CLEVELAND, Ohio: As GOP presidential candidate Carly Fiorina took her seat in an interview with David Webb for a special which will air Wednesday evening on the David Webb Show, Webb asked the audience, “How many of you know what her Twitter handle is?”
Republican National Committee Member Jim Dicke yelled out, “Hot babe?!”
The audience laughed as Fiorina exclaimed, “I can’t believe you just said that!”
After that brief interruption, Fiorina’s interview went on without a hitch as she shared personal information about her family and work life as former Hewlett Packard CEO.
Fiorina shared that even as a child she knew and understood “that childhood is precious,” adding that the “hardest part of growing up is growing up, I think.”
On a personal level, Fiorina shared that she loves to cook and enjoys having family over while cooking and chatting together; it tends to be a family tradition, she said – it doesn’t just happen on Thanksgiving.
Webb asked whether Fiorina enjoys baking after she shared that she loves chocolate cake, or if she sticks with grilling, or what exact type of cooking she prefers.
Fiorina joked, “Not exactly a baker – although I can bake.”
She said she enjoys cooking Italian, although her husband reminds her often that she “can’t do meatballs like his mom.”
Fiorina shared too that she loves to dance and listen to music, explaining she is an Aretha Franklin fan. The crowd clapped in agreement to her taste in music.
Webb went on to ask Fiorina who is the most intelligent person she knows.
“Intelligent is sort of a loaded word to me… it could mean perception… I think there’s something to learn from everyone,” she stated. “Every time I meet someone I’m trying to find out what can I learn from them.”
Fiorina shared that during her time as one of the only females in her workplace — as an entry level salesperson — she attended an all-mens’ meeting – which the men decided to hold at a strip club “in an attempt to intimidate me,” Fiorina recalled.
She said a male coworker decided their first business meeting was going to be in a strip club. Fiorina was about 27-years-old and said she was incredibly intimidated, but she went anyway because nothing would keep her from doing her job.
“It turned out it was more awkward for them,” she said. “I walked away and said ‘I have to stand up for myself.’”
“I learned something that I could and should stand up for myself, and he learned something, which was she will stand up for herself.”
Fiorina told young women who are making their way in the world, as she did climbing her way up from a secretary to CEO of Hewlett Packard, that people who have had to overcome obstacles of some kind usually are better bets.
“If you’ve had to overcome an obstacle or insecurity or fear… genuinely you can bet on that person because they have gathered themselves and found through their inner strength, they have determination, they have grit,” she explained.
“Everyone truly does have God given gifts,” Fiorina said, adding to the audience, ‘Find them and use them,” and don’t let anyone else tell you that you are less than who you are.
“When I think of something that really is me — that I’m proud of — is honestly, I would have to say, I’ve never sold my soul along the way,” Fiorina said.
She explained a lot of people tend to sell their souls when they are successful, like doing something they aren’t proud of or something they don’t believe in. Fiorina concluded, “All those things — you’re selling your soul, and I don’t think I have.”