Fashion meant self-expression for New Yorker Alison Loehnis growing up. It became her career when she moved to London, to LVMH, then Yoox Net-a-Porter

I always wanted to study art history. I was excited when it was offered in my senior year of high school – and it was incorporated with the boys’ school, which was fun.

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Exceeding expectations

At high school, Friday was a half day. I usually met my dad and we’d go to lunch and then to a museum. I went to Brown University, on Rhode Island, in 1988, to study history of art. University was amazing and I spent a semester living in Florence, Italy.

I had so many interviews for a summer job there, it was like applying for college. I was trained to within an inch of my life. We were taught how to always exceed customer expectation. I learned how to do the till and the stockroom and how to fold. I loved selling.

Boot camp

After I graduated, I wanted to find something that balanced business and creativity. I’d always wanted to work in the art world, but when I graduated the market was pretty dead.

I got a job working in advertising at Saatchi & Saatchi as an assistant account executive. It was like professional boot camp. It was a very spoiling first job – I had my own office and secretary.

I had to run meetings and do budgets, I had no idea what I was doing. The account I worked on was General Mills, a breakfast cereal.

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Hello, JFK Jnr

I loved fashion and would save to buy an Agnès b suit, but it didn’t occur to me I could work in fashion.

From the ad agency, I went to work in communications at Hachette Filipacchi Media. They were developing what was then called custom publishing, which were advertiser-led magazines. They published John F. Kennedy Jnr’s magazine, so he was in the office, which was a highlight of that job.

My role was to work across all of our titles and pitch the stories we were working on to local newspapers and television stations.

I went to Disney and worked in development. Our role was to mine the creative community in New York to find projects to develop into feature films for TV.

Heading to London town

I was approached by a guy who’d started a digital agency and wanted someone who came from entertainment. I knew nothing about entertainment, but I thought it sounded interesting.

It was an agency working with lifestyle, entertainment and fashion companies to develop their web strategy. I joined that agency, working in New York, and had a number of clients in the UK. We had a fledgling office in London.

Ever since I’d lived abroad when I was at university, I’d wanted to live in Europe again. I asked if I could go to London for six months – and I never went back.

In the pink

As soon as I arrived in London, in 2001, I felt at home. I’d only been there a few months when they decided to close the London office and asked me to return to New York. I didn’t want to. I’d worked in client services for a while and wanted to be in a business, in a brand.

Destiny calls

After a year, I met Alexander through mutual friends. He was working in financial PR and investor relations. We got married in 2005. Our son was born in 2006 and our daughter came along in 2008.

I joined the business in 2007 and loved it from the moment I walked in the door. The business was seven years old and still pretty small, with 150 people.

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Dream job

As someone who loves fashion, it was the dream job. I was the kid in the candy store. The team were energetic, curious and customer obsessed. There was an amazing entrepreneurial spirit and can-do attitude. Everyone was invested in what we were doing.

I’m not someone who sits still. I’m constantly on the go, I’ve got lots of energy and I like to be involved in different things. I never thought I’d be in the same company for 16-plus years.

The business has evolved from being a start-up, to having a primary investor, to being merged and being listed, to being part of Richemont. It’s been an evolution.

Nailing the work-life balance

I think it’s important to be clear about what your priorities are. For me, my family has always come first. As long as you know what your priorities are, the decision is clear. I’ve always been strict about work-life balance.

When I first joined the company and there were few other people with kids, I said when I would be in the office and that I’d be 110 per cent super-focused.

I’d have a blackout period when I’d go home and put my son to bed, and then I’d be available if I was needed for calls after that.