I first met Reggie Ansah,  the founder/publisher of LUXURE, a very high end fashion and luxury magazine, through my good friend and RoarAfrica CEO Deborah Calmeyer, who had been profiled in the magazine. Reggie is memorable! He is always dressed in a dynamic color three-piece suit and matching hat… looking like he stepped off one of his own fashion pages.

We connected again in Beijing, where he was interviewing my friend, Yang Lan (China’s most famous media personality), and in Capetown, South Africa, when he spoke with philanthropist, Gaynor Rupert. He expressed interest in including an interview with me in his upcoming issue focused on women -- an issue he had named “EVE.”

Reggie is persuasive and a few months ago, he and a photographer flew to New York, and we set aside time to talk and take some photos. I was a bit distracted working on the final touches for TEDWomen 2016 at the TED offices.

I had no idea what would result and am sharing it here with some trepidation as the photos are a bit too glam for my tastes, but my grandchildren are enjoying showing them to their friends. Gratitude to that talented photographer for exceptionally flattering pictures and to Reggie for including me in this issue with some of Europe’s most influential women. 

Reggie had no way of knowing that the theme we would choose just a few weeks ago for TEDWomen 2017 (which will be held Nov. 1-3 in New Orleans) would be “BRIDGES,” but I am particularly pleased by the title he gave to the feature and by the article written from a brief interview with his writer, Emily Brooks.

I’m sharing because Luxure still publishes the old fashioned way, on paper with no online presence or newsstand sales. Take a look.