Anna Wintour

Daniels tried to fire her, but Anna had learned something.

How to talk her way out of trouble.

She bought some time to job hunt while getting paid.

Then came humiliation.

March 18th, 1981.

Anna pitches Interview Magazine, Andy Warhol's glamorous publication, an idea she spent three months developing.

The editor looked at it for one second and said, this is trash.

Anna cries right there in his office.

And then she leaves for her next appointment.

When you believe in yourself completely, rejection is data, not a verdict.

That persistence paid off when Laurie Jones at New York Magazine called in early 1981.

Jones was desperate to fill a fashion editor position that required someone to basically run a one-person fashion department attending shows, selecting clothes, booking photographers, managing shoots, do everything, deliver weekly.

Anna shows up to the interview with storyboards, complete with Polaroids, layouts, fully realized ideas, not hopes, but plans.

Anna, this is fabulous.

I like every one of these story ideas, Jones said.

She rushed editor-in-chief Edward Kosner.

Ed, this woman is amazing.

We're all going to be working for her someday.

Kosner laughed and hired her.

Most people prepare for interviews by thinking about answers.