder of an eponymous executive search firm.