The name Stax Records is synonymous with soul music. But did you know that the legendary label of black artists like Otis Redding, Carla Thomas, Wilson Pickett, and Isaac Hayes was co-founded by a white woman who began her career as a school teacher? In the late 1950s, Estelle Axton began investing in Satellite Records, a small label started by her brother Jim Stewart, a former bank clerk. Satellite evolved into Stax, a premiere recording studio specializing in soul, R&B, funk, jazz, and gospel music. Said Booker T. Jones of the M.G.s, "I doubt there would have been a Stax Records without Estelle Axton." The woman known as "Lady A" marketed the business, ran the Stax record shop, helped choose and develop the label's artists, and provided inspiration, advice, and encouragement to writers and musicians.