jAson cAstriotA
Saab
Jason Castriota has a
reputation for blending
the romance of supercar
design (Ferrari, Maserati)
with the modern recasting
of a car’s heritage. “I take
its philosophy and then
push that aesthetic for-
ward,” he says. So it’s no
surprise that, just a year
into his stint as Saab’s
design director, Castriota is
revving things up. His bold,
futuristic PhoeniX concept
car was unveiled in March—
and immediately drew a
polarized response. “It
created a tremendous
amount of controversy,”
Castriota says. “It was a
manifesto.” The new Saab
9-3 he’s designing will hit
dealers in 2012.
yvette cAMpbell
The Harlem School of the Arts
“Stephanie Dabney was the
first black ballerina I saw on
stage,” recalls Yvette
Campbell, a former dancer.
“The way she jumped was
incredible.” Now Campbell
is helping the Harlem School
of the Arts, briefly shuttered due to mismanagement, to soar again. Since
joining the community arts
organization in January,
she’s targeting new business development—in much
the same way she grew
earned revenue for her last
employer, the Alvin Ailey
Extension, from $35,000 to
$2.2 million in five years.
dong Mingzhu
Gree
As head of China’s leading
air-conditioning company
(2010 revenue: $9.2 billion),
Dong Mingzhu has revolu-
tionized retail practices in
her home country, where,
before Gree, stores typically
did not pay for merchandise
until it was sold. The self-
made millionaire, who’s
known for dropping bon
mots such as “I’ll rest when
I retire,” is also famously
kind to her employees, who
get 24 weeks of paid mater-
nity leave, double what the
law requires.
ryAn se Acrest Ryan Seacrest Productions
“I lIke to drIve
around l.a.
and just thInk.
I fInd that
tIme alone
comfortIng,
even In a cIty
wIth thIs
much traffIc.”
As A kid, Ryan Seacrest spent hours
watching game shows—but not for
glitz and giveaways. “I just loved see-
ing normal people on television,”
he recalls. “It was so interesting and
relatable.” Decades later, those same
tenets drive Ryan Seacrest Productions,
whose diverse crop of reality hits
includes ABC’s Jamie Oliver’s Food
Revolution, which follows the celebrity
chef from small towns to L. A., and E!’s
flotilla of Kardashian family antics
(“The exterior is glamour, but it’s The
Brady Bunch,” he says). It helps, of
course, that Seacrest hosts America’s
most popular TV series (American
Idol) and a radio program (On Air
With Ryan Seacrest)—positions that
put him in touch with the public so he
can gauge buzz on possible show sub-
jects. “Talking is what I do,” he says,
“but listening is my job.”
