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| photography by Dan Sellers |
Pat anderson and ken gjemre opened the first Half Price Books in 1972 in a converted Dallas Laundromat with 2,000 books donated from their personal collections. With the help of Pat’s daughter, Sharon Anderson Wright, the company has grown to 90 retail locations in 14 states with more than $140 million in annual revenues. Wright was the store’s first employee, sorting and shelving paperbacks part-time when she was 13. Now president and CEO, she has turned Half Price Books, Records, Magazines Inc. into the third-largest women- or minority-owned business in DFW, according to the Dallas Morning News. In addition to a longtime involvement with literacy programs, the Half Price Books team has recycled more than 16 million books since the company’s founding, saving more than 650,000 trees.
Name: Sharon Anderson Wright
Age: 48
Title/Company: President and CEO/ Half Price Books, Records, Magazines Inc.
Tenure: 30 years as a full-time employee, 11 years as CEO
What was your first job?
Other than helping my dad sell clocks at gift shows and helping my mom get the bookstore started, my first “real” job was as a checker at Foodland.
What was your worst job?
I was a checker at Safeway after I worked at Foodland. The pay was better, but I didn’t like the way they treated the employees.
If you couldn’t say “the people I work with,” what would you say is the best part of your job?
The company philosophy and the products we sell.
What’s the worst part?
Meetings.
On weekends, where would people find you?
It depends on the weekend and the season. I could be at multiple birthday parties, Scout meetings, swimming, traveling, our cabin, or cleaning the house.
What book is currently on your nightstand?
There are about ten on several different subjects. It’s hard to walk through a bookstore every day and not be overrun with books.
What’s your favorite TV show?
I don’t get much time to watch TV. When I do, I usually watch the news, home improvement shows, or science shows. Entourage is my secret that I watch on demand late at night.
What three Web sites do you visit most frequently?
Google, Travelocity, Southwest Airlines.
What’s your most recent major purchase?
2007 Honda Odyssey.
What’s your biggest regret?
Not spending more time with my father.
What do you consider to be your biggest weakness?
Acquiring too much stuff.
What’s the best advice anyone ever told you?
Don’t go to bed mad.
