Paul Shipman is CEO of Redhook Ale Brewery, the company he launched in Seattle in 1981 with Starbucks' founder Gordon Bowker. Shipman majored in English, studied at the Sorbonne and picked up an MBA from Darden. His vision, leadership and penchant for quality have propelled Woodinville-based Redhook to the top echelon of the craft brewing industry.

What is your favorite place in Washington?
I love the whole state, but the San Juans come first to mind.

What is your idea of happiness?
Solving vexing problems that appear insoluble.

What accomplishment are you most proud of?
My role in the formation and success of Redhook, the first micro-brewery in the Northwest and the first in the nation to go public.

What do you most regret?
If I could have dual careers, I would have been as much a leader in Washington's wine industry as in the beer industry.

Who in history do you most admire?
Charles Darwin - for his infinite patience with his study of barnacles while he delayed the discovery of the century.

What Washington CEO do you most admire?
Howard Schultz, who I knew before Starbucks. He has unbelievable optimism and charisma.

What personal trait would you rather not have?
The sin of envy; I should be more grateful for what I have.

What trait bothers you the most in others?
Analyzing a problem to death. I like action. Much of what we agonize over is actually unimportant.

What is the most overrated virtue in an executive?
Administrative skills. I prefer leadership.

When do you find it necessary to lie?
I have never lied. Oops, it must be at times like this.

What person do you despise?
Any terrorist contemplating an atrocity.

What is the greatest love of your life?
My wife Patty. We met in 1978. She is an angel, and I would have jumped the tracks without her.

When were you most happy?
Commissioning the breweries in 1994 and 1996 - the peak of my career.

What talent would you most like to possess?
I wish I were a better pilot. I had to give it up because I scared myself.

What is the greatest obstacle to Washington's future economic growth?
Anything that impedes the vigor of people who start and build businesses.

What is your most significant achievement?
I have survived the decline of our business from 1997 to 2004 to see good times again.
 
If, after death, you could come back as another person or thing, what would it be?
I'm comfortable with whatever happens after death, so I don't have such a wish. I'm taking my vitamins and hope I live a long time.

What is your most valued possession?
We have a very special new dog, more a junior family member than a possession.

What attributes do you like in a man?
Guys I like are calm around other guys. They like to hang out, fish, taste wine, fly airplanes, talk about cars.

What attributes do you like in a woman?
I am a big fan of women with high IQs.

Who is your favorite author?
Louis Begley, who writes about successful men at the sunset of their lives.

Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
Philip Marlowe.

What turns you off the most?
A waste of my time by my definition.

What is your motto?
Things at their worst are not as bad as they seem; things at their best are not as good as they seem.

If you could change one thing in Washington, what would it be?
I'd raise the level at which estates are taxed to $1 million more than my estate. That's where most people secretly wish the tax to kick in.