Tamara's Interview
This is Mellon's new New York life, and this is her new New York pad. Choosing the idyllic neighborhood in which she lives was a deliberate move, both geographically and emotionally. Put delicately, Mellon's past few years have not been a walk in Central Park; put bluntly, after her father's death, a very public divorce, and most recently a trip to court to sue her own mother (Mellon admits that she is estranged from her family), she was ready for a change of pace.
Last year was the best and worst year of my life, a breakthrough year for me," Mellon explains. "I've moved here and managed to clear up a lot of the wreckage. I feel like I've arrived in New York with a clean slate, and I have a whole new set of challenges ahead of me. And I find that invigorating."
"I've actually been told, when someone sits and spends time with me, that I'm not the person they thought I would be," she says. She adds that there is still a stigma to a woman who is successful in business. "If a woman gets tough in negotiations, she's difficult, whereas a man would be considered a brilliant businessman. Of course, there have been moments in my career when I've had to be tough and I've had to step up to the plate — but usually that's because a man has underestimated me." She smiles and lets out that belly laugh. "But other than that, I wouldn't say I'm a tough person."
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