What was your first job and what did you learn from it?

My very first job ever was picking strawberries and pole beans at a local farm as a summer job beginning around age 13. I learned that strawberries are a lot tougher to pick than beans, and I learned how incredibly hard you have to work to make a buck. I learned by watching others in the fields that things don't come easily in life, and not to take what you have for granted. I also began to learn self-confidence and competitiveness - I decided that if I had to be working all day, that I'd make the best of it, and be the best at what I did, pick more beans and berries than anyone. And then I learned how to have fun doing it.

What inspired you to choose your current field or the position you currently hold?

I always loved people. I love watching people, trying to understand that makes them tick, how to guess ahead and what they're going to want so you can be there ahead of time. So when I got to Stanford, sociology seemed a natural. But that's where serendipity stepped in and I got exposed to computers. I had never used a computer before coming to Stanford, but someone in my dorm had an Exidy 64 computer running off a cassette tape. When I saw what you could do with these machines, how you could make people's lives better, and how you could make businesses run better, I was hooked. While I didn't have the desire to become a full-blown programmer, I took several courses, but brought my sociology/human interest background to the computer field, and began to build great solutions to customer problems and market them successfully.

Why would you encourage other women or young women and girls to choose careers in your field? What advice would you give someone who wanted to choose your career?

For women specifically, I think the software/computer industry presents great opportunity. It is a new industry. One that is based on intelligence, leadership and creativity. One where the value of a single individual in designing creative solutions can be huge. We always say that "we have no assets" as a company, it's not like GM where you can see huge buildings and manufacturing plants. Our assets are our people. And you have to find the very best, no matter what gender, creed or color. It is also a fast moving industry, so there is always new opportunity to expand your skills and learn.

The advice I would give is to make sure you are choosing a career for the right reasons. I chose to marry my love of understanding people with computers because I believed I could make people's lives better, and I believe we have done that with Quicken. I see too many people decide to go into this industry because they hear of the money being made. The opportunities are too risky and the work is too hard to have that be your primary motivator.

What motivates or inspires you on a daily basis in your field or job?

Historically, it's been making people's lives better, as I referred to above. As I've grown in management positions, it is helping others to do better, grow and develop. There is nothing more rewarding than helping someone achieve their best.

What do you see as the single most interesting element of your work?

The interesting part is taking that understanding of the consumer, looking at the new developments in technology, and trying to figure out how to put it all together to create ground-breaking solutions. It is in this area, where "unmet customer needs" intersects with "innovations in technology" that true opportunity to grow new markets develops. Since technology changes so quickly, it's important to always be evaluating this.

Why is your field or industry important to society?

I believe that computers are a fundamental enabler. Imagine how much less progress we would be making in scientific fields without computers. Imagine how the world of the children of today, who are growing up with computers, using software from very early ages, is going to be different. Computers free up time from drudge work (just think how much easier it is to write this document and correct the typos, rather than needing "white-out"), so individuals can spend their time thinking and creating. With the Internet you also begin to see international barriers come crashing down, and information become so readily accessible. The world truly is beginning to be at your fingertips.

What is your vision for your industry's or field's future? What are some of the exciting things to watch for in your field or industry?

To me, it's when everything I hate to spend time doing happens automatically, so I can spend my time doing the things I really enjoy. For example, I look forward to the day when I don't have to spend an hour each weekend doing my finances - I simply get an email with my Pacific Bell bill while I'm at work, I take a look at it and click "Pay" and the funds are automatically transferred. Even better, I would set this so that I would only see the bills if there is +/- 10% deviation from historical trends, and it would all happen automatically and I would only be alerted to abnormalities.

The exciting thing to watch in the computer industry is the Internet. It truly begins a new era in computer technology where people are no longer sitting at home isolated, but have the world at their fingertips. For example, I decided last minute to take a few days off from work, but then almost canceled it when the one place I knew that provided child care assistance was booked - I simply got on the Internet, poked around, and found all kinds of places with resources available for families with toddlers. It will be interesting to see how computers evolve as today's generation of school children, who began working with computers at an early age, push technology to provide greater benefit.

What values are the most important to you and what do you value in others? How do you prioritize these values in your daily life?

Honesty and integrity are the most important to me. In every action with an individual, I need to assume the person is being completely open and has the best of intentions. When I encounter situations where that is not the case, it makes the interaction much more difficult, and never satisfying in the end.

What do you think are the most important character traits to develop in order to succeed professionally?

Leadership is the most important. Many people are smart, many people are caring, many people know their subject matter, many people know how to run a business, but few people can put all those together and get an organization to voluntarily "follow" them and pursue a vision. This is especially important in high tech fields, where there is little traditional hierarchies, and people are well educated - they don't just follow blindly.

Who is your hero, mentor or person you most admire and why?

With this and the next series of questions, I have great difficulty. I have never found one type of anything to focus on. To me the beauty in life and learning comes in the variety and the interesting part is taking the best ideas from each and putting them together to create an even better whole, and to adapt the ideas to my specific needs.

A less than complete sampling of people I admire, would include my mother who raised six children, had a job and received a masters degree at a time when women didn't do that sort of thing. Hewlett & Packard who built a company from nothing into something huge, maintained and proliferated a wonderful value system in doing so. Gandhi and Martin Luther King for the pursuit of peaceful resolution of issues; and most recently, Bill Campbell the CEO of Intuit for inspiring, encouraging, and demonstrating being a great parent and a successful business person.

What is your favorite book and why?

I definitely go in phases in reading books. For a while I was only reading business books, and then I read every John Grisham and Michael Crichton book that came out. Recently I read my first book by Paul Coelho, and will be looking for more of his works.

What book would you recommend to someone who knows nothing about your field or industry but would like to know more about it?

I don't tend to read many books about this industry, and I don't suppose a general marketing text or engineering book would suffice. I have found the Jobs, Sculley and Grove books to all be interesting, but probably not particularly helpful to understand how the computer industry works. I would recommend informational interviews or searching the web to learn about companies.

What technology has changed your life professionally or personally for the better?

I think all technology has been helpful - everything from the telephone to microwave oven to voice mail to cellular phones. Cell phones have enjoyed a remarkable bashing in the press lately, but for me it's been a real benefit. While I still hate getting stuck on the highway, now I can get all my voice mail done. I can make more of my time away from home productive, instead of having to stay longer at the office or bring work home.

What are your future goals?

• To be a great mom.
• To help preserve as much of the earth as possible.
• To run a marathon.
• To grow & cook my own fruits and vegetables.

What do you do to relax?