Success always necessitates a degree of ruthlessness. Given the choice of friendship or success I'd probably choose success.
There is an overwhelming amount of information available to us all on the web each day not to mention what is shared with us by our family friends fans and followers. This necessitates the need to filter through all that information and to decide for ourselves where to put our attention.
There is a fundamental shift that social media necessitates in business today - the need to transition from 'Me First' to 'We First' thinking.
In regards to being a fashion aficionado there's a certain amount of taking yourself seriously in the professional world. The self-effacing person can't completely go down the serious road. But I design and love when things are beautiful.