Charlotte Randolph

As a child of the 1960s, Charlotte Randolph and her seven siblings would sit around the dinner table each Sunday night and talk politics.

A practice that might be considered taboo to some nurturing households was a family tradition in their Valentine home. With their father always taking a dissenting stand, the children were required to structure their arguments in a way that could not be dismissed by the man who raised them.

“It was a very good way to be brought up,” Randolph said. “I grew up during the Vietnam War, so there were many issues to debate n desegregation being one of them.” She added that the family never kept score, but she’s sure she won all the debates.

As the president of Lafourche Parish, Randolph continues to formulate succinct and persuasive messages in her daily effort to win arguments that could lead to the betterment of her community through federal and state funding.

Randolph said she frames her proposals to state and federal legislators with an emphasis on the parish’s positive aspects, a tactic she said she learned while reporting for a community newspaper and subsequently operating a public relations company.

“Once we make people understand how important [the parish is to the rest of the country], then they’re willing to invest in us, take some of the federal dollars and say, ‘Yes, they are worth improving and investing in,’” the parish president said. “I think as long as we continue to have that positive message, people will believe in us as well.”

After leaving Nicholls State University, Randolph’s first job was in the advertising department at the Lafourche Gazette. She stayed with the newspaper for 25 years, eventually making the transition to editor, before she founded Randolph Publications, which published newsletters for SweeDee, Lady of the Sea and the Port Commission.

Randolph attributed her professional success to the professional nature of her parents and said she has remained humble while in office and relied on the opinions of the experts around her.

“I defer to those who know better than I in instances and activities,” she said. “I don’t pretend to know it all and certainly turn to those who can give me the right advice or the right reaction to whatever the situation is. I let people do what they’re best at doing.”

In the wake of the BP Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill, Randolph had the opportunity to visit face-to-face with President Barack Obama. She said her experience as a reporter prevented her from clamming up and helped facilitate a “comfortable conversation.”

“As a reporter for many years, I certainly met many, many different people in all walks of life and learned that no one was all that different from the other,” Randolph said. “Instead of being awestruck, I realized that every person had a value in this world, and it just meant that I became a good listener when other people talked because I could learn from them. I think that helps when you’re dealing with people on such a high level, like Mr. Obama.”

Title: Lafourche Parish President

Age: 57

Family: Husband, George; two daughters, Samantha and Tonya

Education: South Lafourche High School, attended Nicholls State University and majored in English.

If you could add one more hour to each day, you would: Read a book; biographies.

First job: Advertising department for the Lafourche Gazette.

What did you want to be growing up? At one point, I considered law.

Describe yourself in one word: Dedicated.

Best advice to a woman in business: “There is no difference between a man and a woman when it comes to success. All of the avenues are open to women, as they are for men. There is no ceiling.”

If you were doing something else, what would it be? Running Randolph Publications.