In 2013, ForeignPolicy.com wrote an article about how to nab a top staff job in Obama’s White House. Its three tips included 1) be a rich donor, 2) Be a cabinet secretary’s protégé, or 3) work your butt off—Alyssa Mastromonaco opted for number 3. Alyssa’s new book Who Thought This Was a Good Idea: And Other Questions You Should Have to Answer When You Work in the White House, is a memoir of her hilarious and difficult adventures working as Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations for President Obama.
“The cover isn’t the best picture of me, but it is a great picture.”
“Having worked for Michelle Obama, I’m a big fan of movement, even if it’s just to the fridge.”
“If you’re working 22 hours a day you want flexibility on how and when you travel.”
“This book was a soul searching event. I was worried I wasn’t interesting enough.”
“I did a full hour with Charlie Rose and people approached me about making politics accessible.”
“I got a co-writer who was a Millennial who helped me focus on successful traits and risk taking and kindness.”
“The feedback I’ve gotten is that public service is a great thing.”
“I tried to write stories that were only my stories where I was the witness.”
“There’s nothing in the book that’s even remotely classified.”
“I haven’t gotten feedback from Obama when he finished the book. But he said ‘Quite good, funny’ about the first 2 chapters.”
“I was a French major with a minor in Japanese. I thought politics would be fun. I enjoyed being a public servant.”
“I changed my major to PoliSci and had an internship with Bernie Sanders.”
“I wrote John Kerry’s office a sweet letter about why I needed to be there and they bought it! I was hired!”
“I had to babysit to pay my bills and was never happier!!”
“The hardest part was really telling the stories that were just mine to tell.”
“The West Wing didn’t have a tampon dispenser. When I became Deputy Chief of Staff I realized the need to ask question why?
“I really only worked for people who I thought were profoundly good people and I supported 100%.”
“The reason I ended up in the White House because I believed in the people I worked for.”
“Get behind someone you can get behind every day and believe in.”
“We had a bit of sisterhood. We had a moment of self awareness to learn from each other.”
“In DC, the best kind of plans are canceled plans.”
“There are hard parts about being a woman in Washington but the hardest part was not psyching myself out.”
“My struggle was rising to the occasion and not assuming anything of what anyone thought.”
“My first visit to the White House in 2008 for the transition.”
“The campaign I ever worked on was ‘Stronger in the world, more secure at home.’”
“The first time I cried in front of my boss I was leaving the senate office and was afraid of the promotion.”
“There’s a difference between crying for emotion and crying for manipulation.”
“I never thought I’d be at the White House protesting but it had to happen.”
“The first two weeks of proceeds for the book I’m donating to the Women’s March.”
Stephanie Horbaczewski [hor – BUH – chess – kee] is the CEO and co-founder of StyleHaul— the largest global-style community of content creators. Currently StyleHaul has more than 6000 channels and over two billion monthly views in 85 countries. Under Stephanie’s leadership, StyleHaul has partnered with marquee global brands like L’Oreal and Maybelline and spearheaded global industry trends. The success of StyleHaul has also resulted in a successful acquisition in 2014 by RTL Group with a deal valued at $153M and more than $200M with earn outs.
“I always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur.”
“I read an article about what Ashton Kutcher was doing in short form content and had an aha moment.”
“Things were happening really fast and then things were exploding.”
“We have video creators—20% of women make video has gone up with Instagram and 80% are watching it.”
“The other social platforms are part of social storytelling.”
“We have 10,000 creators who make things beyond the YouTube platform.”
“People were willing to behave inappropriately toward women that they wouldn’t toward men.”
“Raising money wasn’t so much difficult as it was time consuming.”
“Oversaturation is the biggest problem in video content. How do people have the time to consume as much content as they do?”
“I was called the ‘friend’ in terms of leadership styles. I like to be in the dirt with everyone rather than an ivory tower.”
“We don’t tolerate bullying. We’ve thrown people out of the network for saying mean things.”
“The employees wanted to have a committee that made StyleHaul a better place to work.”
“We have a lot of autonomy and freedom within our walls.”
“When I asked the company if they wanted a 401k and every hand went up. It’s important to be part of an organization that has that infrastructure.”
“I didn’t want to sell, I wanted to keep making money to do more.”
“The marketplace drove an enormous part of my decision to be acquired.”
“StyleHaul is my baby. We even have the same initials.”
“My mother was supportive of my fashion sense as a young kid. I was almost costuming.”
“I was told that I needed to have a sales job to pass my class.”
“There’s so much of a business behind the prettiness of fashion.”
“The first Creator I brought onto StyleHaul was from Chicago. She was young. Her youth helped. She wasn’t jaded.”
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