Jan Adams and Beverly Perry on leadership, power and their paths to success

PUBLISHED: September 7, 2026 | iol.co.za

Jan Adams and Beverly Perry are two of the Washington region’s influential women, with careers spanning business, aviation, law, government and the energy industry. Adams, a retired Air Force chief master sergeant, went on to build an aviation company. Perry, an attorney and former Pepco executive, recently played a key role in securing federal control of the RFK Stadium campus for the District — clearing the way for the Washington Commanders’ planned return.

Their paths were remarkably different. Adams grew up in a working-class family in Youngstown, Ohio; Perry on a tobacco farm in North Carolina. But both built influence the same way: through preparation, persistence, relationships and a willingness to seize opportunities others might have overlooked. And both describe power not as recognition or access, but as the ability to produce results and create opportunities for others.

In this conversation, Adams and Perry reflect on how they got there, what decades in powerful rooms taught them and what their experiences say about leadership today. They also discuss wealth, aviation safety, data centers, family and faith. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Before the résumés and recognition, who were Jan Adams and Beverly Perry as young girls?

Jan Adams: I was the wayward one, the black sheep of the family, often told I should be more like my older sister and that I probably would not succeed. Maybe part of me is still proving that I can. I grew up in Youngstown, Ohio. My mother converted the front porch of our house into a beauty salon and did hair for 40 years. My father worked 44 years in the steel mill. I do not remember him ever staying home sick. They taught me resilience, discipline and respect for myself and for other people.

Beverly, you grew up on a tobacco farm in North Carolina. What formed you there?

Beverly Perry: I was the third child, so I had to be different. I grew up in a two-parent household and in the shadow of my grandmother, Mama Nora. She was a farmer, an entrepreneur and a highly respected businesswoman. She raised chickens and cattle, dealt with the bank, led at church and was the woman everyone in the community looked up to. My first impression of leadership was a woman who commanded respect because she was capable, moral and prepared.

When did you decide the life in front of you was not the limit of your life?

Perry: I always wanted to attend college, but my father would not sign papers that he believed might leverage the family farm. I worked for a couple of years, attended college for one semester and then came to Washington after meeting my future husband. I arrived on a Greyhound bus. My first job was in the typing pool at the Department of Justice, but even then, I knew I would not always be in that typing pool.

Who saw your potential before you fully saw it yourself?

Perry: An elementary-school teacher. My father could not read or write, and higher education was not discussed unless you could pay for it yourself. But I was a straight-A student, and teachers asked me to tutor other children. One speech teacher had me help students pronounce words and gave me an inscribed book at the end of the year. That stayed with me. It planted the idea that achievement and giving back belong together.

You later worked full time, raised a family and went to school at night for eight years. Was quitting ever an option?

Perry: No. At the Justice Department, my friend Michelle Rollins kept telling me, ‘This is not for you. You have a better brain than that. Take one course.’ One course became more. I completed undergraduate school and law school at night while working full time and raising a family. I had learned on the farm that when the work is hard, you do not romanticize it you finish it.

Last fall, Washingtonian called each of you one of the most powerful women in Washington. Is power a title, access or the ability to produce an outcome?

Adams: The recognition is an honor, but I do not dwell on it. I think about employing people, creating generational wealth, giving back and opening doors so others can come through. Power is not the profile. It is what you do with the opportunity.

Beverly, do you recognize the powerful woman other people describe?

Perry: People tell me, “Everybody wants to be like Beverly Perry.” I tell them, “I want to be like her, too.” The profile people have of me is not the way I see myself. I see myself as a work in progress. Honors matter less than the question: What can I still do to make things better?

Jan, how did a military career become an aviation enterprise?

Adams: As I prepared to retire from the Air Force as a chief master sergeant, a former colonel offered me a contractor position supporting the FAA. On paper I was taking a secretarial job, but I saw a foot in the door. Within six months I moved into a budget analyst role. Later, senior executives told me I knew the work, had the discipline and should start my own company. They said they would hire me. Once the idea made sense, I did not need to hear it twice. I started the business, won a contract for myself and eventually created jobs for others.

What happens when you enter a room where people mistake your race or gender for a lack of authority?

Perry: I used to feel that people thought they had an advantage when I walked into the room. I liked that, because it gave me the advantage. I knew I was prepared, and I knew I was playing to win. Underestimation is useful when you refuse to internalize it.

Jan, you have been ignored in rooms full of men who suddenly became interested when they learned you owned an aviation company. What do you tell young women?

Adams: Remove “I can’t” from your vocabulary. Believe in yourself first. Where you begin does not determine where you must remain. Dream big, take the chance and do not stifle or underestimate yourself. I came from welfare, served in the military, became a CEO and later a sports business owner. None of that happened because I waited for someone else to declare me ready.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser told me that without you, the Commanders would not be returning to Washington. How did you turn a civic ambition into law?

Perry: The mayor and I discussed the major goals she wanted to complete, and she said, “Go work on the team.” I met with representatives of the NFL and the Commanders and told them I believed I could deliver but I had to take the lead. They agreed. I had worked on and around Capitol Hill for four decades. I knew how to build and manage relationships, and I had people on both sides of the aisle who trusted me.

This was not ceremonial leadership. What did the work actually require?

Perry: We drafted legislation and worked with House Oversight Chairman James Comer. The first version ran into a jurisdictional problem because it was referred to three committees. We did not surrender. We redrafted it and pursued an amendment in the nature of a substitute through the House Natural Resources Committee, chaired by Bruce Westerman, removing the transportation jurisdiction that had stalled the bill. Some people said it could not be done. My response was simple: Why not?

You are a Democrat who needed Republican committee leaders and lawmakers from both parties. In this political climate, how did you keep the coalition intact?

Perry: I did not see party labels as the objective. I saw people who could help accomplish a common goal. Relationships mattered. Reputation mattered. Preparation mattered. A Republican staff director was willing to hear me because a former Pepco colleague vouched for me. I made the presentation, she told me I had exceeded my reputation, and the chairman advanced the substitute. That is how governing works when the result matters more than partisan theater.

The House was one obstacle. How did you move a difficult bill through the Senate at the end of a Congress?

Perry: A consultant explained the unanimous-consent route: once a bill has completed regular order, a senator can ask to bring it to the floor, and it passes if no senator objects. We worked with our Virginia allies, including Senator Mark Warner. Senator Chuck Schumer ultimately presented it. The bill passed after 1 a.m. the last bill of that congressional session. Then the Senate adjourned. We used every available avenue and did not stop until the city had control of its future.

What does that victory say about your definition of power?

Perry: Power is the ability to convene people who do not ordinarily agree, understand the rules well enough to find a lawful path forward, recover when the first plan fails and stay with the work until the last possible moment. The Commanders’ return is visible. The deeper legacy is that persistence and bipartisan trust can still produce something consequential for a city.

At Pepco, you learned that infrastructure decisions have winners, losers and consequences. Who should pay for the vast energy demands of data centers?

Perry: Data centers require enormous amounts of power, and many are being placed where the grid was not built for that concentration of load. A county may receive the tax benefit while transmission infrastructure crosses other communities to reach it. The central question is who pays. My view is that the companies building the data centers should pay those infrastructure costs up front not families already struggling with rising living expenses.

Jan, after the fatal midair collision near Washington, can the public still trust the safety of the skies?

Adams: Yes, the skies are safe, but the tragedy was deeply personal. I knew many controllers in that tower and had watched them work. They take that responsibility seriously. We do face a significant controller shortage, and training cannot be rushed. You cannot create the judgment required for that job overnight. We need more young people in the pipeline, sustained investment and patience while the system is modernized.

Does wealth belong in a serious conversation about freedom?

Adams: Absolutely. Ownership creates a different kind of freedom the ability to make decisions, create jobs and invest in other people. Wealth can be built with integrity, character and honor. It is not merely about having money; it is about having the capacity to make a difference.

Was there ever a true work-life balance, or did you simply learn to carry competing duties?

Perry: I grew up working on a tobacco farm from sunup to sunset. Sometimes we missed the first week or two of school because the tobacco had to be finished, and then we had to catch up. Working full time while attending school at night was difficult, but it was not foreign. My childhood prepared me to catch up and taught me that balance sometimes means working harder in the season you are in.

Jan, how did motherhood alter your ambition?

Adams: Children change your entire perspective. You begin thinking about the adults they will become the values they will hold and whether they will respect themselves and others. I married after high school, had two children, divorced and raised them in the projects until they entered school full time. I wanted to give them the right foundation. Today I am also a great-grandmother, and the standard remains the same: teach by example early.

What would Mama Nora find most disturbing about America today?

Perry: Not technological change she was ahead of her time. She was the first person in our community to own a television, bought a new car in the 1950s and hired a driver. What would shock her is the weakening of moral character and the changing place of faith in daily life. She believed progress and principle should advance together.

Why does service recur through your family from feeding a stranger to military and police service?

Perry: My mother always cooked more food than our family needed. When we asked why, she said, ‘You never know when someone hungry will stop by.’ That was not a slogan; it was a way of living. The instinct to be prepared to help someone else became part of our family’s character.

You have retired twice and still returned to work. What remains unfinished?

Perry: I joined Taft because I still have more to give. The firm recognizes that experience has value and gives me room to contribute. At any age, you can be useful, make a contribution and continue to grow. The limit is often in the mind before it is anywhere else.

Why reread the Bible, the classics or any great book when the words remain the same?

Williams: Because the words do not change but we do.

And what does that change require of us?

Perry: We must contextualize enduring words with the people we have become. Our children and grandchildren evolve. We evolve. Wisdom is not merely remembering what a text said; it is understanding what it asks of us now.

Armstrong Williams (www.armstrongwilliams.com; @arightside) is a political analyst, syndicated columnist and owner of the broadcasting company, Howard Stirk Holdings. He is also part owner of The Baltimore Sun.

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