Meet The Athena Awards finalists

Get better acquainted with the five finalists of the 2012 Athena Awards in this personal and enlightening interview with each. The Athena Award luncheon on Monday, September 24 is sold out but look for the video online here.

Katharine "Kit" Needham
President, Needham Consulting

What’s your mantra?
“I’m not the life of the party, I’m the reason you’re at the party." You have to get to events and be purposeful. Build your network. It is not what you know, it’s who you know. I’ve never gotten a job via a resume. I always tell women to find something they’d want to work with and volunteer. Go and meet, learn what they do. I’ve been at breakfast with women and looked at my watch and realized I’m late for my lunch meeting!

How do you spend the first hour of your day?
Quietly. I’m not one of those people that wakes up immediately alert; that’s my husband. My ideal is get up a little bit later, get my cup of coffee and my newspaper and sit on my porch and read, do the NYT crossword and have my little book of to-do’s.  

I’m a list-maker and I go through intense periods of journaling when I’m at a decision point. Often I will journal first thing in the morning. People ask me about taking risks but by the time I make decisions it doesn’t feel like a risk anymore. I work through a worst-case-scenario exercise. By the end of the day, what troubles people more is the fear of the unknown. I worry about things I can do something about, I don’t worry about what’s out of my control.

Have you always lived in Pittsburgh?
“We had moved to Pittsburgh (from Bethesda) and fallen in love. Here everything was so manageable. I love the two degrees of separation and the connectivity.

If anyone could give you your award, who would it be?
There’s a huge list of women and men that I respect. How do you pick the one that would stand out?

Louann Tronsberg-Deihle
Treasurer, Koppers Inc.

What are you on the lookout for?
I’m always on the lookout for a deal. Whether big city or little store, I’m always looking for something on sale.  I bought a pair of shoes but took them back because I wasn’t happy that I didn’t get them on sale. At work I’d rather be working on a deal. I like the challenge, finding something different, selling, developing strategies.

Are you a morning person?
I get up every morning around 5:30am and walk my dog.   It used to be cathartic, walking with my dog and doing a lot of thinking. Now I have a puppy and I’m training a dog every morning. It’s a lot more regimented; we do two miles and practice voice commands pretty much 7 days a week. He’s about 70 lbs and will grow to over 100. I call this dog ‘too big to fail.’ You can’t leave him to his own devices. He’s a project.

Do you have a mantra?
Keep going. When you’re facing a challenge, like with the dog, I hate the puppy stage, but keep going. Set a goal, set small attainable goals as opposed to just far goals; have a plan what you’re going to do each day, be organized! Small steps. Take each challenge, parse it up, make it to your next step.

I don’t like to bothered past 9 pm. By 9 pm I want my own space. And if it’s volunteering or a work group, I won’t set up the charity but I will get involved where I can add value. Do you really need one more treasurer? No. Do you need leadership in the finance world? That’s where I can add value.

What advice do you give most often?
I tell people it doesn’t matter if you have to respond with bad news; you have to respond. It’s so crucial for relationships. Someone asked me for a favor, I couldn’t do it, and I dreaded calling to say no, but the worst part is when no one gets back to you.

Who would you want to give you the award?
I would pick my mother. She grew up in Braddock and Rankin, but it wasn’t culturally ok for women to go to college, despite her intelligence. When we were growing up, my mother always said her girls are going to college. She made me feel this is a really important thing. My mother always instilled this idea that we should have as much access to opportunities as any male counterpart or our brothers. We were lucky to have that foundation which gave us confidence.

Heidi Bartholomew
Vice President and Controller at FedEx Ground

Do you have a mantra?
I don’t. I don’t have a favorite quote or little maxim. If I had to come up with something it’s ‘Show up.’”

I’m someone who learns by hearing. I learned this in college, if I went to class, all I had to do was show up. I struggled with statistics, maybe advanced math. But I’m a musician and listening is very important. I’ve played the bassoon since I was 9 and I’m still taking piano so I think listening is everything.

I think there are some people who are poor listeners. If you deal with them in business, it’s evident; they are shunned. I’m the vice president and controller - at work we talk a lot about developing people and mentoring.

Who would you want to present your award?
I would want my grandmother, though she is deceased. In many ways she was my original independent woman. She grew up in Warren, OH during the Depression. She quit school and went to work in factory because her brothers couldn’t get work. She was just a tough lady but she always had time for us.

How long have you lived in Pittsburgh?
We moved here in 2005 with my job. I've spent a lot of time in Pittsburgh and it’s just fantastic. I think when you’re an immigrant, you know the city better. We live in the Mexican War Streets and some native Pittsburghers only have this general idea there is something historic on the Northside.

How do you spend the first hour of your day?
I get up at 5:31 a.m.and go to the YMCA on the corner of North & Monterey and do the elliptical. Sometimes I also do at home “Classical Stretch” with Miranda Esmond White. It’s a mix between stretch, yoga, dance, actually fun. I have always worked an 8 to 5 job and you come to the point where if you’re going to be healthy, you do it before or after, but my schedule is unpredictable at the end of the day so I need to do before.

By the last hour of my day I’m usually on my tablet reading the Huffington Post. You can tell a lot about a person from their go to channel. I’m a news hound, so for me it’s CNN.

What’s your biggest time waster?
The Internet. Slate. Twitter. I appreciate anyone who follows me on Twitter. Follow me on Twitter @HeidiBart! I try not to talk about food and won’t say anything political or controversial stances and when I ride the bus I always tweet what I overhear. I ride to reduce my carbon footprint but it’s really for overhearing stuff to tweet.

Andrea Carelli
Senior Vice President and Director of Public Relations and Corporate Events

What would you tell other women?

“Somebody gave me a break one time and it’s my obligation to return them. As women we need to stick together and help each other. It’s kind of still a man’s world. I do spend as much time as I can helping young women get back on their feet.”

I would tell them: Don’t be afraid to be a woman, no matter what the situation. We live in a world where we have to strive to get ahead. I enjoy being a woman. In the office I dress with bright colors and I work for a bank. Sometimes I think we feel to be successful we have to pattern ourselves after men and hide who we are. I tell the people I mentee to not be afraid to be a woman. Don’t be judged-- embrace the caring, giving, even motherly side of you.

How do you spend the first hour of your day?
I wake up and say my morning prayers. I get into the office early and the first thing is to take care of my many, many emails. I carve out that first hour to take care of important issues that came up overnight and answer as many questions I can and solve problems and then go to meetings.

Who would you want to present your award?
Mother Teresa. She has been someone that I’ve tried to pattern my life after. She’s one of the coolest women that ever lived. She said in one interview at the end of her life, that she didn’t hear the voice of God anymore making her feel good; she was doing it alone. Sometimes I feel, “why am i doing this?” She felt the same way. I’m not going to stop even though I don’t hear the voice.

Do you have a mantra?
This too shall pass. It’s gotten me through some pretty tough things. My mother told me this in high school. It’s not a way to blow something off but to say let’s work through it together, we’ll manage together. There are tragedies and they will leave a mark on you, but they will pass.

Kim Berkeley Clark
Judge in the Family Division, County of Allegheny, Court of Common Pleas

What do you do in the first hour of your day?
I walk to work every day, I live about two miles away and find it’s a nice way to start the day. I take longer walks on the weekend if I have the opportunity but I do a minimum half-hour every day.
 
What are you on the lookout for?
I like to cook so I’m always on the lookout for a new recipe and a new hat. Hats are my thing. I have a few that I really like. One is a huge cocktail hat that I love, it’s really, really big and black with a netting trim that moves as you walk.  I have one that’s a unique shape, it’s a big wine-colored hat that I got in New York.

Do you have a mantra?
My favorite one for the workplace is “collaboration rocks.”  But in life, I would like everyone to be a servant leader. I do that mostly through my work. I feel first of all that I am a government employee, so I work for the people in front of me. I try to serve their needs. Of course in juvenile court we see a lot of people in distress so I try to make what people find a not-so-pleasant experience as positive as possible. I try to give them the chance to tell me what they need. I make it clear that even though I’m in charge I’m still a servant.

What would you tell other women?
I’d tell women or men they should always seek help when they need it. Try to find a good person to mentor you. We tend to think women have to mentor women, men mentor men but I don’t think that’s true. And everyone should give something back, that’s critically important to the community.

Last hour of the day?
I spend the last hour of the day with my husband. We like to watch some television.  I’m a "Law and Order" junkie, that’s my overall favorite. I also like “Game of Thrones” and “Boardwalk Empire.” I just bought the whole series of "Game of Thrones.
I do read a lot for leisure, a lot of fiction and some non-fiction.

Would you want to live somewhere else?
I’m a native Pittsburgher and have been here pretty much my whole life. I’d like at some point to live somewhere else for a time, or part of the year but most of my immediate family is here and I like to be close to them.

If anyone could present your award who would it be? My parents, because I think I am what I am because of them, in large part. As much as I receive any award I think they should be able to share it.