Growing up in Middlesbrough I was taught to be resilient and competitive. My teachers made us believe that just because kids were at private school up the road, it didn't mean they were better than us.

I remember early in my career people telling me I needed to change my accent, that I needed to sound more professional, more BBC perhaps, but I think if I wasn't from Middlesbrough I wouldn't have done as well as I have.

I always felt I had to prove my intelligence.

There are a lot of women who do a similar job to me who are paid a hell of a lot more... who are a lot posher than me.

If the federal government is dumb enough to give it to us, we'll be smart enough to take it. In Minnesota's case, we are not a net taker of money from the federal government.

It's horrible how money and fame can make you acceptable while, if you're not famous or rich, you're not acceptable.

If our financial industry regarded security the way the health-care sector does, I would stuff my cash in a mattress under my bed.

I meet young people all the time who say something like, 'I want to work in venture capital.' And I can see why. Who wouldn't want to be smart, well-paid, dispense large sums of money, and tell people what to do?