MELLODY HOBSON

I've used some of my differences as a way to stand out and to hopefully count and matter - and hopefully create an opportunity for others.

I was desperate to understand money. Not to make it, to understand it. I wanted to know how it worked, and I wanted to know so that I would have enough and would be able to make good financial decisions. That led me to Ariel.

We cannot afford to be color-blind, we have to be color-brave.

The first thing I do after waking up is check my phone for news. I like to make sure the world is still here and understand what happened overnight.

When you're type A you always think you can fix anything. Sometimes there's nothing you can do.

I honestly think I'm going to rot my brain with all the news. I'm a news junkie.

When you feel house poor, you don't buy anything. Housing immediately impacts the job numbers because there are so many housing-related jobs within the industry, and in adjacent industries.

I've told stories about people coming to my office and giving me their coats and requesting that I hang them up and get coffee - which I dutifully do. And then I come in and sit at the head of the table. It's awkward.

We've got one shot at this life, and to not be productive with what we've been given, to me, is a travesty. I think the biggest waste is when a human life is wasted. It's unforgivable.

The average American has 11 jobs in their lifetime, and I've only had one.

When I think of my career and why I leaned in, it comes down to basic survival.

I don't want to be a victim. I want to be a victor.

People feel a great deal of their wealth or lack thereof in their home value. Despite the fact they're living there and not going to sell it per se, it does have a big psychological effect.

I love Obama. And Michelle. I was so grateful for them. They were such stunning people. We were lucky to have them. They were great symbols for our society.

You can teach someone with basic smarts to be smarter; you can't teach cultural fit or personality. But you also want someone who has a passion to win; someone that is all in.

Diverse perspectives lead to a better outcome. There's so much data, when you look at the math, in terms of the investor returns and the shareholder value that gets created from more diverse boards.

People can be sensitive, so if I need to, I'll suck it up and be more flowery. I'll do what it takes to get the outcome I want. As I like to say, sometimes you have to crouch to conquer.

Now, race is one of those topics in America that makes people extraordinarily uncomfortable. You bring it up at a dinner party or in a workplace environment, it is literally the conversational equivalent of touching the third rail.

Norman Rockwell - even though we think of him as a great American artist, in a lot of museums he has not garnered that kind of attention. And it's this kind of accessibility that we're trying to bring - not looking down on any art.

I take vitamins when I wake up. One of them I need to take is to wake up my brain. It has some caffeine in it, and it stimulates my brain and I'm literally not a person without it.

Even though I will never be evicted again, I am haunted by those times and still work relentlessly.

Having a financially illiterate society is dangerous, and we have to do something about that.

I have a strong point of view, and that's a double-edged sword. It can be a phenomenal characteristic in terms of getting things done, but it can also mean I will be relentless in my pushing for my point of view.

Every game is won with patience.

You know, when you're the youngest kid, you kind of get the last of everything.