We recently sat down with full-time Beauty Shoppe user Susanne Wrage to learn about her company Athena IQ as well as some of her interests.

Susanne, your company Athena IQ was one of the first to move into The Beauty Shoppe in June, 2011. Can you tell us a little about your business and the decision to join a co-working community? 

Athena IQ provides market analysis as well as training and consulting. I focus on the needs of Procurement organizations, but also provide data and analysis for marketing and strategy needs.  I do project work, and I’m also in the middle of developing a product: a web-based service, where subscribers will be able to download the most current market information.

I think the strongest motivation to join a co-working community was that I was getting too distracted working at home, and I missed being able to talk to colleagues. Working at The Beauty Shoppe allows me to focus, and it’s so great to connect to co-workers who are basically in the same boat with me, but in such diverse fields.

What have been the biggest challenges – and what moments have you enjoyed the most – in starting this business? 

The biggest challenge is that it’s just “me and myself” for now. So I don’t get to delegate unwanted tasks to anybody J No, seriously: wearing all the hats from marketing to product development, sales, social media… juggling all those moving parts is tough. On the flip side, that also requires that I step out of my comfort zone quite a bit, and learn a lot of new stuff, and I greatly enjoy that. Plus, I get to be my own boss, and don’t need to execute a strategy that I don’t believe in.

Based on your own experience, what advice or lessons would you give to other small business owners and entrepreneurs today? 

Try to learn from other folks’ mistakes, network, and bounce off ideas. You’ll still make enough mistakes, but hopefully none that mean the end for the business. Do what you’re passionate about, because that passion needs to translate to prospective clients. Talk to friends and people in your network for help and referrals. It’s been amazing for me to see how willing my extended network has been to help and support me.

Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood has been regarded by a number of magazines and newspapers as an emerging tech and entrepreneurial hub. How has the community encouraged and/or impacted your business? 

The pure existence of The Beauty Shoppe has already had an impact – I’m not sure where I would have found such a great environment otherwise.

If you had a magic wand, and we asked you to add one piece of infrastructure to the East Liberty community, what would it be?

Better parking. This may sound funny, as there are so many parking lots around, but most of them are short-term. It’s not all that easy to find something for the entire day, unless I arrive before 8 am. I’m a bit concerned that this will get worse, with that much development going on.

While headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA, Athena IQ is a global team. How does your international perspective and procurement market intelligence experience in industries like oil and gas provide you with a unique insight to the natural gas business and production processes in our own backyard?

I’m not sure that this is a unique view, but I think that this development and the growth rate need to be managed very carefully. It’s easy to get excited about growing the local economy and creating jobs – but there is definitely an environmental impact that should not be brushed aside. A lot of the workforce as well as the equipment needed are highly specialized, and I am concerned that they will be brought in from other states, rather than sourced here.

Where have you traveled to recently? 

Within the last six months, I’ve traveled to North Carolina (Charlotte and Raleigh) and Germany, and I have trips to Dallas, TX and Beijing, China coming up. This will be my first time in Asia, and I’m very excited about the trip.

What city do you enjoy visiting the most? 

With kids or without? I love Trier, the city in Germany where I grew up and where my family still lives. Berlin, Germany, and Paris, France are also among my favorites, as are Boston and Chicago here in the US. Too many choices!

What is your favorite neighborhood in Pittsburgh?

Friendship. It’s quieter than Shadyside (fewer students), but still close enough to a lot of restaurants and to Walnut Street, as well to downtown.

Who is your favorite Pittsburgh Penguin?

Um, you got me on this one… I’m not that much into sports.
(We’ll help you out with this one Susanne:GENO) 

What aspect of our co-working space here at The Beauty Shoppe is your favorite?

Everything that I need to work at an affordable price and on flexible terms.

How do you define entrepreneurship? 

It’s the journey to decide “I can do this better on my own” and then to go out and prove to yourself and the rest of the world that indeed, you can.

Thank you Susanne for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk with us.