Competition in the communications industry along the corridor is fierce.
Cox is built on the philosophy that you constantly and consistently invest in your employees, your customers and your communities. Our business will do well only if we do right by these groups. Cox Louisiana has over $1 billion in current and planned infrastructure investment, which gives us the strength, stability and reliability necessary to compete in the 17 parishes we serve.
What is the most valuable business lesson you’ve learned?
Never get in the gutter with your competition. Let your product, price and service speak for you. Customers deserve to have the information to make an informed decision; not be subject to name-bashing and diversionary tactics. I’ve learned that negative tactics neither honor nor respect our customers for who they are and what they mean to us.
What was your first job?
At 13, I was a junior counselor at a summer camp where I helped “manage” 8-year-olds.
What’s your favorite place on the corridor for a power lunch?
There are too many to choose just one. If I drive along the I-10 corridor, I’d say Mr. B’s in New Orleans, The City Club in Baton Rouge, and Zea’s or The Blue Dog Café when in Lafayette.
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.”
If you could have any job other than your own, what would it be?
I would be a social worker trying to impact a system touching our most precious resources, our children.
What’s the biggest obstacle you’ve overcome?
Rising from being a ward of the state in the foster care system to being a successful businesswoman and mother of three beautiful girls, who themselves were wards of the state. I believe that “for whom much is given, much will be required.” I’ve been blessed.
What is your prescription for life?
Look in the mirror every night and be able to sincerely say “I did the right thing by all today.”
If you could have dinner with any three living people, who would they be?
Maya Angelou, Nelson Mandela and John C. Maxwell
If you could change one thing about the corridor, what would it be?
I would reinforce the citizen’s faith and pride in themselves and the State and ask them to have even more. Being a person who has lived all over the country, I was never more proud of being an adopted Louisianan than after hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and again after Gustav. I watched the human spirit at work when we opened our hearts and homes and made selfless acts too numerous to document. This is a very gracious place and I am always proud to call it home. And, I’m blessed to live and work among such incredible spirits.
