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More Than a Secretary: Proof that Pepper Potts is Going to be Okay
Written by: Christine Everhart
It’s a comfortably warm afternoon in New York City. I’m currently sitting in the cafe at Balthazar’s waiting for Pepper Potts to join me. Yes, that Pepper Potts - CEO of Stark Industries. She’d sent me a text that she’s currently stuck in traffic, thanks to some type of scuffle somewhere in Manhattan - thanks Spider-Man.
As I nurse my third cup of coffee of the day, I think back to when I first interviewed her the year she took over as CEO, way back in May of 2010. It had been unseasonably hot and the (now infamous) Stark Expo was happening over in Queens. How she fit me into her extremely busy schedule, I’ll never know. But, I’ll never forget when Potts - the ever-busy personal assistant to the eccentric billionaire (and future husband) that was Tony Stark - admitted that she was nervous to be taking over the multi-million dollar company. Thinking back, it probably was daunting, considering the company was still reeling from Stark’s decision to stop manufacturing weapons and his famous “I am Iron Man” announcement.
Now, 18 years later, the once nervous CEO has blossomed in her role in navigating the former weapons manufacturer into an extremely successful tech company. Sure, the company has seen its fair share of controversy (the most recent being Stark Industries drones seized by the Department of Damage Control after being stolen by a disgruntled former employee and used illegally in London)... but that hasn’t stopped her.
Though, today’s conversation isn’t about the company’s latest achievements. As busy as she is, our conversation today is about the new era that Potts is about to enter in her life - published author.
It’s no surprise that after the death of her husband, Potts took a sabbatical to focus on raising their daughter. Now she’s stepping back into the spotlight with her memoir Will That Be All: A Life of Love, Loss, and Stark Industries (out this fall), which offers a rare glimpse into the CEO’s semi-private life and experiences in this superhero-filled world.
When Miss Potts arrives at the cafe, her presence instantly commands attention from the small cafe crowd. She’s dressed more casually than most are used to seeing - wearing a navy and white striped two-piece linen set that makes her signature blonde hair stand out - she looks as if she’s planning on leaving the city and heading out to the Hamptons for the weekend. Potts immediately apologizes for her tardiness as she sits across from me. We then share a laugh when she pulls out a pair of high-tech aviator glasses when she tries to read the menu and explains they were a gift from her late husband a while back, admitting that she needs them more often than she used to.
While this interview is about her upcoming book, our conversation also includes what she’s been up to the past few years, if she has any comments about the current “New Avengers” team, and how she intends on keeping the Stark legacy alive.
CE: Let’s start by talking about your outfit right now, you look like you’re about to jet off to the Hamptons or someplace coastal, what’s up with that?
Pepper: *laughs* You caught me! I am actually heading out to the Hamptons after this. It’s a little treat for me and my daughter. We haven’t taken a proper vacation this summer and I promised we’d do something before school starts this fall.
CE: Speaking of your daughter, she’s what… almost ten now?
Pepper: She’s nine, which is insane. We went to Disney World for her birthday this year and she had a blast. I can’t believe she’ll be ten next year. It’s wild how fast time flies.
CE: It seems like just yesterday when you announced her birth! No one knew you were even expecting.
Pepper: That was the plan… honestly, if we hadn’t been photographed entering the hospital when she was born, I don’t think we would’ve announced anything. It was actually quite special keeping that to ourselves.
Potts speaks candidly about her daughter during our conversation. Though, out of respect for her privacy, I’m not including it in this profile. She stressed that privacy was their number one concern when their daughter was born.
CE: It seems we see much less of you now than we have in the past, yet you’re still working hard leading the way at Stark Industries.
Pepper: Privacy was non-negotiable when our daughter was born. Tony lived under the public microscope for years and after everything that happened, we needed a change of scenery. It was an adjustment for sure, but it’s been the biggest blessing and honestly, trading my high-heels and business suits for rainboots and a garden shovel has been nice.
CE: Rainboots and a garden shovel? That seems like quite the departure from the business woman we’re used to seeing.
Pepper: If the past few years has taught me anything, stepping back to be with my family seemed to be the right choice. I would say as much as I love being at headquarters and seeing how we could change the world, being at home with my daughter, harvesting our vegetable garden or walking around the local farmers market is even better.
CE: So tell me, aside from your vegetable garden and running the world’s largest tech company, what have you been up to? To say you’ve been pretty busy would be an understatement.
Pepper: The world’s largest understatement. I mean, that’s why we’re here, isn’t it? *laughs* It’s been a very busy year, but it’s been all worth it. The wild thing is, publishers have been begging me to write a book for years now, but it never felt like the right time.
CE: What made this time different?
Pepper: I really think it had to do with the fact that it’s coming up on the fifth anniversary of losing Tony.
I watched as she paused for a moment, her hand reaching up to touch the necklace she was wearing. After closer inspection, I noticed it was her wedding band hanging from the chain. Potts was notoriously quiet about the death of Tony Stark. After his passing, she had further stepped away from the public eye. For at least a year, she never commented on anything Avengers related, but she quietly made donations on behalf of the Stark Relief Foundation, a charity she co-founded with her late husband. It wasn’t until the drone incident in London that she began making public appearances again.
CE: You mentioned publishers had been asking for years. Had you considered writing this memoir before?
Pepper: There were parts of me that considered it. Even back when I had taken over as CEO, I had gotten offers for book deals, but I hadn’t quite figured out what I would write about - who would ever be interested in me?
CE: I would think a lot of people would be interested. I’ve seen first hand how you’ve paved the way for many women in this field.
Pepper: I mean, there were plenty of other women that have also paved the way, I won’t take credit for it. I suppose part of me figured that much of my story has been woven with Tony’s, that I never really talked about how I got to where I am today.
CE: Are you saying there’s a whole other side to Pepper Potts that we’ve never seen before?
Pepper: Not necessarily. Think of this more as the story of how Virginia Potts became Pepper Potts.
CE: You could say this is your superhero origin story… Did you really threaten Tony Stark with pepper spray?
Pepper: It was a security guard and yes, that story is in this book.
For preparation for this interview (and as a friend of Miss Potts), I was given an advanced copy of her book. In the memoir, Potts writes about life before Stark Industries - her childhood in Maine and how her formative years helped shape her into the woman she is today. She also writes about how the death of her father when she was a teenager helped explain grief to her own daughter years later.
CE: You write that you had a very “creative childhood”. Your father was a college professor and your mother a choir director at the local high school. You credit them for allowing you to be in the drama club and take piano lessons, but also participated in the Academic Decathlon?
Pepper: Yes! My parents were very keen on allowing me to pursue my passions, but also stay up on my studies. My father was an algebra professor, so he was more on the technical side of things, but was also so supportive whenever I wanted to be in summer theater camp and play the piano. As long as I kept up on my grades, they were fine.
CE: There’s also a heartbreaking chapter about the loss of your father when you were just eighteen. How would you say that shaped your journey into adulthood?
Pepper: He was my number one fan and his loss was a shock to our whole family. I was supposed to attend the college where he taught, full ride. Instead, I decided I couldn’t be at home anymore and went to school across the country. I stopped playing piano, which broke my mother’s heart, but I didn’t have it in me to play anymore. I decided that I was going to focus on my studies, graduated with my business degree. At least that way I could honor him.
CE: You also write beautifully about how the experiences you had losing your father helped you talk with your daughter about the loss of Tony.
Pepper: Thank you. It wasn’t an easy conversation to have. Being an adult dealing with grief can be hard enough sometimes, but having to teach a child what grief is and how to guide her through it was a journey in itself. My biggest worry was that she would forget who he is, that she only had four years with him when I had almost three decades. This year is the first year where she’s been alive longer without him than she had with him and it still breaks my heart. However, we talk about him all the time. I talk about why he made the decisions he did and why it’s okay if she’s angry or sad, or even happy sometimes. The biggest thing is making sure she knows that her dad loved her more than anything in the world.
Out of respect, I soon pivoted the conversation to something a little lighter.
CE: How long did you know Tony?
Pepper: Well, I’m not trying to date myself, but I met him way back in 1995, when I began working for Stark Industries. I had just graduated college and managed to land a spot in their accounting department. I mean, the rest is sort of history.
CE: So, pepper spray?
Pepper: We can’t spoil too much of the book, but yes… pepper spray.
CE: Would you please just give us a little snippet of how that came to be?
Pepper: Since you asked so nicely. I was 22 when I got my job at Stark Industries. I was hired into the accounting department - which might be boring, but it’s really important to running a company. So, one day I was combing through tax paperwork and noticed an extreme error that was signed off by Tony Stark and it would’ve cost the company a lot of money. I showed my boss, but he waved me off. I refused to be ignored, so I decided to go up to the top. I had to show someone the error and why not go to the person who signed off on it. When security tried to stop me from marching into Mr. Stark’s office, I threatened the guard with pepper spray and really, the rest is history.
CE: See, that is a superhero origin story.
Pepper: I remember when I was stepping into the CEO role, so many news outlets didn’t know how to address me, so I was Virginia “Pepper” Potts for the longest time. Eventually we finally just got it down to Pepper Potts and it stuck.
CE: Do you ever imagine what life could’ve been like had you not moved to California?
Pepper: I try not to think of it like that. Had I not gone to California for school, I’d never have considered working at Stark Industries and who knows where I would’ve ended up. The whole world would be completely different. Would superheroes even exist? I tend to think that life works out exactly as it’s supposed to - even if it’s unfair sometimes.
CE: Speaking of superheroes… What do you think of the New Avengers team that was announced recently?
Pepper: I don’t really have a comment on that. I haven’t been connected to any version of the Avengers for years, but I wish them well.
At this point in our conversation, I know our time together is running out. I notice a familiar face enter the cafe - Happy Hogan. I met him a couple times many years ago, as he was one of Stark’s closest confidantes. Now, he’s following behind a young girl who is the spitting image of her parents. Potts offers her daughter a hug before introducing us - then asks Hogan for a little more time, since she had gotten tied up in traffic earlier. Hogan and the young Stark head over to order some snacks and I take the opportunity to ask a few more questions.
CE: What do you hope people will learn about you after reading this book?
Pepper: If anyone decides to read this, I hope it gives them a fresh perspective. I’m not looking for sympathy or for attention and I’m sure plenty of people will roll their eyes and think this is a cash grab, but what I really wanted to do was inspire young women everywhere that they too can run a successful company if they want to. But I also dedicated this book to my daughter, it’s for her to know that she doesn’t have to take over the family company if she doesn’t want to, so she knows that she can forge her own path and I’ll support her. The Stark legacy doesn’t end with her father, that whatever she decides to do, that is the legacy.
CE: Speaking of legacy… What does the future of Stark Industries look like moving forward?
Pepper: We’re in a new era… but I’m afraid I cannot share information on that just yet.
CE: Ah, fine… you got me. So, what’s next after this?
Pepper: Hmm… you’ll just have to wait and see.
As our interview winds down, I notice that Potts looks more relaxed - as if a weight has been lifted off her shoulders. The past few years have been unkind to her, after losing her husband and best friend and the recent controversies with the company. I don’t know how she was handling it all. I thank her for her time and offer a wave goodbye as she walks away to join her daughter. The duo leaves the cafe hand-in-hand and I can’t help but smile. That right there is the Stark legacy… the future is bright. ##