As the only girl growing up among three brothers, I was always afraid of being excluded. If there was a game to be played, a sport to be learned, a competition to join, I was on my feet and ready. I didn't spend much time alone for fear that I'd miss out.

Growing up with three boys in a heavily male-dominated world, I especially needed to express myself as a woman.

I don't think 'Cocktail' was a perfect critical success, but it touched a vein in our culture.

Today I still feel like the most illiterate person ever to have roamed the campuses of Wellesley and Harvard, where I later transferred. I remain intimidated by all the books I haven't read, but over the years I've come to realize that being a student is a lifelong adventure.

All we have and are is based on the Christian faith, which has shaped law, government, morals, music, landscape, and education here for a thousand years.

I think children learning to cook can be such a wonderful thing. It can help build confidence, make them feel good about themselves. It helped me build my ego and even start to get acceptance at school. I'd bring things to class that I'd cooked at home.

With the advances in technology, it's so easy connecting to our fans. There's Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. I try to reach out to them. I try to update them on what's happening in my life, what books I'm reading, or whatever I do.

Most books on management are written by management consultants, and they study successful companies after they've succeeded, so they only hear winning stories.