I run a charity. If my name pops up in your call ID, chances are I'm about to ask you for something - money, free ad space, your first born. So it is probably no surprise that people often don't take my calls.
When I have a bad day, I dream about opening up a gelato stand on the streets of Sydney, Australia. Doesn't everyone have a random escape fantasy?
I don't take fancy vacations. I buy all my jewelry at Claire's. I can't remember the last time I went out to a fancy dinner. My family lives in a modest two-bedroom apartment, and my kids share a bedroom. But I do have one extravagant vice: shoes.
Many think kids have lots of time and few responsibilities. And that's just not true. They are stressed and under pressure.
I'm an entrepreneur. I'm married to an entrepreneur. So I haven't just sipped the entrepreneurship cool-aid, I bleed this stuff.
Entrepreneurship is the very back bone of our country and what makes us great - we are a nation of founders.
I'm proposing a change: love thy worker-bee. Celebrate the ones who toil without complaint, play on a team, construct the hive, produce the honey... executing the plan!
My red patent-leather, 5-inch peep-toe slingbacks are not mere shoes. They are fine art. They make me feel tall. They make me feel sexy. They make me feel powerful. I call them my 'special-day shoes.'
My Christian Louboutins are also one of the secrets to my not-for-profit success. Here's why - and it's something that everyone who manages employees, whether in a for-profit business or a not-for-profit, should keep in mind: A little extravagance goes a long way.
I believe in helping young people rock causes they care about because I was one of those young people... a long time ago.
Teens look at cause-related efforts with some scrutiny. They know they are often a target market, but it has to make sense to them.
I love an underdog. No, I don't necessarily mean the cartoon. I mean like David, as in Goliath, or the Bears, as in The Bad News Bears.
When I was 23, I founded an organization called Dress for Success, which is now in more than 100 cities in 8 countries and has helped a million women transition from welfare to work.
Do-gooders are easily overlooked. We're supposed to be soft, touchy-feely types, who wear Birkenstocks, compost everything, and write poetry by candlelight.
If most people were to take a moment to picture in their minds the average, not-for-profit, save-the-world girl, they... well, they probably wouldn't, because who wants to think about hemp, hairy legs, and Birkenstocks? But I'd rather eat a pair of Birkenstocks than put them on my feet, and I love, love, love my Christian Louboutins.