Ivanka Trump — daughter of real estate magnate Donald Trump and wife to real estate scion Jared Kushner — is expanding her role at her father’s company, the Trump Organization, adding a more feminine flavor to the company’s image, Forbes reported.
Following the $150 million bargain acquisition of the Miami’s Doral Resort & Spa last summer, Ivanka has has begun working to transform the staunchly masculine Trump brand, lending her own design aesthetic to the company’s growing collection of hotels and golf resorts.
In her early days in real estate, she told Forbes that she tried to assimilate.
“I wore my hair in a bob,” she told Forbes. “I wore a black pantsuit.”
Now with greater confidence, she says she sees advantages to being the only woman.
“I think being a little different has its advantages,” she told Forbes. “And I used to joke with my brothers that whenever we had a meeting with men, they were always more likely to follow up with me.”
Trump also has a fashion line, including footwear, handbags, fragrance and outerwear, under her name.
As for the Doral, which had a handful of owners before Ivanka, renovations are expected to be complete in 2014. The Trump family will shell out $200 million during the next two years to renovate the resort.
Beyond Doral, Ivanka also beat out major players, such as Hilton and Waldorf Astoria, to redevelop the Old Post Office Pavilion, located in Washington, D.C., which she bought early last year and where she will also invest $200 million to convert the site into a high-end hotel property. [Forbes] —Zachary Kussin