Popular lady needs it to succeed (7)
I believe the answer is:
inherit
'succeed' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'popular lady needs it' is the wordplay.
'popular' becomes 'in'.
'lady' becomes 'her' (I've seen this before).
'needs' says to put letters next to each other.
'in'+'her'+'it'='INHERIT'
'to' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for inherit that I've seen before include "Receive from a deceased parent" , "Succeed as heir" , "Receive under terms of will" , "Receive as bequest from will" , "Be bequeathed" .)