We have women entering lower-paying career fields. Women are still, culturally, the primary caregivers for children, even though we would love to have fathers and mothers share responsibility.

Before I became a fighter pilot, everyone said that women didn't have the physical strength. Well, I had just completed the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon.

I grew up in a family where I was told there were no limitations on me as a girl and I could be anything I wanted to be. It wasn't until I joined the military that I realized that just because I was a woman - just because I had ovaries - I couldn't become a fighter pilot.These structural limitations were the motivation for me becoming a fighter pilot in the first place.

Raising taxes in an economic downturn is not a good idea.

When you value people, you give them freedom.

It's important in our role as leaders that we use the platform to address issues, to address barriers, to identify best practices for overcoming these challenges with businesses small and large. Maybe there are some public policy issues that we need to address. Maybe some of them are at the federal level and some are at the state or local level.

My colleagues and I fought to increase the resources to address several things, like maternity, prenatal, and newborn care, and mental health and substance abuse treatment. These are things everybody should care about, and resources should be available for families.