The Evolution of Loren Ridinger

THE POWER OF VULNERABILITY

As the ultimate female powerhouse and CEO of Market America Worldwide | SHOP.COM, Loren Ridinger steps into a new role in front of the camera on Amazon Prime Video’s groundbreaking docuseries, The CEO Club, tapping into a new version of herself.

BY ADRIENNE FAUROTE

PHOTOGRAPHY JORGE DUVA

STYLING KRISTINA ASKEROVA

MAKEUP JANELL WHITE 

HAIR JENNIFER MATOS

DIGITAL TECH GAZDIGI*

1ST PHOTO ASSISTANT MAURICIO BUITRAGO

2ND PHOTO ASSISTANT DANIEL MARTINEZ

There is no one quite like Loren Ridinger. She is a powerhouse. She is an inspiration. And above all, she is the epitome of resilience. Her energy and unique perspective on life are truly infectious; it’s hard to walk away from her without feeling a little more empowered to take control of your own life.

Throughout my time with Ridinger, there were certainly key adjectives I kept coming back to—like powerful, resilient, and strong—yet in the end, her defining word was a bit softer: vulnerable.

Perhaps it is because Ridinger is entering her most vulnerable chapter yet by allowing cameras into her everyday life with the debut of Amazon’s new Prime Video docuseries, The CEO Club.

A first-of-its-kind docuseries executive-produced by Ridinger’s longtime friend Serena Williams, the show follows six incredible female CEOs alongside Ridinger—Williams, Thalía, Winnie Harlow, Dee Ocleppo Hilfiger, Hannah Bronfman, and Isabela Rangel Grutman—offering an unprecedented look at these women as they build their empires.

For Ridinger, the reward of being involved in Amazon’s first shopping-integrated docuseries—where viewers can seamlessly click to purchase products shown on screen—and a show that reveals the perseverance of these women as they navigate business challenges, outweighed the risk.

“I got involved with the show because it’s truly revolutionary. This is Amazon’s first-ever shopping show, and the end of season one will focus on how viewers can buy anything we share on-screen. I’m really excited about that,” Ridinger reveals. “And then, of course, working with these women. With Serena [Williams], one of my best friends for more than twenty years, executive producing it, I could not find a more perfect friend to do this project with,” she continues. “Imagine being able to listen to Serena on this show and get business advice from her—that’s something people normally have to pay for. That’s what they’re getting with The CEO Club.”

Initially, when you think of a show that features multiple women, you instantly draw a comparison to a more drama-filled series, like Bravo’s Real Housewives franchise. But what makes this show different is that the drama isn’t among the cast; it’s the drama of being a woman building a business. For Ridinger, the show is a masterclass in business.

“For the first time, it’s a docuseries of real women who aren’t fighting—in fact, we are not even filming together a lot of the time,” she reveals. “The drama is how we overcome the hiccups, the speed bumps, and the mountains of building a business. You’re not battling each other; you’re internally battling,” she pauses. “And that is amazing.”

The show’s concept truly makes you think: Will the audience want to see this idea of positive drama? As Ridinger continues to explain the show, the answer is a resounding yes.

“It’s going to pull in a different audience, like small business owners who will learn something in each episode of the show. They get a front-row seat to see how we overcome problems, like a product failure or a launch that didn’t go perfectly. We come together a few times during the show’s filming, which demonstrates that real friendship exists between us and shows how women can actually believe in each other and want each other to make it. I think that is such a beautiful thing,” she says. Ridinger is genuinely proud of each woman in the show; her passion is palpable during our conversation as she praises them and their stories.

Ridinger’s story in the show is one she never thought she would be telling.

“Cameras picked up the year I lost JR,” she begins. Ridinger lost her husband, best friend, business confidante, and so much more—JR Ridinger—in August 2022, a moment that Ridinger never imagined having on screen. “You’ll see my story develop; you’ll see me suffering tremendously, asking myself: How do I overcome this? How do I show up on stage? How do I continue my conventions? I’ve watched a few clips from the series, and this is the part that really wrecks me: seeing how far I’ve come. It brings me to tears because I forgot how hard it was in that moment—and it’s still hard today, I just manage it better.”

It’s an immediate goosebumps moment.

Photo Credit: Jorge Duva

“And that’s the message, right?” Ridinger continues. “I think the message [of the show] is that it’s never easy. As females, we always have it harder. You see on the show the struggle of this woman who has lived an incredible life with this man who was her whole world, and lost him. You see how I survived that, how I overcame the pain, and still showed up.”

Ridinger reveals that throughout season one, you see her wrestle with the dynamic personality of grief, proving grief is not linear. For Ridinger, out of the depths of grief, she evolved into different versions of herself.

“You’ll see a new Loren,” she discloses. “A Loren that’s scared, intimidated, and frightened. A Loren that my Haute Living family wouldn’t even recognize. That’s very hard for me to watch,” she admits. “It’s an out-of–body experience as I see myself being pieced back together.”

While it’s an incredibly painful journey for her to look back on, it’s also one filled with immense pride as she sees herself come out on the “other side.”

But what does the other side look like for Ridinger?

The other side is JR’s presence still shining through in her—in a different way, of course, but it is so clear he is there, cheering her on, being her number one fan every step of the way.

“Big decisions were made during that year and a half we were filming that were life-changing decisions I never had to make without my husband,” she says. “I was in the worst possible place when filming began, and so to be that transparent and to be that vulnerable, I think, will resonate with women and men everywhere because it’s raw; it’s very raw.” Ridinger pauses and softly says, “I just wanted to make him proud, so I started to show up in a different way.”

MEETING THE NEW LOREN

There’s no denying that 2022 was a defining year for Ridinger. It was a year of massive change and pivots for her, ultimately leading her into a new, untapped version of herself.

“First of all, I miss the old Loren because I miss my life. I’ve never lived alone my whole life, and so for the first time in my life—the last three years since losing JR—I’m living alone. I’ve had to grow up.”

“There’s this new girl that has emerged: I’m tougher, I’m stronger, but I’m also more vulnerable and sensitive—which is so powerful in its own way. I owe a big debt of gratitude to Serena [Williams] because she encouraged me to go to grief counseling, and I ended up in this environment where I was surrounded by women and their grief. Like me, they had lost their spouses, but they lost something I didn’t: they lost their way of life, as some women lost their homes because they couldn’t afford to pay their bills, and it broke me. In that moment, I realized how fortunate I was, and I would spend the rest of my life helping women and men never feel like they lost everything when they had already lost the person they love.”

This moment brought Ridinger back to her why. “Market America is dedicated to helping people become entrepreneurs and helping them find a better way, so this moment is what gave me hope again,” she reveals.

Ridinger is proud of the “new Loren,” and she’s excited about where she is going. By redefining her purpose, she wrote a New York Times bestseller, Scrambled or Sunny-Side Up?: Living Your Best Life after Losing Your Greatest Love, and catapulted Market America into a new echelon with a 30-city tour, putting the company into a new growth phase—pushing harder than ever.

“I think [JR] would look down and say he’s really proud of me,” Ridinger says, filling the room with enlivening energy.

Photo Credit: Jorge Duva

Ridinger’s newfound zest for life is nothing short of inspiring. “We give up so easily sometimes; we throw in the towel right when we are there, instead of tying a knot at the end of the rope. The success is right there, but we miss it. And that’s probably the part that people don’t understand about my journey. If JR and I had quit every time we failed, I wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you right now,” she says. “But when you tie the knot, and you hold on, everything changes.”

As Ridinger’s inner circle knows, JR was the driving force for her since day one. In fact, they met when she was just 17 years old, and from that day on, he was the one planting the powerful seed that she could truly do anything and be anything she wanted to be.

Case in point: Ridinger’s father wanted her to apply for a job as a flight attendant—a clear misfit, as she was afraid to fly. Encouraging her to pursue a different path, Ridinger will never forget JR’s words to her: “When are you going to tell your dad that you’re not going to become a version of yourself you were never meant to be?”

He believed in her, even when she didn’t believe in herself. And today, years later, when you are in a room with Ridinger—and I imagine in the new series—you see that Ridinger believes in herself with a confidence that is quiet yet powerful.

For Ridinger, filming the show filled a piece of the empty hole in her heart. “The show came at a time in my life when I needed to fill this giant hole in my heart,” she says—another moment in our conversation where the concept of vulnerability is planted in my mind.

Ridinger challenges me to rethink what it means to be vulnerable. It’s not just about revealing your struggles; it’s about what you do with your struggles that ignites the power of vulnerability.

Harnessing this power, Ridinger looks to the future. “Watching people grow drives me,” she states. “Using technology, like AI, in the right way (never to replace people), is important. It’s about using the tools that help us win, and about using AI to drill down into what people want, how to get it to them, and how to deliver it in the best possible way, in the quickest way, which is what is crucial. I heard Warren Buffett recently say, No matter what, technology exists. Nothing will ever replace people, and I think that’s so important to keep at the forefront of every company. That is my ultimate goal.”

From her success as an entrepreneur to her evolving journey with grief, Ridinger has an inspiring grasp on life—she is someone I couldn’t let get away without asking what she wishes she could tell her younger self and what advice she can give other women. In fact, this cover interview feels almost kismet.

It’s my first cover story back after entering a new chapter in my life—motherhood—and just three months postpartum, talking to Ridinger—whether she knew it or not—breathed fresh life into me. That’s the power of this “new” Loren—her vulnerability is contagious.

If she could go back in time, she would tell herself to stop and take time to smell the roses along the way, because life is short. “I wish I had taken more trips with my husband (a proper vacation is something he always wanted to do),” she admits. “Life is shorter than we ever expect, and we can’t redo it. And I wish I could. I wish I could go back and take that extra moment with him.”

Her advice doesn’t stop there; she continues, “I want my family to know that working hard is the biggest privilege. Being an example for my kids is one of the greatest drives I still have. I want to show them that they can do it, and that there is power in showing up for yourself with beauty and grace.”

And her final piece of advice: Don’t let anybody dim your shine.

Photo Credit: Jorge Duva

Ridinger shares a brief story. “Alicia Keys and I were on the boat the other day, and I asked her if she ever felt like she had to dim her shine for someone else. She was shocked because no one had ever asked her that before, but she answered yes. In order to get past people who try to dim our light, we have to step away from them and step into our shine, and that’s what I did.”

Today, Ridinger is shining in a new light, proving that being resilient actually means giving yourself grace and not only accepting a new version of yourself, but also loving the new version.

Photo Credit: Jorge Duva