Have You Met…Olivia Payne, AlphaLab Coordinator
Updated February 25, 2021.
Q: Where did you grow up?
A: I am a native of Pittsburgh! I grew up in East Liberty, right down the street from AlphaLab.
Q: How did you hear about Innovation Works?
A: I heard about Innovation Works from Pam Eichenbaum, IW’s former Senior Business Development Associate. I met Pam during her freshman year of college, during my time at The Hillel JUC as their director of operations.
Q: What drew you to work here?
A: Working for Innovation Works, at the accelerators, is a great opportunity to keep up to date on current technology trends and keep up with Pittsburgh’s evolving workforce. Everything is going the way of tech, and I’m enjoying adding all of the techie buzz words to my vocabulary.
Q: Let’s say I’m an entrepreneur in Southwestern Pennsylvania, what can I ask for your help on?
A: If you are doing B2C sales, you can ask me for help with trying to find your product market fit. I love giving advice from the consumer’s point of view and working through different marketing approaches. I also like to work with companies on anything operations related; trying to find areas to strengthen efficacy and productivity.
Q: With your background in operations and program management, what is the number one piece of advice you would give a startup?
A: I would say, definitely focus on your product, but don’t forget about your team. What kind of team do you want/need to make your business successful? What’s the office/company culture that you want to present to your future employees? When you have time, come up with an idea of what you want in your personnel code and what your onboarding will consist of, so that you have it ready as your company grows.
Q: What technology/industry are you most excited about and why?
A: I don’t have one technology or industry that I’m most excited about.That said, I do love a good CRM. I love for things (all types of things) to have a place and to be in order and to be easily accessible.
Q: Step back to Olivia at age 18, what line of work had you envisioned for yourself? How closely aligned is your current work to that vision?
A: I entered college at the age of 17 and majored in pre-med biology. In a session where they described our four year curriculum and started talking about cadavers, I stood up and left to change my major. The closest I get to that vision these days is when I’m working with a life sciences company.
Q: What issues that face our region are you most passionate or fired-up about?
A: As our region grows and attracts more companies, families and individuals, I am interested in how the region is going to ensure a bright future for ALL of its citizens. We need to make sure that our region’s business and real estate initiatives are equitable and inclusive on all fronts.
Q: Tell us about your volunteer work.
A: I love to volunteer! I’m currently sharing my time as VP on the board of the National Council of Jewish Women, Pittsburgh section; I’m the chair of the DEI committee for Women In Bio, Pgh, and I am on the PTO’s DEI committee at my daughters school. I love to work with organizations that focus on underestimated youth, women, and the strengthening of our communities as a whole. I also love to volunteer for organizations who, as part of their mission, actively work to foster inclusion in the arts.
Q: What does an average Saturday look like for you?
A: Waking up early to have breakfast with my family and then taking the time to do things around the house, read or go for a hike with my family.
Q: When asked for a ‘fun fact’ about yourself, what’s your go-to?
A: I love karaoke! My go-to song is ‘Dead or Alive’ by Bon Jovi. Another fun fact is that I speak intermediate German and I’m currently learning Russian and Mandarin.
