Fadulu: Did they have a specific profession that they wanted you to go into?

Coles James: I was the only girl out of five boys, and I think they were more interested in making sure that I had a good, solid education because with that, there would be lots of opportunities to do any number of things. My father left home when I was around 4 years old, and I ended up being raised by my aunt and uncle. They were professional people. He was a businessman, and she was a schoolteacher, but she suffered under the debilitating disease of alcoholism. And as a result of that, even as a young child, I had to learn to be self-sufficient and independent around the house.

So I learned domestic skills rather early: I could cook and clean and care for not only myself, but at a very early age took care of my aunt as well.

Fadulu: Did you have any jobs outside of the home before going to college?

Coles James: Not very much before college. I can tell you that being raised by an African American schoolteacher, even though she was a working alcoholic, she had all the values of a middle-class schoolteacher, and education was key. And my uncle, who was sort of the rock of the family, was very adamant about the fact that I was to get a good-quality education, and he felt that once that was done, then his task was done in that he would have equipped me for life.

Read: The wisdom of going back to school in retirement

So when I went off to college, he said, “No, you don’t have to work. No jobs, get your education, get that done and don’t get married. Don’t get serious about any guys. Focus.” Education was key. I grew up hearing about the United Negro College Fund. The slogan, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.” I think I had my first job outside the home when I was in college, and I went to work for the Richmond public schools as an assistant for a summer reading program, where I was doing clerical work. When you are in college and you’re doing that kind of work, your job is pretty much to do everything in the office that nobody else wants to. And that’s what I did.

Fadulu: How did you cope with that?

Coles James: I didn’t expect to come in and be the manager or the supervisor or run the company initially. I expected to pay my dues. I expected to learn from the folks who were there and more experienced and older than I was. I expected to have a work ethic. The way I was brought up is, you get there early, you leave last, you do the best job possible, and all the doors will be opened for you. So for me, it wasn’t very much about coping. Those were the values that I was raised with. That was what I expected. And I heard every inspirational phrase one could hear in that kind of environment: The cream always rises to the top. The early bird catches the worm. Work hard and it’ll pay off in the end. Those were the things that were whispered in my ear from the time I was young. And so I grew up with those values and with that ethic.