iVillage.com

One of the first women to climb Yosemite's notorious Half Dome, Candice Carpenter knows a thing or two about battling her way to the top. Today, the resilient CEO and 47-year-old single mother of two is propelling her company -- iVillage.com -- to the next plateau.

Established in 1995, iVillage has evolved into a leading new media company providing interactive services, peer support, and access to nearly 20 "channels" revolving around topics such as health, politics, automobiles, beauty, and finance for women. With six million unique visitors during September 1999 -- up 33 percent since June -- iVillage is reaping the rewards of a $28.5 million marketing campaign designed to establish the online network as an Internet entry point for women ages 25 to 54.

"We waited for the brand to ripen and mature, the product to become solid across the board, so that when we spent the money we'd be able to capture the new users and keep them long term," Carpenter says. "And that's exactly what we've been seeing."

As the network's staff of 375 continues to swell and plans for iVillage international begin to take shape, it seems the whole world is watching Carpenter's brainchild with intense scrutiny and curiosity. In the following interview, Carpenter discusses iVillage's evolution through marketing, in-house mentoring, and increased collaboration with the retail Web sites.

In Fast Company's September 1998 article "Stop the Fight," you talked about creating a radical mentoring program for young, talented iVillage staffers as an incentive to keep them on board in the face of more lucrative offers from other Internet companies. Has this been effective in retaining talent over the last year?

Yes. In fact, we're about to make radical mentoring a company-wide program. In the initiative's prior form, we were able to work with only five people at a time. Now we are interested in expanding radical mentoring to more people in the company. I'm launching a program where I work with about 25 people in a seminar format.

Our people love radical mentoring. They think it's fun and interesting, not sadistic or cruel. It's simply a chance to say, "Would you like to learn faster?" People are clamoring to get that kind of attention, and they thrive when they get it. I personally have learned that employees can grow at an amazing pace, given enough feedback. So I'm very excited about the growth of radical mentoring because I think it is a very effective way to work with people.

Who are the ideal iVillage staffers of the future?

People of all ages. We have had great success blending the generations. Our ideal employees are results oriented and very nice. We have no screamers in our company. Even though there's a certain intensity associated with the Internet itself, no one's adding to it with a lot of hysteria, which I personally appreciate. And, of course, we want people who have a passion for the mission of the company and are not just in it for the money or the stock price. We look for employees who care a lot about what iVillage has set out to do in the world.

At the time of the aforementioned Fast Company story, iVillage had 210 employees. How has your staff grown since then? How have your "generational fault lines" shifted since then?

Today, iVillage has grown to include 375 people. I don't think we ever really had generational fault lines. We did have a few younger people who I think were resistant to the influx of older, seasoned managers as part of the infrastructure -- and they were really the people we had trouble with. But a lot of the company is very young and we've loved them from the beginning. It's not like we ever had a feeling that these people were not totally critical to our success. We've promoted dozens of those younger employeess -- one or two times into really big jobs, managing a lot of people. I think at this point, there's a lovely relationship between the senior management team, who are mostly in their late 30s and mid 40s, and many of the 20 and 30-year-old managers who report directly to them. It's a very nice relationship because the seasoned group has seen things go wrong and can be very helpful.

In 1996, iVillage repositioned itself as a women's network rather than a broad-based community channel. Since then, iVillage has evolved into a hub for women-specific content. How have the vision and objectives of iVillage shifted or expanded since the repositioning of the company?

The vision has not changed one iota. The vision is to help women in their lives with the stuff big and small that they need to get through. Our tactics have certainly evolved, but we really are in a period where execution is paramount. I would not say that we're making big strategic shifts, but we're really much more focused now on producing results. You set out to do something and then you have to do it -- and that takes a long time, even if you don't change anything.