Ashley Olsen: THE GIRL

Gaining fame before your first birthday could mess with a person’s head. Unless, of course, you’re Ashley Olsen, and you were born with an insatiable desire to work—and to succeed, at that. At the age of twenty-four, she’s starred in countless TV shows, a handful of movies, recorded an album, interned for Zac Posen, written a book, inspired fashion movements, edited a magazine and launched three distinct, uber-successful fashion lines. So it’s fitting, then, that her proudest accomplishment has nothing to do with fame. Instead, it’s decidedly business-oriented. “Our most important accomplishment was gaining control of our company and taking our future into our own hands,” she told us this fall. You might also think that this young mogul, who’s been named to Forbes’s Celebrity 100 list multiple times, spends her free time swilling champagne in exclusive clubs, jetting to exotic locales and generally embracing The Good Life. Not so. “My idea of relaxing is staying home and spending time with my friends, my dog and doing yoga whenever I can,” she said. Perhaps it’s this innate business savvy mixed with her chilled-out, low key outlook that’s responsible for her success. When asked about her long-term career goals, Olsen didn’t wax poetic about expanding her empire. Instead, she responded humbly and without missing a beat: “Making it through fashion week.” Point taken.