What was your first job and what did you learn from it?
Installing fiberglass insulation in 140° attics in San Antonio, Texas in the middle of the summer. This is a job that will truly make you appreciate the value of getting a college education.

Who is your hero, mentor or person you most admire? Why?
I have been blessed by a great number of relatives - parents, sister, grandparents on both sides, great-grandparents, aunts who have been caring and tremendous examples for me. And a number of business professionals who have helped to guide me toward more and better opportunities. My true heroes have always been those who were willing to buck the system, ignore the bureaucracy and get things done in the face of the establishment. Of them, Barbara Jordan comes most to mind.

What is your favorite book?
This is tough one, but I believe that three of the most beautifully written and enthralling books I've ever read are "Sophie's Choice," by William Styron, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," by Ken Kesey, and "Raise High the Roof Beam Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction," by J.D. Salinger. To me, the mark of a fabulous book is one which keeps you totally mesmerized, and at the same time is so artistic that you find yourself reading a single paragraph over and over again to extract all the elegance and meaning from it that you can.

What advances in your field do you envision over the next 10 years?
Advances in wireless technology and embedded software that will finally make technology a more natural - and useful - part of people's everyday lives (as opposed to simply a business tool or toy). This in turn requires even greater advances in security and privacy.

For instance, I want to be able to have an invisible, reliable monitoring device that lets me know where my children are and whenever they are not safe. However, I don't want anyone else, anywhere, ever, to have any access to any of this information because I wouldn't trust them with it. We can't do that kind of thing with the technology we have today.

What do you see as the single most interesting element of your work?
All of the fabulous people I get to work with and share ideas with. I'm a strong believer in diversity of background and perspective. Even if you're just debating a single technology design issue, I have always found that bringing different perspectives to the table provides for a stronger and better outcome.

What do you consider to be your greatest accomplishment?
None of my greatest accomplishments have been achieved alone.

• My two children, Clark and Adriene, who are the most spectacular, loving, smart, interesting children in the world (not that I have any bias whatsoever!). Due in large part to their wonderful father, Ken.

• Starting a truly employee-owned company which enjoys a fabulous reputation for the quality of work we provide to our clients, and at the same time is out to prove that the standard accepted business model (work people to burn out and ignore their families and community, a few executives take the bulk of the profits off of the backs of employees who actually do most of the work, make short-term decisions based on the needs of investors while ignoring the best long-term interests of clients and the company) is bankrupt. I was but one of a group of co-founders, and every employee-owner has contributed to the growing success of Athens Group.

What was your greatest challenge and what did you learn from it?
Every day presents challenges. The key is learning from it. My grandfather used to tell me (when he was 88) that if he didn't learn something new every single day then life wasn't worth living.

What strategies do you use to maintain balance in your life?
It sounds trite, but time management. Coming from the consulting business, I'm used to tracking how I spend every fraction of every work hour, whether it's for clients or internal responsibilities. I also track community time, so I can analyze how much time I'm spending with different organizations, activities, etc. Then when I get home, I "turn off" business and focus entirely on my family.

This year as Chamber Chair has been especially hectic, so having a wonderful husband willing to carry much more than his load has been tremendous.

What advice would you give to young women who want to enter your field?
You can do it. Software development especially is a field with tremendous opportunity. There will be ever-increasing demand for software in the next century. Software engineering pays well and provides the opportunity for broad impact and ownership in company equity ­and you can do it wearing shorts! And most importantly, all it takes it capability ­ not an "old boy's network," not capital investment, not a family history in the industry. All you need to do is get a good education and learn the confidence and skills necessary to be a good software engineer ­ then let your imagination and drive take you wherever you want to go.