Melissa Cohn won a Stevie Award for Best Entrepreneur in Service Businesses (Up to 2,500 Employees) at the 3rd annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business earlier this month..

What book are you currently reading?
Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking.

What was the last movie you saw, and would you recommend it?
The new Rocky movie—the best thing about it was that it was short.

What is your favorite sport or hobby?
Riding my horses of course. (The Manhattan Mortgage Company is a sponsor of the Hampton Classic Horse Show.)

Who is your favorite historical figure?
Queen Elizabeth I.

Who is your favorite living person?
I would say that the living people I look up to most are all the other single working mothers in this country—I understand just how hard what they do everyday is as I have been one much of my working life.

If you could choose another profession, what would it be? 
Bond trader on Wall Street.

What do you think is the worst bad habit to have at work? 
Laziness.

What quality or qualities do you most value in your business associates?
Honesty, good work ethic, and loyalty.

Is there anything you'd like to improve about your own work practices?
I would like to learn to delegate a bit more—I still spend too much time dealing with the everyday when I am really best suited to implementing new ideas, growing my company, and doing what I like best—originating mortgages.

As someone at the top of your profession, what keeps you inspired or makes you hit the ground running in the morning?
The thought that there is always some way to do my job better.

What do you consider has been your greatest achievement in business?
My greatest achievement has been that I have had my company for 22 years and have never let the outside noise—be it from competitors, issues at home, or issues within the industry—get in the way of continuing to grow my business.

What advice or useful tip would you give to someone who is just starting out in business?
Don’t look backwards or to the side—always look straight ahead!

About Melissa Cohn
Founder and CEO of The Manhattan Mortgage Company, Melissa Cohn is a nationally recognized expert in the mortgage industry.  Ms. Cohn serves as a Governor of the Real Estate Board of New York, sits on numerous other boards and committees, and is quoted frequently by major media, including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, CNN, CNBC, and ABC.  Ms. Cohn has been honored by numerous groups including Ernst & Young. She is president of the Board of the Child Development Center of the Hamptons. TMMC has 175 employees and 12 branches with its headquarters in New York City.

Smart Technologies of Calgary, Alberta, Canada was one of only two companies to win two Stevie Awards in the 3rd annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business. CEO and co-founder Nancy Knowlton won for Best Canadian Entrepreneur, and the company itself was honored in the category of Most Innovative Company - Up to 2,500 Employees.

We recently spoke with Nancy Knowlton about the company's origins. Hear the management and leadership lessons she's learned as she's overcome obstacles to keep her company alive and thriving.

		Listen to the podcast interview

Blogs, or web logs, are all the rage these days. Each month in this space we'll point you to several blogs that we think might be of interest to you.

Jonathan's Blog : Blog by Jonathan Schwarts, CEO of Sun Microsytems.
The Tinbasher: The Tinbasher is a company blog to help customers learn more about Butler Sheetmetal Ltd, a small family-run sheet metal shop languishing in the backend of Lancashire. The blog's primary focus is to let you know who the people behind the business are and what we do, but there's also a few other metallic morsels thrown in for good measure. However, don't let that stop you from getting confused by the occasional post that's completely off-topic.
Patrick Web : Personal blog of former VP of IT at IBM (plus nice music!)
The Sab Kanaujia Blog: New blog by Sab Kanaujia, VP, NBC Digital Media, airing his views on key trends, products, and firms driving the convergence of entertainment, media and technology.