Design by Sawyer Pennington
| If you count spending a semester at the London Business School as part of my M.B.A. program at New York University. It was the late 70s (yes, I am that old), and I was one of the few women in the business program in New York, so it was "interesting" to go to a country that did not have many women attending university, let alone graduate school. To this day, I remember a class project where we worked with British executives and I had to pretend to be the assistant of one of the male students. Regardless, it was a great experience, and I actually loved the challenges of being both a woman and an American in the male-dominated business school and business environment. (As a side note, while there, I learned that I spoke "American" not "English.") Plus, I thoroughly enjoyed the shopping, restaurants, and nightlife in one of the great cities in the world. |
| Did you notice that she didn't mention visiting any of the amazing historical destinations? Or the incredible theater – both in London as well as at Stratford-upon-Avon? Well, that's because she didn't do any of those things until I visited her, and she only did it to humor me. (The trip was her Sweet 16 gift to me.) It was a wonderful introduction to England and years later, while a student at Wake Forest University, I also spent a semester in London. But after marrying a Brit (one of Black's London Business School classmates), I lived in England on two separate occasions. The first time was for six months, before heading to Asia to live for many years (first Hong Kong and then Shanghai) and then again for almost two years before he was transferred to The Netherlands and then to the States. And while I loved so much about living in England – the quaint villages, the narrow roads winding through beautiful countryside, history everywhere you turn, including my beloved Tudor history – I realized that I'm first and foremost an American and feel most comfortable here. |
So much of what we had to say about March Madness in our 2023 post still holds true … Red’s lack of interest and Black’s love of …
| Until a few years ago, I would have thought March Madness had something to do with Spring Break. I’ve never followed sports (pro or college), but once my younger daughter started playing competitive high school volleyball, and then applied to colleges, I learned all about college sports and division teams. This year, living in the Greater Houston area, I couldn’t help getting caught up in March Madness since the University of Houston was a No. 1 seed. (I hate to admit it, but it’s the same with the Houston Astros. I’m not interested until they make it to the playoffs.) But now that Houston has been eliminated, my only real interest in March Madness is avoiding Houston’s NRG Stadium since that’s where the Final Four playoffs will be held, and the traffic will be, well, madness! |
| I love March Madness. Not because I love the sport but because the statistics are fascinating. (Plus, it is a great name.) The odds of filling out a perfect bracket (correctly predicting all game winners once the March Madness teams are selected) are almost too small to calculate. Out of a record 20 million brackets submitted on ESPN this year, just 37 picked the men’s Final Four. That's 0.000185%. And, this is the first time all four No. 1 seeds were eliminated during the Sweet Sixteen, not even making it to the Elite Eight, let alone the Final Four. Which improves the odds of this being a “Cinderella Story” year. |
Red assets.rebelmouse.io 
Black assets.rebelmouse.io FULL QUESTION: Asking Again: I love how Red & Black is run by two sisters. Is one of you “the boss”?
We thought this would be the perfect question to rerun on National Boss’s Day. Why? Well, we think the responses below say it all …
| Oh yes, definitely! Without question, that would be Black. In fact, on more than one occasion, I've been known to refer to her as The Boss (and I'm not talking about Bruce Springsteen). It's usually me kidding around and saying something along the lines of "I'll have to check with The Boss." (Even my daughters have heard me refer to their aunt that way, and they've never questioned me, so there must be some agreement, at least in my family, about who's the boss.) To a great extent, it may be because if you were to compare our bios, I don't think my background as a mom prepared me to be a businesswoman, although Black has tried to convince me otherwise. On the other hand, Black's bio makes it painfully obvious she's "all business" so better suited to be "the boss." |
| It depends on how you define "boss." If you are referring to who owns more of the company, I hold 1% more than Red, which technically means I have more"authority". And, I will admit that as the older sister, I have more practice being bossy (especially as she has always tried to avoid conflict), but when it comes to business, I value teamwork. Red has a perspective and background very different than mine (that is an understatement!), but the key is acknowledging that – and learning from one another in order to make the best business decisions. The bottom line is there would be no Red & Black … without Red or without Black. It is truly a partnership. |
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