‘You have to have conviction’

“When I think about the past 20 years, I can’t believe I’m still standing,” she said during an appearance at the 2024 TIME 100 Summit. “So many things have happened that I could never have imagined.”

Her eponymous brand has over 300 locations around the world and her designs are worn by some of the biggest names in fashion. Burch told the audience that she wouldn’t have achieved her success without a healthy dose of resilience.

“It’s the most special profession, the most difficult,” Burch said. “The highs and lows teach you resilience. They teach you how to take things as they come.”

With more than 5,000 employees in her organization, Burch says she “takes responsibility to show up in a positive way and practice what I preach.” She also said it is important to be agile when running a business.

“You have to have conviction and vision and not deviate from that, but also be able to go with the flow,” she said. “It’s so important to have a unique point of view and to make your mark and do something that meets a need, but also to be able to move when you need to move in different directions.”

Burch has made an effort to instill resilience directly into the bones of her business.

“We are a diversified company and everything from our supply chain to where we are globally is so important because it makes you more resilient,” she said. “Because when certain things happen in different places in the world, you have to be able to get through it and rise to the occasion.”

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