Women that I've known who run their businesses do it a lot more from the heart, gut, instinct, which are all the same.

_ What's an example of when you didn't follow your gut and it was a mistake?

I can't tell you.

Why?

Because it would embarrass the people who I still am involved with.

Were you able to correct that eventually?

No [laughing].

Do you ever find yourself indecisive?

Yes. . . . Indecision means exactly what it [says]: It means I have not yet decided. "Yes" resonates whether it's shoes or a studio. When the shoe fits and it's right for you, you look at it and go, "Damn. Damn, that's good." Most people don't know. Then they do what they think people want them to do. A true leader can still hear his or her own voice.

How has being a black person shaped your leadership?

I am never not aware of who I am, where I've come from--and what it took for me to give back. I am a colored girl born in Mississippi in 1954 and all that that means: poverty, isolation, discrimination, deprivation, lack of information, low self-esteem. The expectation for me was to work in white people's kitchens. I am here because I have walked across the backs of people who made this way for me. That's in everything that I do. I'm black and I'm female and . . . I find strength and honor in that. My responsibility is not just to myself.

BORN: Jan. 29, 1954 EDUCATION: B.A., Tennessee State University FAMILY: Longtime companion is management and marketing consultant Stedman Graham PHILOSOPHY: " What I've learned is that when I don't know what to do, do nothing. Sit still and listen for that small voice that will always lead you and guide you. If you're quiet and listen, you will hear it." -David LaGesse