Going after your dreams isn’t always easy. It takes grit and gumption—and often literal blood, sweat, and tears—to reach your loftiest goals.
But the payoff is worth all of it, these four women can attest.
Below, meet our “goal getters”: Four women who are fearlessly pursuing their passions in an array of industries. Their confidence comes from the inside, but a sense of style—and a great pair of Nine West shoes—certainly doesn’t hurt.
Read their stories, then borrow their confidence-boosting and style tips as you reach for the stars, too.
The Goal Getter
Anna Moeslein, a Glamour senior editor and author of the brand’s first-ever coffee table book, Glamour: 30 Years of Women Who Have Reshaped the World
Her Story
Over nine years, Moeslein has worked her way up the Glamour masthead to her current role, which has her overseeing the brand’s entertainment and pop-culture content—some of the most consistently popular on the site. Having covered Glamour’s iconic Women of the Year Awards for almost a decade, Moeslein was a natural fit to take authorship of a book on the same topic. Even so, she was nervous to interview some of the iconic honorees the book would profile. “I’m always anxious,” Moeslein laughs. “But I think a good amount of that is healthy, because it means that you want to do good work and take it seriously.”
Her Style
Moeslein once favored vintage dresses and plenty of floral prints. But “as I get more confident in my dressing,” she says, “I find that I actually favor a more gender-neutral style,” which often includes pants paired with a button-up shirt and blazer. “I’ve learned the more comfortable I am, the happier I am.”
Her Confidence-Boosting Tip
After interviewing the incredibly successful women in Glamour: 30 Years of Women Who Have Reshaped the World, Moeslein says she realized many don’t reach their dreams until midlife—and that allowed her to relax a little in her own life. “I think that putting less pressure on yourself — giving yourself some freedom and just embracing who you are in every way — will help you feel more confident and achieve all the great things in life that you want to do,” she says.
The Goal Getter
Megan Graham, director of video marketing at Condé Nast Entertainment, and founder of Ries, an eco-friendly line of travel containers for beauty products and toiletries
Her Story
Constantly hopping on flights for a previous job made Graham realize that hotel freebies and the standard travel-size toiletries weren’t up to snuff. And while pouring the products she loved into refillable bottles and packing them in zip-top plastic bags might have protected her clothing from explosions of lotion and serums, it didn’t prevent the liquids from leaking—which meant the money she spent on beauty products was going down the proverbial drain—or into the hotel trash can. With her own frustrations in mind, Graham launched Ries, a line of high-quality, reusable, travel-sized bottles made from planet-friendly materials, which will be available on the Ries website later this summer. “You shouldn’t have to sacrifice your beauty and grooming routines because there’s nothing on the market to help you bring your favorite products with you—and protect them, your luggage, and everything that’s packed with them,” she says.
Her Style
Considering her line of sustainable beauty-product bottles, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Graham favors natural materials, too: Her neutral-hued wardrobe contains pieces from designers who “represent my same values,” she says. “Fashion is a language, and what you wear speaks for you. It’s your first impression on the world.”
Her Confidence-Boosting Tip
Graham starts each day with meditation. “When you take five minutes to just center with yourself and check in with yourself, then everything falls into place a lot easier,” she says. It’s not about saying specific words. “If you’re there with and for yourself, then it makes everything that follows a little bit easier, because you know that you’ve started with you.”
The Goal Getter
Priyanka Naik, a self-taught vegan chef and author of the forthcoming cookbook The Modern Tiffin
Her Story
As a child, Naik, a first-generation Indian-American, spent tons of time making traditional Indian meals with her family. And when she wasn’t up to her elbows in comfort food, she was watching cooking shows on TV. But while Naik loved cooking, she didn’t pursue a formal culinary education: Every program she found forced students to prepare meat, and as a vegan, that went against her beliefs. Instead, “I really doubled down on teaching myself how to cook,” she says. Today, Naik has nearly 72,000 followers on Instagram, where she reveals a new recipe each week. Her first cookbook, The Modern Tiffin, will be available in November.
Her Style
Like her recipes, Naik’s wardrobe is colorful, and she’ll often match her outfits to her food. For example, a turmeric-forward meal might call for a yellow dress, she says. But the color Naik is most known for is red—as in, her bright-red, cat-eye glasses: She wore them when she appeared on—and won—a 2017 episode of Food Network’s Cook vs. Cons.
Her Confidence-Boosting Tip
In a world of constant comparison, Naik gets a confidence boost from being in competition with herself. “I don't think it’s worth comparing yourself to someone else,” she says. “The one thing that’s really motivated me to do what I’m doing is to think about the next thing, and how I can be better for myself. It's not about what other chefs are doing. Just focus on your own goals and be in constant competition with yourself—because you're going to be your biggest fan.”
The Goal Getter
Rachel Donovan Geller, CEO of Moons, a modern feminine care company
Her Story
Geller’s story, she says, is one to which many women can relate: She wore a white outfit to a summer party—and then her tampon leaked. “I had a stain,” she says, “and it ruined my evening.” Instead of letting it get her down, however, the creative director got to work: She sketched out a tampon–pantyliner combo that would provide ultimate protection. While the idea was in the back of her mind for years, it didn’t go anywhere beyond that until she lost her job during the pandemic. She used the time to bring the product to market through Moons, a company committed to supporting women throughout their cycles. It might seem like a tough time to start a company—especially considering that she was pregnant and then gave birth in tandem—but the business idea “was a voice inside my head that like never, ever went away,” says Geller. “[I had] nothing to lose and everything to gain” by trying.
Her Style
Geller takes her style cues from Mother Nature: “I think Mother Nature is the greatest artist of all time,” she says, “and her chosen color palette is just so beautiful.” Geller says that leaning into inspired-by-nature colors—like sandy tans and the navy blue of the nighttime sky—helps her keep things simple. “I like to feel very put together, but I don't like it to look like I’ve tried too hard,” she says.
Her Confidence-Boosting Tip
For an instant confidence boost, Geller recommends standing or sitting up a little straighter, and looking people in the eye. “Holding your head up a little high gives you perspective,” she says, like “you’re on a mission.”
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