Despite turning 78 this year, Pleau still heads to the office every day to rally the troops, monitor customer satisfaction, and follow his North Star: “My real focus is on expansion,” says Pleau. “I’m not done.”

Under Director Harjinder K. Shergill-Chima’s watch, the lottery (which is self-funded) has an “unheard of” administrative budget that’s just 4 percent of revenue.

Michael J. Facenda oversees 1,600 employees, 14 food outlets, 82 table games and 2,100 slot machines — and don’t forget the pastry shop. 

Winnie Comstock-Carlson describes an average weekday as this magazine’s founder, president and publisher (for 35 years).  

On paper it’s a dream job of nonstop travel, but the reality is that most days she’s stuck in her office until 7 p.m. Thankfully she has a secret weapon: white space.

Thien Ho oversees 180 attorneys and a budget of $129 million with a purview of prosecuting all misdemeanors and felonies in the county. He starts his day with lots of water. 

His days are wildly different, depending on the sport and the season. So we’ll unpack his favorite and his busiest: Fridays covering high school football. 

His trick for listening to all those voices? He starts every day in the middle of the night.

Pacini-Hauch’s secret? “I answer the phone,” she says, adding that clients are routinely surprised that she always picks up or calls them back immediately, no matter when.

The roughly 900-employee, 106-bed hospital has gotten really good thanks in large part to Hausmann’s tireless work ethic, something she calls the “protected hour,” and a box of cookies.