We often hear about bad bosses, but we think it’s important to talk about the good ones because we hope that by giving folks examples of how to be a good boss we can inspire future bosses to be better, to do better for their employees and all stakeholders.

Dana Keen Phillips

They always say not to work for family. Perhaps that is why it took me so long to agree to work for my dad, Lane Keen, after years of him asking me to join his company, Keen Signs and Graphics. Eventually, while considering a career change and hearing from him that I was already sending so much business his way, I decided to ignore what “they” say and work for family. The decision to officially join Keen Signs and work for my dad was a great one. I have been able to experience first-hand what an amazing leader he is for his company and our community. Read more>>

Beth Beck

Early in my career at NASA, I worked for Hum Mandell at the Johnson Space Center. He saw in me what I didn’t see in myself — and made an effort to call it out. He showed me, by example, how to lead. He leveraged my strengths and gave me confidence to rise up to exceed his expectations. When he placed me in charge of a project, he stepped back and gave me full rein to manage it. Top aerospace execs would come to meet with him about the project, but he would call me in and have them address their questions to me, rather than answer for me. He valued my perspective, and always asked for my observations and insights after leadership meetings. Read more>>

Tamra Nicole Byrd

The best boss I ever had was Venus Anderson. I served as Venus’ personal/executive assistant right when I was starting my journey into the world of Fashion. I had moved home to Houston for a year before going off to grad school at Parsons The New School for Design in NYC. I had just left a personal assistant position that wasn’t the most ideal situation and was a bit apprehensive stepping into this type of role again. But after a month’s time of working for Venus I knew it was kismet. Not only could she relate to so much that I had going on in my personal life, (I had just had my 1st major break up, I was chasing a dream & about to move to the NYC and I was finding myself as a woman, a true big girl, Lioness is what I call her), Venus was a true BOSS. Read more>>

David King

When I first graduated law school, I took a job in the World Trade Center working for a securities law firm with several hundred attorneys. I worked for Norm Slonaker who was Merrill Lynch’s securities lawyer. He had an amazing mind. My next job was in Silicon Valley working for Wilson Sonsini, where I worked directly for the Managing Partner, Alan Austin. Like Norm, Alan was among the truly elite corporate securities attorneys in America. Alan previously clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas. Douglas was eccentric, insanely smart. He was once impeached by the House, so he framed it and put it on his wall. Read more>>

Taire Jai

My best boss was at a Clinique counter, which was my first job in the beauty industry. She would make me color match every single client, and do a lot of the makeovers. That taught me work with different skin tones, and skin types. My boss doing that is one of the reasons why I’m able to have a more diverse clientele. Read more>>

Jennifer Perez

I’ve been lucky in my career path to have wonderful mentors in my life. When I was working as a beauty school instructor, my boss was more of a leader/mentor, which was so refreshing coming from a retail position before. She would coach me how to really play on my strong points as a teacher, with grace and positive reinforcement. She would always say, if you really invest your heart in this, your job becomes your purpose. Empowering me with her small wisdoms daily, would push me to make sure my students would be the best they could be no matter what circumstances they came from. Read more>>

Heidy Henke

Lisa McConnell contacted me out of the blue several years ago, looking to carry a new jewelry line in her custom fine jewelry store in Fort Worth. She took me under her wing and helped me refine my wholesale offering, and gave me great feedback and advice on what customers are looking for, and my business is stronger now because of it. I was thrilled when she invited me to travel to Tucson, which is a rite of passage for jewelers. All of the world’s jewelry suppliers – from tools to rough stones to diamonds of every grade – gather in January and February each year for epic trade shows. It was an amazing experience when we went in February 2020, and I was so grateful for the opportunity to go, especially after the world shut down right after that. Read more>>