This week, Girls Staters are hearing from some of the most high-ranking and influential politicians in Alabama, and tucked in with the biggest and the best is Troy's very own Patricia "Sister" Schubert-a person Alabama Girls State Director Lee Sellers calls "Alabama's lady success story."

"I'm not a politician," Schubert admitted to her 320 plus audience.

"But I do think of myself as an entrepreneur."

She told the girls that while several of them would no doubt enter the world of politics, those who did not would likely enter the world of business.

"An entrepreneur is a leader," she said.

"An entrepreneur is someone who steps out of the every day workplace."

Just as the girls are undertaking the difficult role of government leadership during the week and learning bit by bit, so did Schubert undertake the task of developing her own company.

She said determination, enthusiasm and hard work are the keys to becoming successful.

"I believe in luck," she said, quoting Thomas Jefferson.

"But the harder I work, the more I seem to have."

She recounted the story of how her company grew from her kitchen to her sun porch to her 25,000 square-foot factory in Luverne and how her staff grew from five to over 300 in seven years.

"How did I do it?" she asked rhetorically.

"I made up my mind to try it.

That was the first and hardest step."

Just as she and her rolls found their niche and filled a space in the frozen food market, Schubert encouraged the Girl Staters to do the same.

"Go out and find your niche and fill it," she said.

"You are the future."

She also told the girls to do their best, never hesitate to ask for help and to keep trying.

"Believe you can do it and have the faith to make it happen," she said.