Ivana Trump shares her secrets to success

Getty/Jemal Countess

Ivanka may have officially coined the phrase #WomenWhoWork, but it’s her mother, Ivana, who first defined it.

In the 1980s, as a hands-on parent and highly successful professional, Ivana Trump defied the rules of the socialite scene by insisting on pursuing a demanding career, instead of filling her time with ladies' luncheons and shopping sprees.

“The 80s were the golden years,” Ivana recalls. “As a beautiful, very wealthy woman, there was a stigma that I was supposed to be home, to dress up for visitors, go to lunches, support charities here and there — but that was not all I was about.”

Ivana had three children in seven years, while simultaneously serving as President and CEO of Trump Castle Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City and later President of the Plaza Hotel in New York City. The Czechoslovakian native was a competitive skier with a master’s degree from Charles University in Prague.

Unlike many of the society wives in her social circle, Ivana was devoted to her career, working long hours with great energy and enthusiasm. “She has more energy in her pinky than most people have in their entire body,” Ivanka laughs.

Now fittingly known to her grandchildren as Glamma, Ivana owns two companies and is a best-selling author and international public speaker. She was in New York with Ivanka following the birth of baby Theodore, and shared her enduring advice on business, parenting and pulling it all together to make it work (really, really well).

1. Organization is the most important thing

I know what I’m doing months from now, besides my day to day appointments. As a mother and a professional, you have to be very organized. You have to have a schedule.

When my children were young, they’d wake up, we’d have breakfast together, I’d send them to their father’s office — 10 floors below my apartment — to say good morning to him; then, when they’d go to school and did not need me, I worked and did my own appointments.

2. To keep your children out of trouble, keep them busy

I was working during the day, so after school my kids did lots of activities. Ivanka studied ballet, Eric had painting lessons, they practiced all kinds of sports. In the evenings, we had dinner together and home school, then they’d go to sleep and I’d go off to different social and charity events.

3. Define success on your own terms

It’s about what you want to achieve. Set your goals, then have the discipline to achieve them. You must be competitive and try hard. If you do this, you can accomplish anything you want.