On Wednesday, February 24th I had the opportunity to meet Wendy Mascio, the CEO of Workscape. Wendy spoke in my Internet Entrepreneurship class, but I also had the pleasure of having dinner with her and sitting in on her evening lecture “You May be an Entrepreneur and Not Even Know It.” I learned many things from my encounters with Wendy, and a few of them will certainly help in the development of Immerse as a company. Her talk inspired me to think more broadly about the company as an entity and to consider the ramifications of what taking our business international would look like.
One of the first things I learned was of the abundant resources available to us as a business in Pennsylvania. According to Wendy, there are entire commissions dedicated to the advancement of Pennsylvania based businesses who will, free of charge, help you do research in foreign countries to determine if it would be wise for your company to do business there. They will even go as far as providing free translation services so you can communicate with people from places like Korea, China, or Europe, in addition to teaching you the customs and best business practices of those countries.
Wendy also reaffirmed in me the desire to be an entrepreneur. She spoke openly about the benefits and pitfalls of being an entrepreneur, from being able to set your own hours to sometimes not making any money. There have been times were I have been unsure if being a true entrepreneur would be right for me, but things like Wendy’s lecture always confirm to me that that is the right lifestyle for me. Learning about the abundant resources available to Pennsylvania businesses made me proud to call myself a Pittsburgh based entrepreneur, and I am sure that I will be able to utilize these resources in the future, possibly with Immerse!