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The question

Who alive today do you admire most, and what draws you to them?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

The Guardian's Q&A repeatedly uses this prompt, sometimes dropping 'living' while retaining the same comparative judgment.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Mellody Hobson

Co-chief executive and president of Ariel Investments

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here
I really appreciate the fact, and I constantly tell Reverend Jackson and Reverend Sharpton that I appreciate the fact that they're fighting for us, because I am an accident of birth.

Farai Chideya, News & Notes, Leading Ladies series, NPR, 22 March 2007 source ↗

Mentioned in this answer

Others on this question

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Bill Bailey Comedian and musician
Aung San Suu Kyi, for her resilience and determination.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 29 October 2016 source ↗
Meg Rosoff American novelist
My husband is the kindest, funniest, most strange and wondrous person I know.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 November 2013 source ↗
Rebecca Front English actress, writer and comedian
Camila Batmanghelidjh, the founder of Kids Company.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 11 July 2015 source ↗

More from Mellody Hobson

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Question If you could put a message on a giant billboard, what would it say and why? Time & hindsight
We cannot afford to be color blind. We have to be color brave. We have to be willing, as teachers and parents and entrepreneurs and scientists, we have to be willing to have proactive conversations about race with honesty and understanding and courage, not because it's the right thing to do, but because it's the smart thing to do, because our businesses and our products and our science, our research, all of that will be better with greater diversity.
Recorded TED2014, 20 March 2014 source ↗
Question What is one of the best investments you have made — of money, time, or energy? Money & investment
Our business everyday is to make money for people. And I take it as seriously as doctors who are trying to cure cancer, because by giving people financial freedom, we allow them to do great things in their lives - from retire to send their kids to college, to buy their first house, to fund a business that they might want to start.
Recorded Farai Chideya, News & Notes, Leading Ladies series, NPR, 22 March 2007 source ↗
Question What counsel has proved most valuable to you? Time & hindsight
He says: Take your gloves off, Mellody, but use your power for good. He's giving me my hands back. Use your power for good. And I have never - I've used that analogy in all things in my life, something as simple as getting my hands back, using my powers for good in the water but also day-to-day life using your power for good no matter who you are.
Recorded Kathleen J. McInnis, Smart Women, Smart Power podcast, Center for Strategic and International Studies, 28 August 2024 source ↗
Question What counsel would you give your twenty-year-old self — and what should they ignore? Time & hindsight
I'd say be just like you. I once had someone tell me that I don't remind them of anyone that they ever met. And I took that as a huge compliment, which meant I was original. And so I would suggest to her that she speak her truth with her life, with her own sense of purpose and pursue her dreams.
Recorded Farai Chideya, News & Notes, Leading Ladies series, NPR, 22 March 2007 source ↗

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