Sheila Crump Johnson

These doors would open, and I said, 'Why can't I go through them?'. "And I decided I was going to go through every door that came my way."

“I was always drawn to places that Black people don’t usually go,” the business executive and philanthropist wrote in her memoir, which was released in the fall.

You don't see people like us in the hotel business," she notes. "I wanted to create a company that not only celebrated diversity, but I also wanted people to see diversity at the resorts, with everybody feeling welcome.

I have the most beautiful farm in the world. I sit on almost 200 acres,” “I can walk the horses around. It’s just the most peaceful place in the world, and I love it.”

I think I was pissed off," she says, nodding to her years "as the little woman behind the man." She adds: "There was a lot of me left on the table.

I don't know when I'm going to feel totally comfortable with saying, Yes, I'm successful," she says. "Every day I wake up and say, Okay, we've got to learn to take a risk here and take a risk there. Because I also understand I could lose it all tomorrow. It's in learning to be vulnerable and true to yourself and really make sure that you're safe in your space that you can continue to grow your company.

I really felt as though I could be a good leader and role model by building a company that celebrated diversity and bringing in a clientele that will continue to support us,

All my life I have traveled,""When I was a concert violinist, I traveled the world and stayed in some of the finest hotels. And that has always stuck with me. I felt because I had such a rich background in traveling that I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

I love challenges. I'm a risk-taker,

"I was young enough, and I really did believe him because I put him up on a pedestal. I really did. And I thought that everything he said was right, and I had to keep fighting through that. That's what upset me more than anything,

I am creating content programming that is really separating us from all the other companies out there, and this is key,” she says. “I can create my own playground through the hospitality business. It’s not just putting heads in beds, but bringing heads to beds for a purpose. That experience is what Salamander is all about.”

Horses are as important to America's history as any living creature, including man,

I'm a very powerful entrepreneur.

No, you were just the nice person who taught me how to play the Ice Castles theme. But in your book, you write about, for example, obsessively practicing your violin to the point where your mother was like,

I go to my own house. I live on a 200-acre farm in Middleburg, and it's the best. I can walk up to three miles and never leave the property. That's my sanctuary.