1972: The Price of Ambition: Inside Vogue, Power, and Reinvention with Caroline Palmer

So Money with Farnoosh Torabi

Farnoosh Torabi

Business, Entrepreneurship

4.7 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 20 April 2026

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What does it really cost to chase ambition—and what happens when success starts to blur your sense of self?

In this episode, I sit down with Caroline Palmer, former Vogue editor and author of the buzzworthy novel Workhorse. Drawing from her years inside the high-gloss world of fashion publishing, Caroline takes us beyond the clichés of The Devil Wears Prada to reveal a more complicated—and at times darker—story about ambition, identity, and the quiet trade-offs women make to get ahead.

We talk about the mythology of glamorous careers versus the reality behind the scenes, the difference between “workhorses” and “show horses,” and why Caroline set out to write a female protagonist who doesn’t always make the right choices—and doesn’t apologize for it.

Caroline also opens up about her own career pivot during the pandemic, the moment she walked away from a high-powered job, and how writing this book helped her rebuild confidence and redefine success in midlife.

Plus, we get into:

What it was really like working inside Vogue during a transformative era
The financial realities of starting out in New York on a $25K salary
A negotiation story that led to a major salary leap—and what you can learn from it
Why saying “yes” early in your career can pay off long-term
And the surprising creative discipline behind writing a novel at 4:15am

Learn more about Farnoosh's upcoming literary workshop Book to Brand. Early bird registration is now open!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hey friends, if you've been sitting on a book idea and wondering, could this actually become something,
0:05.2	this is your moment. Join me in New York City on October 9th for book to brand. This is my intimate
0:10.6	full day immersive designed to help you turn your idea into a clear, compelling, pitch-ready book
0:16.0	concept. You will meet the insiders, agents, publishers, and recent authors who can help bring your book to life.
0:23.3	Spots are limited and early birth tickets are on sale now.
0:26.9	Head to booktobrand.co to reserve your spot.
0:30.3	So Money episode 1972.
0:32.9	The Price of Ambition Inside Vogue, Power,, and reinvention with Caroline Palmer.
0:39.2	You're listening to So Money with award-winning money guru Farnoosh Karabi.
0:44.1	Each day, get a 30-minute dose of financial inspiration from the world's top business minds,
0:49.4	authors, influencers, and from Farnoose yourself.
0:53.4	Looking for ways to save on gas or double your double
0:56.3	coupons? Sorry, you're in the wrong place. Seeking profound ways to live a richer, happier life.
1:02.7	Welcome to So Money. I would get up at 4.15 every morning, seven days a week, for two years. And I wrote from 445 to 745. And my first child
1:15.6	gets up at 745. And then I was done. I couldn't do any, whatever the, like, after I'm like
1:23.4	looking for somebody's trumpet or like crock or like making lunch or screaming at people like
1:28.3	I can't return to whatever that writing space is. So I was done writing every day by 745 and that was
1:37.6	how I did it. And I don't know who that person is now because I cannot find her. She is.
1:42.3	She has left the building. She has completely left the
1:45.1	building. Welcome to So Money, everybody. I'm sitting down with Caroline Palmer today. She's a former
1:50.4	Vogue editor and author of the buzzworthy novel Workhorse. Drawing from her years inside the
1:56.6	high gloss world of fashion publishing, Caroline takes us beyond the cliches of the devil-wears
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Farnoosh Torabi, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Farnoosh Torabi and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.