Powerful Elegance by Maye Musk

Maye Musk opens up about risks, struggles, dreams and real luxury in an exclusive interview with L’Officiel.

My new dreams are to continue traveling and helping people live a better life…

At the age of 73, Maye Musk looks playful, resourceful and light. And that, whilst being one of the most wanted influencers in the world with an extremely intense schedule. Did you always have this attitude to life or did you learn this skill?

Many times in my life I was tired and sad. I wasn’t burnt out as I had responsibilities and could not slow down otherwise I couldn’t feed my children. I should’ve made a plan to improve my life quicker, but when you are in that dark tunnel, you cannot see any light ahead of you. We need to talk to family and friends and move out of a bad situation. When you have been through hardships, and they repeat themselves, you recover quicker. Now I am in a great space. This also gives me a playfulness which I enjoy.

With your bestselling book “ A Woman Makes a Plan” you empower millions of women around the globe to dream big, be brave and act. That’s beautiful. Although it looks like “all your dreams came true”, do you have new dreams to be fulfilled?

You are right. All my dreams have been fulfilled. I don’t know if I dreamed about the situation I’m in now, because people would’ve thought I was crazy. How could I tell people that when I’m in my 70s I will travel the world as a supermodel, speaker, and best-selling author? No one would have believed me and they probably would have run away. My new dreams are to continue traveling and helping people live a better life.

Dress: MJZ, Jewels: TASAKI

“The biggest mistake you could ever make is being too afraid to make one” – you are the ambassador of “mistake making” and it’s fantastic how you talk about them. Do you think you would be the same personality without all that suffering you’ve been through?

It was very hard for me to talk about suffering, but my children insisted I talk about my struggles. They have lived through the hard times. They often joke about how we lived in a one bedroom apartment and ate at the hospital cafeteria while I was studying. They also laugh about the soggy hamburgers they would have for dinner. When I read through my book with my publisher, I asked her to remove all the sad parts, but she wouldn’t. She was right. Women do relate. Also, many men relate. They don’t need to live an unhappy life as well. They should make a plan to change their situation.

The best decisions in your life – are they the result of rationality or intuition?

The best decisions I made was to move away from a bad situation, or to plan to move to a good situation. This sometimes meant moving to cities or countries. Each move was filled with unexpected disasters, but it was still worth it.

What’s the riskiest decision you’ve ever made?

The riskiest decision was to run away from my husband with three children and no money. The fear was, that he would come after us and hurt us. He tried but then I had a restraining order. The only way he could take revenge was by suing me. This would keep me poor and under a lot of stress. He sued me for nine years in nine court cases. That is a hard way to live, always in fear of a child getting a bruise on the knee, or forgetting their lunch for school. This would lead to lawsuits and possibly losing custody of my children. However this fear is so much better than living in hell and misery.

Picture on the left: Dress: JAMEMME, Shoes: BEVZA. Picture on the right: Dress: PRADA

It was very hard for me to talk about suffering , but my children insisted I talk about my struggles. The best decisions I made was to move away from a bad situation, or to play to move to a good situation…

What lessons has last year taught you?

Last year taught me that I can sometimes relax and read, or watch TV. However, I had so many virtual book interviews and talks, that I was kept very busy.

How would you describe your relationship with yourself in one word?

Happy.

What are the simple things that makes you happy?

My dog gives me joy every time I am with him. My grandchildren are delightful. My children are great fun. Those are actually not simple things, as some families are complicated.

You’ve been in fashion for so many years. What does “real luxury” mean to you?

Real luxury is new to me, as I always had to be on a budget. As a teenager I made my own clothes, so that I could be ahead in fashion. In the 60s it was mini skirts and bell bottom pants. Now, real luxury means flying business class and having a car service pick me up. In the past I would research really hard to find the cheapest economy seat, and would take the bus to the airport because a shuttle was too expensive.