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"1. Joni Evans Former Senior VP for the William Morris Agency (her client list included Liz Smith, James Patterson, and Peggy Noonan), Evans is known as a consummate deal maker. Because she has sat on both sides of the desk, as an editor and then as a publisher, she knows what it takes to launch a project and make it a success. She currently manages and writes for wowowow.com, a women&amp;#039;s website. Her Secrets Have bottom-line mentality at work...and at home: &amp;quot;In the publishing business you need to have a strong sense of profit and loss, and I apply that to everything in my life,&amp;quot; says Evans. &amp;quot;With my investments, my house, and even my vintage cars, I weigh how much time and money I have to put into them, compared with how much pleasure I get from them.&amp;quot; Have a Plan B: When the stock market crashed in 1987, it was Evans&amp;#039;s hectic first day as head of Random House, so she didn&amp;#039;t hear about the disaster until lunch. Panicked, she sold off stocks that regained their value just a few days later. But Evans did learn something: &amp;quot;The people who came out OK had planned what they would do in the event of a crash.&amp;quot; Now she, too, has a strategy &amp;quot;to keep me from losing my head&amp;quot; if the market goes crazy. Trust the experts (even if you&amp;#039;re related to them): Evans enlisted her sister, an investment banker, to take care of her investments. &amp;quot;I don&amp;#039;t handle my money on my own, any more than I would cut my own hair.&amp;quot;  Know when less can be more: Evans won&amp;#039;t economize on quality. &amp;quot;Instead of buying 98 rolls of discount toilet paper, I&amp;#039;d rather buy one great roll and be very sparing,&amp;quot; she jokes. Know when more is too much: &amp;quot;If I sense that my spending is excessive, I instantly pull back. It&amp;#039;s like gambling and knowing what is too much to lose.&amp;quot;  2. Mellody Hobson Hobson is president of Ariel Investments, and a financial contributor on ABC&amp;#039;s Good Morning America. Her Secrets Act like a Depression Baby: When the household bills arrive, like her phone or cable, Hobson pays more than what&amp;#039;s due, so she won&amp;#039;t get another bill for a while. &amp;quot;It may be ridiculous, but I sleep better if I&amp;#039;m prepared for the worst-case scenario,&amp;quot; she says.  Aspire to ownership: Hobson takes part of her pay in company stock and saves more with each raise. &amp;quot;I know these days there&amp;#039;s a big move tof th diversify your investments \u2014 but if you think you work for a good business that has wonderful prospects, put some of your money there,&amp;quot; she advises. &amp;quot;The wealthiest families didn&amp;#039;t get there on paychecks alone, but by owning all or part their companies.&amp;quot; Splurge on something practical: Hobson admits she has too many leather blazers. But in the &amp;quot;very tailored&amp;quot; banking world, she explains, it&amp;#039;s how she shows her personality yet stays &amp;quot;acceptable.&amp;quot; Get your $$$ worth: Hobson won&amp;#039;t spend on &amp;quot;consumables.&amp;quot; This means she avoids pricey restaurants but will splurge on her home and clothes. &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;d rather be sitting on it or wearing it than eating it.&amp;quot;  3. Dee Dee Myers Myers was Bill Clinton&amp;#039;s press secretary from 1993 to 1994, the first woman to hold that position. Today she&amp;#039;s a political analyst and contributing editor to Vanity Fair magazine.  Her Secrets Figure out how to finance your dream: Myers&amp;#039;s goal was to be part of the Washington political scene. But before she let herself take that risk, she built up her r\u00E9sum\u00E9 \u2014 working on campaigns in her home state of California \u2014 and she built up her bank account to &amp;quot;at least survival level.&amp;quot;  Plan for a downtime: &amp;quot;I was often out of work, because after each election I had to find a new job.&amp;quot; But by putting money aside during the flush periods, Myers was able to make sure she had enough to &amp;quot;pay the rent and buy groceries.&amp;quot;  Be choosy: Myers splurges on conveniences \u2014 like taking a direct flight to be with her daughter sooner \u2014 but not on &amp;quot;things like clothes.&amp;quot;  4. Catherine Reynolds Today, she&amp;#039;s chairman and CEO of the Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation. Reynolds gained fame (and fortune) at Educap, a company that loans money to college students. In 2000, financial giant Wells Fargo bought Educap for an amount reportedly in the hundreds of millions of dollars, with Reynolds&amp;#039;s share of the sale said to be $100 million.  Her Secrets Don&amp;#039;t let the big guys scare you: While developing Educap, Reynolds had to deal with bankers who could&amp;#039;ve been intimidating to the young accountant (who is, she notes, &amp;quot;from a blue-collar family&amp;quot;). But she was always guided by her mother&amp;#039;s advice: &amp;quot;Remember, you are no better than anyone else, but you are always as good.&amp;quot; Know when to ask questions: &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m never afraid to say &amp;#039;I don&amp;#039;t really understand that,&amp;#039;&amp;quot; Reynolds stresses. &amp;quot;This is really important when it comes to financial management and estate and tax planning \u2014 all those things that can become disasters if done incorrectly.&amp;quot; Make demands: If you need a loan, comparison shop, Reynolds advises. Then, even if you&amp;#039;re offered a good deal, ask for still better terms. And if you&amp;#039;re turned down? Keep trying. &amp;quot;When people say no,&amp;quot; says Reynolds, &amp;quot;I think they mean yes and just need me to convince them.&amp;quot; Think beyond the paycheck: When she was a little girl, Reynolds would drive around with her uncle, who was in the lumber business. &amp;quot;He&amp;#039;d say, &amp;#039;While we sleep tonight, these trees will be making money for us,&amp;#039;&amp;quot; she recalls. The concept fascinated her, and from her very first job, Reynolds knew it was important to create investments that would be &amp;quot;making money for me while I slept.&amp;quot;  5. Barbara Corcoran The New York Times reports that this real-estate mogul founded the Corcoran Group in 1973 and sold it in 2001 for a reported $66 million. She is currently an author, a contributor for The Today Show and a &amp;quot;Shark&amp;quot; on the ABC show Shark Tank. These achievements didn&amp;#039;t come easily to Corcoran, who grew up in a family with modest resources \u2014 and ten children.  Her Secrets In business, be bold: At age 23, and with no experience in the field, Corcoran borrowed $1,000, opened a tiny real estate office, and spent her first commission on a coat that &amp;quot;would make me look successful.&amp;quot;  Spend it while you&amp;#039;ve got it: As Corcoran&amp;#039;s company grew, she never banked her profits. Instead, she would mortgage each property she acquired and use the proceeds for expansion. Ordinary people should consider doing this, too, Corcoran believes. If, for example, you&amp;#039;re planning to buy a new house, she suggests taking advantage of the equity in your current home by getting a bigger mortgage, using it for the down payment on your new purchase and then, instead of selling, renting out your old house.  Have just one credit card: Corcoran could have a wallet full of plastic, but &amp;quot;having one card and one statement helps me keep my financial house in order. I can see at a glance exactly how much I owe.&amp;quot; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/inspirational-stories/interviews/a17393/successful-women-0403/>