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Age: 61   Profession: Store Manager of Gottschalks, East Hills  Personal:  Husband, Jesse, 68. Three kids: Jesse Jr,. 44; Brando, 43; Brenda, 41. Four grandchildren: Daniel, 23; Victoria, 20; Katerina, 15; Jessica, 12. When she’s not running two Gottschalks stores or watching boxing matches, Mary still manages to find time to spend with her family here in Bakersfield and down in San Diego. If she can’t be found doing any of those things, she’s probably by herself somewhere having some quiet time. Mary is very passionate about everything she does in life, and makes sure she gives everything her all.

On growing up: “My grandmother raised me. She was the kind of person that if you had to take care of something, take care of it. If you had to be somewhere on time, be there. Be dependable. That was important. I learned that from her, to be true to your word. She was always there for everyone.”

Real life job: “I enjoy what I do. The most satisfaction I have is that I can turn a customer’s experience into a positive one. If I can do that, then that’s my reward, is being to able to help them. The other thing I enjoy about retail is that we’re always changing and I enjoy that. You have to change to be successful.”

Fight fan: “I love to watch boxing and cage fighting. Those are my favorite sports. The boxing, it doesn’t matter if it’s middleweights, heavyweights, I like it all. I just think it’s exciting.”

In her spare time: “My spare time is spent with my family. That’s what I do. I like to take drives with my husband. We take drives and every chance we get, we visit our son in San Diego.”

Making milestones: “The first milestone is that we’re going to celebrate 47 years of being married. Another one is reaching my career goal in retail.”

Dream job: “It’s silly, I was a kid. I wanted to be a ballerina. I tried to walk on my toes all the time.”

No rocking chair yet: “If I retire at 65, then I’ll have to cook for my husband everyday, so I’m not retiring.”