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“After all, Ms. Brooks and I are the ones who’ve been working on this proposal for weeks.”
Harper sits down beside her, adjusting her jacket. They’ve been working nonstop for the past few hours, and now is the time to make their intentions crystal clear.
However, when Victoria connects her laptop to the screen and the first slide lights up the room, nerves begin to course through every cell of her being.
The majority shareholder, a man with graying hair and an inscrutable gaze, rests his hands on the table.
“We’re listening.”
Victoria takes the floor.
“Velvet & Silk’s current organizational model is like a dinosaur—and ridiculously expensive. Over the past three years, this company has doubled its efforts to keep each division on a separate path, while print sales have fallen by fourteen percent and digital growth has remained stagnant. This isn’t a value judgment; these are the figures you yourselves have on page three.”
She advances the slide. The red and black charts lay bare the losses with almost brutal clarity. Harper picks up the thread immediately, without hesitation.
“Our restructuring aims to eliminate middle management and centralize creative decisions without losing any of our current value,” Harper explains, pointing out the key points with her digital stylus. “We want the editions to stop competing with each other for the same exclusive story and start sharing resources, photographers, and talent.”
One of the lead investors leans forward, adjusting his glasses.
“What kind of savings are we talking about?”
Victoria answers without looking up from her notes. She knows the numbers by heart because she’s been dreaming about them for days.
“A twelve percent reduction in costs in the first nine months. And between sixteen and nineteen percent by the end of the second fiscal year. All without reducing the workforce or compromising quality. We’d just need to realign the various departments.”
“That sounds too good to be true,” Eleanor interjects, folding her hands on the table. “Without staff cuts, that margin is a pipe dream.”
Victoria looks her straight in the eye, her expression impassive.
“It’s math, Eleanor. And it’s backed by production data that your own team hasn’t been able to optimize over the years.”
Harper hides a small smile. Victoria notices it out of the corner of her eye and feels the tension in her shoulders gradually ease. The presentation flows smoothly. Advertising projections, subscriptions, partnerships with sustainable companies, and a unified launch schedule.
And finally, the highlight: the Beaumont case.
Harper brings up the final slide.
“The fall/winter issue proves that this strategy isn’t just theory. It’s a commercial success we can truly measure.”
The metrics for the special issue stand out on the screen. Several board members begin flipping through the printed dossier with renewed interest.
“And we secured a twenty-seven percent increase in print sales,” Harper explains, glancing around the table. “In addition to growth in digital subscriptions. And most importantly: we’ve won back the younger audience without losing our traditional readers.”
Victoria wraps up the argument:
“It’s not a fluke. It’s proof that the market responds when you stop selling it things it doesn’t want and offer it cutting-edge content.”
Eleanor shifts in her chair. Victoria knows what’s coming. When the numbers crush the rhetoric, the old guard has no choice but to resort to personal attacks.
“Members of the board,” Eleanor begins, adopting a maternal yet serious tone, “what we are witnessing today is blatant insubordination that has been completely whitewashed. Velvet & Silk is an institution with a rich history, a prestigious brand that cannot be left at the mercy of the egos of two executives who confuse unbridled ambition with true leadership.”
Harper tenses up. Victoria notices her hand reaching for the table, ready to snap. But this time, Victoria beats her to it. She flashes a frosty smile and looks at Eleanor as if she were a simple sketch.
“What Harper and I bring to this table is the only reason this magazine remains relevant in the market. Shareholders don’t live off the prestige of the nineties; they seek profitability and a vision for the future. We have that. The data backs it up. The only one who insists on turning a blind eye is you.”
The tension in the room is thick enough to cut with a knife. Eleanor presses her lips together until they turn white.
“Such arrogance…” the woman mutters. “It’s very easy to boast like that when you’ve had a one-off success. One lucky issue isn’t going to justify tearing down the entire structure that has kept us at the top, ladies.”
