I started out as a business manager for a national hotel chain based in Oklahoma. I got frustrated with what was happening in the state capital - the high cost of doing business and a lack of educated workers.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Small businesses are the backbone of Oklahoma's economy, creating a large portion of jobs in our state.
I'm the guy who's started businesses, I've been a small business owner. I've employed hundreds of Pennsylvanians. I know how to get jobs moving in the private sector, rein in the excesses in Washington, and bring some balance to a town that's lost all balance.
Running a business anywhere isn't easy.
What I will say is that business is not a nice area. And you might say that I am a business woman, but I'm not into cut-throat business moves.
I grew up in the motel business, and it evolved into hotels.
I wanted to start a hotel company from scratch.
I didn't have a business degree. I didn't have experience to work in somebody else's office. I never built or ran a department. So I was on this journey, and when the time came to make a decision, I was just going with my gut.
I always worked in institutions, I never had a restaurant of my own before, but I have opened over 30 hotels, restaurants and casinos. I understand what it takes to keep them running.
When I first got to L.A., I was shocked at how business was done, and how people... it's like everything I was told not to fall for, I was surrounded by. And it was very difficult for me, because I just didn't like the industry at all.
Everything I've done in my career is a result of growing up in rural Oklahoma, because if I hadn't had the training from Mama and Daddy to work hard, to do what I'm told, to take directions, to mind and to do a good job at anything I set out to do, then I wouldn't be where I am today.