Shonda Rhimes, the woman who has taken Thursday night television by storm, turns 45 years old today.

Shonda’s shows, “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal,” and “How To Get Away With Murder,” challenge traditional ideas of what female (and therefore male) characters should look like, force viewers to accept that love is love is love in any form, and most obviously, are wildly entertaining.

Off screen, Shonda has cracked the glass ceiling for women in the entertainment industry — though she admits others before her have run hard into it — and won’t apologize for her success. In speeches, and on Twitter, Shonda consistently imparts wisdom that should be heard far and wide. In honor of her birthday, here are nine of those tidbits: