Sharen Jester Turney (born 1956) is a global business leader, and former president and CEO of

Victoria's Secret Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing, and beauty retailer known for high visibility marketing and branding, starting with a popular catalog and followed by an annual fashion show with supermodels dubbed Angels. As the largest ...

(before 2019), a $7.7 billion company of which she led for a decade doubling the profit and increasing sales by 70%, Victoria's Secret is the largest retailer of intimate apparel, and the largest subsidiary of L Brands Inc (formerly Limited Brands Inc).Yahoo! Fianace Industry Center
"Victoria's Secret Stores, LLC Company Profile"
Yahoo! Finance. Retrieved 18 October 2013. In 2013,

Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician and m ...

named Jester Turney the fourth highest compensated female executive in the United States.Murray, Brent
"The 15 Highest-Paid Female Top Executives"
''

Bloomberg.com Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg Tele ...

'', 19 August 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2013. In February 2016, she stepped down as CEO of Victoria's Secret after serving for a decade in that role and the previous six years as President and CEO of Victoria's Secret Direct.

Career

Turney attended the

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree in Business Education with a minor in public relations.Warlick, Heather
"Oklahoma native and Victoria's Secret CEO Sharen Jester Turney to speak at OU symposium"
''

The Oklahoman ''The Oklahoman'' is the largest daily newspaper in Oklahoma, United States, and is the only regional daily that covers the Greater Oklahoma City area. The Alliance for Audited Media (formerly Audit Bureau Circulation) lists it as the 59th large ...

'', 9 April 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2013. Upon graduation in 1979, she began her career as a

buyer Procurement is the method of discovering and agreeing to terms and purchasing goods, services, or other works from an external source, often with the use of a tendering or competitive bidding process. When a government agency buys goods or serv ...

for

Foley's Foley's was a chain of department stores owned by May Department Stores and headquartered in Downtown Houston, Texas. On August 30, 2005, the division was dissolved and operation of the stores was assumed by Federated's Macy's West and Macy's ...

, a department store chain in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

, Texas.L Brands Inc Executive Profile
"Sharen Jester Turney"
''

Bloomberg Businessweek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...

''. Retrieved on 18 October 2013.Eckert, Christy
"The secret behind the sexy"
''Capital Style'', 2 November 2010. Retrieved 18 October 2013. Following stints at Byer California and

Federated Department Stores Macy's, Inc. (originally Federated Department Stores, Inc.) is an American conglomerate holding company. Upon its establishment, Federated held ownership of the regional department store chains Abraham & Straus, Lazarus, Filene's, and Shillito ...

, Turney joined

Neiman Marcus Neiman Marcus Group, Inc. is an American integrated luxury retailer headquartered in Dallas, Texas, which owns Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Horchow, and Last Call. Since September 2021, NMG has been owned by a group of investment compani ...

, where she became executive vice president of merchandising and then senior vice president and general merchandise manager. She finished her career at Neiman Marcus as president and CEO of NM Direct, the company's

e-commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the activity of electronically buying or selling of products on online services or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain managem ...

and catalog division, Horchow Catalog and Chefs Catalog.Burch, Kate
"Sharen Jester, OU alumnus and CEO of Victoria's Secret, to speak at OU's Price College of Business"
University of Oklahoma Press Release, 19 April 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2013. In 2000, she became the CEO of Victoria's Secret Direct, the e-commerce and catalog division of the successful women's apparel and lingerie brand,

.Forbes Executive Profiles
"Sharen Turney"
''

Forbes.com ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family (publishers), Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing ...

''. Retrieved 18 October 2013. In July 2006, Turney was promoted to President and CEO of Victoria's Secret.Merrick, Amy
"Apparently, you can be too sexy"
''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', 29 February 2008. Retrieved 18 October 2013. As CEO, she has overseen an increase in total sales revenue from $4.5 billion to over $7.7 billion and more than doubled the profit in 2015. Victoria's Secret is currently the largest subsidiary of L Brands Inc at 40% of total revenue. She resigned as CEO of Victoria's Secret in February 2016. Turney serves as chairman of the board of directors for the Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, and serves on the Jay H. Baker Retailing Initiative advisory board at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Turney was also a member of the board of directors for M/I Homes, Inc. for eight years resigning in 2019. She is also actively involved with The Center for Family Safety and Healing. Turney’s advisory roles span the globe and include London based Marks and Spencer, Gloria Jeans in Russia, Cosmo Lady the largest intimate wear company in China, Full Beauty Brands in New York and technology companies Feedvisor, NewStore, and Joox. She also serves on the board of directors for Sweden based global brand Happy Socks and US based Alliance Data Systems, and We Are HAH. In December 2018, Turney becomes interim CEO of private apparel company,

Gloria Jeans Gloria may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Christian liturgy and music * Gloria in excelsis Deo, the Greater Doxology, a hymn of praise * Gloria Patri, the Lesser Doxology, a short hymn of praise ** Gloria (Handel) ** Gloria (Jenkins) ...

Awards and recognition

In 2018, Sharen Jester Turney received the University of Oklahoma's Celebration of Education Award of Distinction, the college's highest honor, presented to alumni, friends or advocates of education who have achieved state, national or international distinction in their fields of endeavor. The event raises money for scholarships to the university. In 2016, Turney was honored at the Way to Win Gala in New York for her support of the organizations work to assist homeless women and children on their journey toward independence. The event is Way to Win's largest annual fundraiser. In 2015, Sharen Jester Turney was inducted into the state of

Oklahoma Hall of Fame The Oklahoma Hall of Fame was founded in 1927 by Anna B. Korn to officially celebrate Statehood Day, recognize Oklahomans dedicated to their communities, and provide educational programming for all ages. The first Oklahoma Hall of Fame Induction Cer ...

, the highest honor bestowed on an Oklahoman. Watch the induction ceremon
on PBS here
In March 2014

Glassdoor Glassdoor is an American website where current and former employees anonymously review companies. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, it has additional offices in Chicago, Dublin, London, and São Paulo. Glassdoor also allows its users to ...

included Sharen Turney "America's Favorite Bosses" CEO ranking list (she was one of only two women to make the list). In March 2013, Turney was the only female CEO in the Top 50 of Glassdoor's "America's Favorite Bosses" list. In 2011, Turney ranked in the Top 10 of the Glassdoor's ten most popular retail CEOs. In 2005, Turney received the Dr. Catherine White Achievement Award from HeartShare Human Services in New York City. In 2009, she received the H.U.G. Award from the Intimate Apparel Square Club (IASC) in honor of her participation in raising funds for pediatric charities."The HUG Award Past Honorees"
thehugaward.org. Retrieved 18 October 2013. In 2013, she was inducted into the Hall of Fame for the business education department at the

, her alma mater. During her time at the university, she was a member of the

Delta Gamma Delta Gamma (), commonly known as DG, is a women's fraternity in the United States and Canada with over 250,000 initiated members. It has 150 collegiate chapters and more than 200 alumnae groups. The organization's executive office is in Columbus ...

fraternity. In 2004, Sharen Turney accepted the Femmy Award from The Underfashion Club In 1997 and while at Neiman Marcus, Turney received the distinguished Fashion Medal of Honor.

Personal life and philanthropy

Turney was born in 1956 in Ardmore, Oklahoma, and grew up on a farm to a cattle rancher father and teacher and nutritionist mother. She has been married for more than 25 years to her husband Charles and they have a son, Matthew. The family currently resides in New Albany, Ohio, splitting time between residences in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. Turney serves on several boards and committees. She is on the Board of Trustees for th
University of Oklahoma Foundation
on the Board of Directors for

Nationwide Children's Hospital Nationwide Children's Hospital (formerly Columbus Children's Hospital) is a nationally ranked pediatric acute care teaching hospital located in the Southern Orchards neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio. The hospital has 673 pediatric beds and is affil ...

."Nationwide Children's Hospital 2013 Full Board Listing"

, 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2013." She is also Chairman of the Research Institute for Nationwide Children's Hospital. Turney is also part of the Industry Advisory Committee for the Jay H. Baker Retailing Center at the

Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( ; also known as Wharton Business School, the Wharton School, Penn Wharton, and Wharton) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in ...

."Jay H. Baker Retailing Center Industry Advisory Board"
, "

Wharton School The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( ; also known as Wharton Business School, the Wharton School, Penn Wharton, and Wharton) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in P ...

, 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2013. For Turney, giving back personally and through the companies she represents is a way of life. A few of Sharen Jester Turney's generous giving includes The James at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center. her alma mater University of Oklahoma, and Nationwide Children's Hospital. www.nationwidechildrens.org/Document/Get/116127. In addition, Turney has established scholarships for young girls education in the United States and abroad.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turney, Sharen Jester American retail chief executives People from Ardmore, Oklahoma Living people University of Oklahoma alumni 1956 births American women chief executives American chief executives of fashion industry companies 21st-century American women