Martin Waters
The Reformer
Changing the system from inside it, principle turned into change.
Martin Waters emerges in this interview as a quintessential Reformer, someone who inherited a broken institution and systematically dismantled its foundational assumptions to rebuild on new terms. Waters is candid about the brand's decline, describing it as having 'become a caricature of ourselves,' and frames his leadership mandate as a full cultural reset rather than incremental adjustment. He replaced a single prescriptive lens of 'sexy as defined by management' with an advocacy-based mission centered on championing women across all life stages. His approach is disciplined and structural: he rebuilt core values from the organization upward, reconstructed the board as a partner body rather than a ratifying one, and anchored strategy in three clear pillars. Waters demonstrates the Reformer's hallmark conviction that lasting change requires public, unambiguous commitment, noting the pendulum must swing visibly before balance can be restored.
“We are out of touch with our customers. We've become irrelevant. We've become a caricature of ourselves. It's time to change and to redefine the mission and the purpose of what this company is about.”
“Our positioning is absolutely not about telling people what sexy is. They can decide what sexy is for themselves. Our job is simply to advocate for women, to champion women on their journey through life, whatever phase of life that should be.”
“I believe that values like that should not come from management down. I believe they should be built from the organization up, and that's the way that we've approached it.”
Money Maze Podcast: “Martin Waters, CEO of Victoria’s Secret & Co, Discusses Their Changing Business”
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