In Focus LAURA ALBER

Laura Alber became Williams Sonoma CEO at just 42 years old. Thirteen years later, she's the Fortune 500's longest-tenured female chief executive, and in that time has doubled annual revenue at the parent company of West Elm and Pottery Barn. But economic headwinds are now forcing the CEO to develop new revenue streams at the luxury home furnishings retailer, something Alber - creator of Pottery Barn Kids - has done before.

- EMMA HINCHLIFFE

LAURA ALBER loves Williams Sonoma. Like, really loves it. Sure, many Fortune 500 CEOs would say the same of their companies. But Alber's devotion to the $8.7-billion-inrevenue home furnishings retailer from growing its global business to studying French porcelain borders on fanaticism. "It's my heart," she says. In fact, she likens it to a spouse. When asked if she would ever consider another CEO job, she quickly answers no. "I'm not looking for a different husband either," she said to laughs at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit in October.

In fact, Alber's 13-year tenure as Williams Sonoma CEO has outlasted many marriages. She's now the longest-serving female chief executive in the Fortune 500.

The Gap Inc. alum joined San Francisco-based Williams Sonoma in 1995 as a senior buyer for its Pottery Barn brand. She got the top job in 2010. At 42 years old, she became only the fourth CEO of the now 67-year-old retailer named after founder Chuck Williams and the location of its first store, Sonoma, Calif.

Since then, Alber has grown topline revenue at the retailer by $5 billion. She's capitalized on its advanced e-commerce operations and leaned into its well-defined aspirational aesthetic. The release of Williams Sonoma's over-the-top holiday catalog has become a tradition akin to Starbucks' red cups-as has the internet's subsequent hater's guide, a satire of the catalog that's made it all the more famous. (This year's potential wish list items include a $1,499 faux Christmas tree.)