R-E-S-P-E-C-T

One entrepreneur expected customers from paternalistic countries to judge her. What she experienced surprised her.

Being a woman in the international lobster wholesale business hasn't been a hindrance to Stephanie Nadeau, even though the stereotypically male-dominated countries of Japan and Korea are two of her largest overseas outlets. In fact, she says among the people she's dealing with, "being female seems to be an advantage. I've been able to talk to people I need to get on the phone. I think it's because [being a woman] is unusual in this business, which is 99.9 percent male."

While her partner, Michael Marceau, heads operations at Kennebunkport, Maine-based The Lobster Company, Nadeau handles all sales, both foreign and domestic. When she began, she wasn't sure whether she'd encounter gender discrimination, but now reports having better relations with Asian customers than with some U.S. customers who still don't seem to trust women in business.

The bottom line, according to Nadeau, 34: If you can walk the walk and talk the talk, you've got the business, no matter where you are.

This article was originally published in the August 1999 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: R-E-S-P-E-C-T.