Cathie Black, the future chancellor of the New York City public school system, was just 12 and a "skinny, awkward preteen with big dreams" on the south side of Chicago when she decided she "wanted to be different."
"So one day I changed the spelling of my name from 'Cathy' to 'Cathie,'" Black recounted in her secret-to-success book, "Basic Black" - adding that misspelling her new moniker was the "quickest way" for someone to lose ground in her eyes.
It's a telling insight into the hard-charging, 66-year-old business woman who's been dubbed "The First Lady of Magazines."
Black grew up in the shadow of steel mills in an insular neighborhood called South Shore. She described herself as a born saleswoman who started off selling lemonade and later subscriptions to a Catholic magazine.
"I was so excited and persistent that I even managed to sell subscriptions to a couple of our Protestant neighbors before my parents reined me in," she wrote.
One of three kids, Black had a "comfortable middle class life."
"I didn't need to work summers while in high school, but I did anyway, because I wanted to," she wrote.
Tragedy struck the family when Black was a teen and her father, James, started going blind. She wrote that instead of quitting, he hired a driver and continued peddling gourmet mustards and mayonnaises to support the family.
Black moved on to Trinity College, a small Catholic school in Washington where she chafed at the strict rules.
"I remember saying to my father, in a petulant moment, 'I'm tired of nerds, nuns and girls,'" she wrote.
New York was where Black wanted to be. And once she got to Gotham, Black quickly set herself apart from the pack of ambitious executives clawing their way to the top in the publishing business.
"Here's a confession," she wrote. "I was a workaholic in my twenties. I badly wanted not only to achieve, but to overachieve."
Along the way she found love with lawyer Tom Harvey and adopted two children, Duffy and Alison. Marilyn Quayle - the wife of former Vice President Dan Quayle - threw her a baby shower.
Black made a lasting impression on USA Today founder Al Neuharth, who made her publisher of his flagship paper.
"She was a huge success in every role she played with us," he told the Daily News.
Asked if not having a background in education might hinder her, Nueharth punted.
"I'm not qualified to make that judgment," he said. "I really don't know what the chancellor does."
Eve Burton, general counsel for the Hearst Corp., said "what sets her apart is that she's a team builder."
"She's very good at identifying talented people," Burton said. "She'll bring a fresh perspective to the job, as with everything she does."
(source:nydailynews.com)
She was also "Let go" from her last job. Holds only a B.A. degree. She has no experience in her current undertaking.
ReplyDeleteCathie may be a "nice" person but she is not qualified.
Her children never attended public school. She has no background in Education. Imagine for a moment an photographer conducting brain surgery because they are "very good at identifying talented people."