“Give me a place to stand and I will move the world,” Arianna Huffington
Greek American author and commentator, Arianna Huffington has carved a niche for herself as a writer as well as an entrepreneur. Best known as a co-founder of The Huffington Post, she is the founder and CEO of Thrive Global, and the author of fifteen books. But the media mogul’s biggest talent may be her knack for reinvention.
Background
Born on July 15, 1950, in Athens, Greece, Arianna Huffington was born with the Greek name, Αριάννα Στασινοπούλου, to a Greek newspaper owner. At the age of 16, she moved to England to study economics at the University of Cambridge (M.A., 1972). While at Cambridge, she served as the president of its famed debating society, the Cambridge Union, becoming the first foreign-born student to do so. She then set up shop in London and pursued writing.
In 1974, she published her first book, The Female Woman, which studies and critiques certain trends in women’s liberation movements. The book was followed by her politically inclined work After Reason in 1980. She also served as a panellist on the weekly BBC Radio 4 program, called Any Questions, and the BBC television’s games panel, Call My Bluff and Face the Music. She was the co-host of the late-night chat show Saturday Night at the Mill for a month before the viewers complained and wanted her off the show. She never let the criticism discourage her from moving ahead from the very beginning.
Moving to the United States
Huffington moved to the United States in 1980 and released an acclaimed biography of one of the world’s opera greats, Maria Callas: The Woman Behind the Legend, in the following year. In 1983, she reconnected with her ethnic roots with the work The Gods of Greece, which looked at the importance of ancient myths. By the end of the decade she had also released a biography of Picasso. She eventually settled in California with Republican politician Michael Huffington, whom she married in 1986 (divorced 1997).
She started her political and journalistic career as a Republican and as an advocate of small government and limited welfare. She contributed to the conservative journal National Review. For a time Huffington also wrote for the TV show Politically Incorrect, which was hosted by Bill Maher. In the late 1990s, however, Huffington’s place on the political spectrum began to shift to the left, beginning with her opposition to U.S. intervention in the civil wars in the former Yugoslavia. She subsequently became active in numerous progressive causes, notably efforts to combat global warming. In 2003, she ran on the Independent ticket against Arnold Schwarzenegger for the California governorship, but she withdrew from campaigning. That same year, she had a New York Times bestseller: Pigs at the Trough: How Corporate Greed and Political Corruption are Undermining America.
‘The Huffington Post’
In 2005, Huffington launched the online site The Huffington Post, co-founding the platform with Kenneth Lerer and becoming its editor-in-chief. Prior to launching The Huffington Post, Arianna Huffington’s book was rejected by 36 publishers. But her tenacity to keep moving forward paved way for her success. After the 25th rejection, while on the verge of being broke and devoid of any assets, she manged to procure a loan from the Barclays Bank. It wasn’t much, but it was a turning point in her life. The loan meant she could keep things together for another 12 rejections, and finally an acceptance!
The Huffington Post was initially known for its blogging, liberal punditry and news accretion, a refutation to right-leaning aggregation sites. Over the years, however, it has grown to cover a wide range of media categories, from politics to sports to business, to name a few. By 2008, The Observer ranked The Huffington Post as the most powerful blog in the world.
At a time when the digital-native media landscape was largely composed of tiny, independent blogs, the Huffington Post model was exceptional. Perceived as an opinion site, Huffington built the brand’s reputation by recruiting celebrities and other big names from her personal network to write for free. The publication quickly attracted a devoted audience and became one of internet’s biggest news sites, also expanding into verticals dedicated to everything from parenting to divorce. In March 2011 AOL acquired The Huffington Post for $315 million and she subsequently became president and editor-in-chief of the company’s Huffington Post Media Group.
‘Thrive Global’
Huffington stepped away from her namesake Huffington Post in 2016. Since then, she has moved into the next stage of her transformation: growing her new venture, Thrive Global, a wellness business that emphasizes the importance of work/life balance. After having her own wake-up call in 2007 when she fainted from exhaustion after a long streak of working 18-hour days, Huffington wanted to help people learn to prioritize their health and wellbeing.
Thrive Global is helping the world’s leading enterprises and their people build healthy habits through inspirational storytelling and actionable micro steps to help navigate this challenging time with less stress and greater resilience. The startup has raised $43 million in funding to date. Her biggest strength undoubtedly remains her resilience, in the face of failure. She is of the belief that failure isn’t the opposite of success, but a stepping stone to success.
Life Lessons
When asked what one thing that she would tell her 18-year-old self, Huffington replied that she would introduce her 18-year-old self to a quotation by the writer Brian Andreas: “Everything changed the day she figured out there was exactly enough time for the important things in her life.” Her newest venture proves how one’s performance would actually improve by committing to not only working hard, but also unplugging, recharging and renewing oneself.
Arianna Huffington has established herself, not just as one of the most successful entrepreneurs of modern times but also as one of the greatest female role models. From being named by Forbes as ‘The most influential woman in media in 2009’ to winning a place in Guardian’s 100 mediagarden list, she is an inspiration to every entrepreneur. She has learned to not only revel in success, but enjoy every aspect of life. In her words, in order to succeed, “You have to do what you dream of doing even while you’re afraid.”
References
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Arianna-Huffington
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Arianna-Huffington
https://blog.owler.com/business-tycoons/arianna-huffington-biography/
Entrepreneurship Development Cell 
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