Never give up. The bankers and financial people did not take me seriously initially. Everyone thought I would fail. My attitude was that 'No' is an unacceptable answer when it comes to financing.

What I wanted was to be allowed to do the thing in the world that I did best - which I believed then and believe now is the greatest privilege there is. When I did that, success found me.

No is an unacceptable answer. I'm allergic to no.

What really fueled me, and maybe infuriated me, is that nobody believed in me. Nobody. I don't even think I believe in myself. Part of what I was trying to do was to make the decision to go into business and find the guts to see it through. I was told that when I went in to see the bankers that I was supposed to be very muted, that I was supposed to blend in, that I was supposed to have the typical drab suit on.

You know, Mrs. Fields was never a business. It was a part of me...and I never separated, oh, well, business from personal because to me they all blended together.

What really fueled me, and maybe infuriated me, is that nobody believed in me. Nobody. I don't even think I believe in myself.

I really do believe that there's no such thing as coincidence. People come into our lives for a reason.