I learned that it is OK to make mistakes as long as you learn from them and don't repeat them.
She was born in 1942 in Nördlingen, Germany, the daughter of Adolf Stark, a German soldier who died mere weeks before the end of World War II, and his wife Anna Stark. Her stepfather, Wilhelm Riedel died when she was 16. At the age of 16, she moved to the United Kingdom to become a nanny. Aged 20, she emigrated to the United States, settling in Indiana.
In 1972, she married Jon DeHaan. She has three children and lives in Indianapolis, Indiana, US.
In 1974, DeHaan co-founded the pioneering timeshare company Resort Condominiums International, with her then-husband Jon DeHaan. In 1979, he had a heart attack, and she took over the running of the company. In 1987, they divorced; she was awarded half the company and bought the rest for $67.5 million.