What did I have? And so from my stomach I said, well, I may be the least qualified person

to run this company. True. I'm the last thing you all needed. True. I've never done this before. True. And then I said, but maybe if we can be kind

and mathematically honest, we can figure out a way to get out of this.

I'm Mary Long and that's James Rhee, a professor,

entrepreneur, and the former CEO of Ashley Stewart.

I caught up with Rhee for a conversation about his new book,

Red Helicopter, a parable for our times,

lead change with kindness, plus a little math.

We had a conversation about leaving a

company on the verge of liquidation, what corporate leaders often neglect to do

when they make hard decisions, and what goodwill can tell investors.

James, you recently wrote a book,

it's called Red Helicopter, and it's,

it tells a lot of stories.

As I was reading, I was trying to categorize it myself, and it's part business story, part memoir, part manifesto, I'd say.

And I want to talk about all three of those pieces and like the intersection of them all.

But maybe we start with the title

and kind of use that as a framework for the rest of our conversation and time

together. So why a red helicopter? What does that represent to you?

For me it was a story of just absolute clarity.

And I spent most in my life as a human being,

investor, teacher, CEO.

...