Diane M. Irvine: A good offense is the best defense.
bluenile-business actor
Blue Nile’s CEO since 2008, Diane M. Irvine Never had time to celebrate her rise to the position, for the sales of the previous holiday season was worse than expected, and the credit crunch meant that the next year was not going to be pleasant either. A 20% drop in the company shares the very next day appeared to complete the bad omen following her promotion.
She did what nobody expected a company in recession would do: She went on the attack. Overhauling the company’s stuffy website while investing and expanding, she went on a campaign to take market share from brick-and-mortar competitors like Tiffany’s and Zales through an aggressive growth strategy.
Joining up with Bill Me Later (a company eBay later acquired) allowed Blue Nile to offer customers no-interest financing for up to six months on larger purchases, and with the discipline she installed into the company – from the moment she stepped in, some of her peers say – she brought Blue Nile to high profits and stabilized the business. Next item on her to-do list? How to sell diamonds online in more than three dozen countries.
