This interview with Eileen Martinson, chief executive of Sparta Systems, a maker of quality-management software, was conducted and condensed by Adam Bryant
Q. When you were a child, were you in leadership roles or doing entrepreneurial things?
A. Yes. I was babysitting from the time I was 9 or 10. I had the whole neighborhood. And when I was in high school, every job I had would migrate to leadership roles. I worked as a volunteer at a camp one summer — the next summer, I was leading all the camp counselors and getting paid. I’d work in retail and become a supervisor.
Q. Any sense of where you got your drive?
