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Full name: Jacqueline D. Vines

Title: Regional Vice President and General Manager

Company: Cox Communications

Birthplace: Norwalk, Conn.

Why do you do what you do?

I love my job. I enjoy working with people and we have a great team at Cox. I relish the opportunity to interact with customers. Advanced technology and the constant enhancements to our products is exciting. And, most of all, my job affords me the opportunity to work in the community, which has always been a passion of mine.

What is your greatest professional accomplishment?

Moving from being a leader in Human Resources to successfully transitioning to a general manager position where I lead the operational and human sides of the organization. Moving from Human Resources, which is a functional area, to a general area is uncommon for our business, but I’ve been able to do it successfully and grow my responsibility.

What was your first job?

At 13, I was a junior counselor at a summer camp where I helped “manage” 8-year-olds.

What is the best advice you've ever received?

A mentor once told me, “Never celebrate the highs too high or the lows to low. It all evens out in the end.”

Who do you most admire in the local business community and why?

I admire John Davies for his passion and desire to lead an organization that always does the right thing. I also greatly admire Mayor Kip Holden. He has done a great job of focusing the city-parish on managing growth and becoming a great American city. He has also done a remarkable job of bridging the polarizing issue of race and bringing all segments of the parish together.

If you could have any job other than your own, what would it be?

Social worker. Growing up in foster care, I know the impact a caring adult can have on the young people in their care.

What is the greatest personal or professional obstacle you've overcome?

My greatest personal accomplishment has been to move from being a child in the foster care system who many had given up on to becoming a successful, well-rounded businesswoman who can influence her company and community into caring and providing a safety net for those children who are where I was many years ago.

If you started over, what would you do differently?

I would have gotten my undergraduate degree on the traditional path, instead of taking 22 years. While persistence paid off, the traditional route would have given me a different life experience.

What is your prescription for life?

“If you see it and believe it you can receive it.” When I have a vision for the way things can be, no one can stop me from achieving that vision.

What book are you currently reading?

I always read multiple books at one time. My current choices are Mauve Binchy’s fiction work Whitethorn Woods. She is an Irish writer that has such a great sense of place and develops her characters so richly. My non-fiction choice is The Goal: A Process of On-going Improvement by Eliyahu Goldratt.

If you could have dinner with any three living people, who would they be? (Authors? Leaders?)

Maya Angelou, Nelson Mandela and Don Imus. I can only imagine how fascinating the conversation would be.

Who would play you in a movie?

S. Epatha Merkerson from Law & Order.

What is the most expensive purchase you've made for yourself?

Not telling.

What is your favorite weekend activity?

Golfing, reading and – my new passion – cycling.

What's your theme song?

"There’s a Winner in You" by Patti LaBelle

What's your favorite spot in Baton Rouge?

The Little Village restaurant

How do you take your coffee/tea?

I take them both with cream and sugar.

What is your favorite movie? TV show? Band?

Movie – Evergreen with Barbara Streisand; TV – Grey’s Anatomy; and performer is Alicia Keys

What is your favorite gadget?

My red BlackBerry Pearl

What is something that you can't live without?

I don’t have a thing, but I have two people who are my lifeblood – Misty Martin and Angel Matthews. They are my guardian angels and keep me on track.

If you could change one thing about Baton Rouge, what would it be?

I would eliminate the polarization between the races in the community – it is the underlying factor that is holding us back in so many social and economic ways.

What is your greatest hope for Baton Rouge?

I hope that we will accelerate the improvement of our public education system because as a community the only way to improve all of our quality of life issues – economic development, cultural advancement, social equality, workforce preparedness, etc. – is through universal, quality education.

What is your greatest fear for Baton Rouge?

That we will not effectively focus on our public education system and that we will therefore not make the strides we need in economic development, cultural advancement, social equality and workforce preparedness. If we are stagnant on the redevelopment of our public education system, we will never advance as a community, region or state – and that is unacceptable.