By the mid-1980s, Mattel's linchpin, the Barbie doll, had developed an image problem. Despite having grown up with Barbie, women around the U.S no longer saw the curvaceous doll as much of a role model for their daughters. Sales were flat, and the future was looking bleak for this 11.5 inch corporate heavyweight.

Enter a shrewd psychology and English major from Brooklyn named Jill Barad. In 1985, this newly-appointed marketing director embarked upon an up-to-the-minute and desperately needed "makeover" campaign entitled "We Girls Can Do Anything." With the introduction of Day-to-Night Barbie-outfitted in a pink business suit-Doctor Barbie, Teacher Barbie, and, the most recent addition, Dentist Barbie, sales took off: Barbie was back. Barad parlayed her astonishing marketing success, keen product development insight, and unabashed ambition into an explosive climb up the corporate ladder, culminating in January 1997, when she took over as C.E.O. of the world's largest toy-maker.

Throughout her career, Barad has transformed an acute sensitivity to "image" into a wildly successful corporate career. Modeling and selling bell-bottoms in the late 1960s, Barad expressed an early affinity for fashion and cosmetics, and even toyed with the possibility of becoming an actress-nabbing the role of Miss Italian America in Dino DiLaurentis' 1974 film Crazy Joe. However, she decided that acting wasn't for her, and took a job with Coty Cosmetics training "cosmeticians" for over-the-counter work in department stores. Clever marketing strategies earned her quick recognition and a promotion to marketing executive at Coty. In 1978, she quit her job with Coty, moved to Los Angeles to marry movie producer Thomas Barad and took a job in advertising, which she left after a year to have her first child. Restless at home, Barad heeded a corporate recruiter's suggestion and landed a job with Mattel's novelty-toy division. The rest, as they say, is corporate history.

~ In 1983, before Barad assumed control, Barbie sales had leveled out at about $320 million; 12 years later, Barbie accounted for $1.4 billion in sales, 35 percent of Mattel's total. By 1998, however, the outlook was not so rosy. Sales of Barbie dolls were down 15 percent from the previous year, and though her sales have since stabilized, Mattel stock is still down 32 percent for 1999. It is unclear whether Barad's efforts at cutting her losses - layoffs and plant closings - will be successful in boosting Mattel's fortunes. Analysts and investors, who had been watching Barad closely to see if her marketing and development savvy would be matched by a corporate vision necessary to produce and sustain growth, are hopeful that Barad can manage a quick turnaround.