Values cannot be speedily forgotten if it is inconvenient or commercially expedient. Values have to have meaning and longevity; otherwise they are valueless. You cannot embrace innovation up to a point or only sometimes. Branding demands commitment; commitment to continual re-invention; striking cords with people to stir their emotions; and commitment to imagination. It is easy to be cynical about such things, much harder to be successful.

As much as you need a strong personality to build a business from scratch, you also must understand the art of delegation. I have to be good at helping people run the individual businesses, and I have to be willing to step back. The company must be set up so it can continue without me.

Develop the business around the people; build it, don't buy it; and, then, be the best.

I had no plans to be an entrepreneur. I just wanted to be a journalist and write for a magazine. At 15, I just decided to leave school and launch a national student magazine.

However tight things are, you still need to have the big picture at the forefront of your mind.

Many assume my business success has brought me happiness. But the way I see it, I am successful because I am happy.

People have to decide on priorities if they want to get anywhere. The best lessons I learned was to just do it.