ABSTRACT
I always knew I’d be a breadwinner. Maybe not the sole bread-winner, but I knew I’d work. When I was growing up in the 1970s, one of my childhood fantasies was that I’d have a dual career-surgeon during the week and Hollywood actress on the weekends. And when reality got in the way of that daydream-I hate the sight of blood and I suffer from stage fright-I started building my corporate empire in my head. I called it Unicorn Enterprises, and I had a crystal-clear image of the company logo. Unicorn Enterprises was going to be a holding company for many different ventures: a newspaper, a retail chain, and a few more businesses I can no longer remember. My parents indulged my dreams. I don’t know if it was the feminist infl uences of the time, their desire for their daughter to achieve more than they did, or my straight As in school, but both of them, and especially my father, wanted me to pursue a “good job,” aka a high-paying career, when I grew up.
