Desiree Rogers
Desiree Rogers
Desirée Glapion Rogersis an American business executive who is the Chief Executive Officer of Johnson Publishing Company. In November 2008 she was selected by Barack Obama's office as the White House Social Secretary for the incoming administration, the first person of African-American descent to serve in this function. On February 26, 2010, the Chicago Sun-Times′ Lynn Sweet reported that she planned to step down. Rogers was replaced by Julianna Smoot, former chief of staff to the U.S. Trade Representative Ron...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBusinesswoman
Date of Birth16 June 1959
CountryUnited States of America
I've always been searching. What am I going to do with all this - searching for that place where I could be me.
I'm from New Orleans, and I know that people do like to sit and talk and drink and, you know, have conversation; you have dialogue.
I don't consider myself flashy at all. I mean, did I dress like the average Washingtonian? No.
Washington is like playing the Super Bowl, only there are no timeouts, no potty breaks, and the arena is filled with the media. In government, you have to learn to put yourself second in a big way. But I am a business person at heart. I like to be in charge.
My job is to make certain that I've done what I was asked and my department has done what we were asked to do by the president and the first lady and the State Department. I believe that we accomplished that.
I'm much more comfortable in a meritocracy and in reward for good work as opposed to a political environment, where I feel like all of that can be confused.
I think the Social Office is really the office where East meets West. For those that don't know, the East side is typically the First Lady's side of the house. The West side is typically the President's side of the house.
In many respects, we really are trying to not run the Social Office like a business, but we do have a strategy. We do have a mission. We are trying to standardize certain things so that our time is not spent on, you know, picking flowers or linens, that we've got standards.
No one should walk into a party and have a stamp that says 'mayor' or 'businessman' on their head. Everyone is just there to have a good time.
I think it's fair to say I feel much more comfortable in business than in politics.
I do feel strongly that we have got to do a little brand-positioning work. Wouldn't it be great to have something that everybody could say: 'Yep, that's Chicago.'
Johnson Publishing offered me an opportunity to build back iconic brands like 'Ebony' and 'Jet' magazines.
We can't just rest on the fact that this is beautiful Chicago. I want to triple down on that experience and make it... life-altering.
There is an environment where someone is always looking for someone to make an error. They're always looking not for the good things, the wonderful things the president and first lady are doing, they're looking for an error or to criticize. And it's not conducive to good work.