Spin that Wheel!

Just read a great article on Vanna White in the Washington Post.  She's been on "Wheel of Fortune" for 30 years now, hard to believe how that much time has passed.  With technology, it's interesting how she doesn't have to actually physically turn the letters anymore.  I don't know why people are so critical of her, I think she's quite smart -- she found a way to make a nice living working 35 days a year (they tape 5 to 6 shows each day!) wearing beautiful dresses and not having to really say or do much (though apparently she's called upon to talk with the audience while there are breaks in filming, which I think could be quite challenging). Oh, and I thought it was interesting that her motivation for going into television was her uncle, actor Christopher George (I always loved his wife Lynda Day George on Mission Impossible.  They were quite the "it" couple back in the 70s.  Sadly, he passed of a heart attack in 1983).

The reason I paid attention to the article is because I know that Vanna is an avid crocheter and has built quite a yarn empire for herself as well.  "Her contract, estimated to be worth millions, gives her the freedom to dabble in real estate and crocheting, hobbies she’s since turned into business ventures. Among knitting enthusiasts, Vanna is known for her popular line of yarn, from which she recently donated $1 million to St. Jude’s Hospital."  Unfortunately, that's all the article says about this aspect of her life, but I really liked this statement of hers:  "What people don’t know about me is that I’m a pretty good businesswoman,” Vanna says. “Yes, I do this little ol’ game show, but I know the show isn’t going to last forever, so I’ve gone into different ventures. But I don’t want to sound like I’m bragging.”  I think there could be some very interesting business lessons we could learn from Vanna!