Michelle Freeman was a stay-at-home mother when her husband, Joshua, was killed in a 2006 helicopter accident, leaving her in charge of the family real estate and sports empire (including part ownership of the NBA Wizards and NHL Capitols). Back then, she’d put on a power suit to convince herself she was in control: “It was like my armor.” These days, she is in control, thriving in the macho real-estate and sports industries. (Her wardrobe loosened up as her mastery grew: She now eschews armor for Carolina Herrera and Oscar de la Renta dresses.) She also expanded the family charitable foundation, building an outdoor performance stage in Delaware that offers a free arts program to put disadvantaged kids “in front of their first live performance,” she says. “You give kids options when you show them there’s beauty in the world.”