Shane Parrish

But she did have one asset, a lifetime of experience watching how not to run a business.

So she decided to write a book.

She sits down at our kitchen table and makes two lists.

List number one is every negative experience she's had in 25 years of business.

Every time she was passed over for promotion, every time a man she'd trained was promoted above her, every time her ideas were dismissed because of her gender, every instance of unequal pay, every meeting where men talked over her, interrupted her, or simply pretended she hadn't spoken.

Then list number two, what would her dream company look like?

Well, fair pay based solely on performance, promotions based solely on merit, not gender, not race, not personal connections, credit for good ideas regardless of who proposed them, public recognition for achievement, flexibility for family responsibilities, a support system that actually supported women rather than competed with them.

The second list started to grow longer and longer.

So she looked at it and had an epiphany.

She later called this one of the most important moments of her life.

She thought, wouldn't it be marvelous if someone would actually start such a company?

Then the follow-up.

Why not me?

This wasn't material for a book.

This was a business plan.

She would start that company.

Context is everything.

The year is 1963.

Women could not get credit cards without a male co-signer.

Banks refused to issue credit even to married women because their income was considered unstable.