"Don't get discouraged." Biggest piece of advice from Don's guest on the radio show this past Tuesday--owner of the Cleveland Fusion women's sports team.

Out in an eastern suburb is a company called STERIS that didn't get discouraged--and is now a giant in the global marketplace for health-related sterilization equipment, consumable products and services. Got to attend a special meeting of the Cleveland Engineering Society held out there where we were introduced to some of STERIS's latest and greatest.

Also met another entrepreneur out there who last year won the Top 10 Women Business Owner Award from the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO). Sue Thomas has since 1993 been president of ESA Engineering Services--whose company happened to be sponsoring the meeting and that works closely with STERIS on many projects.

Sue, who says she was basically a technical writer for many years, learned that the Cleveland branch of the company that employed her was closing down she asked herself, did she want to start over at this stage of her life? The answer was a resounding year.

So Sue put together a purchase offer over the weekend and delivered it personally to the CEO in Pittsburgh. It took three months for the offer to be accepted and in 1993 she became the new owner of ESA Engineering Services, Inc., an engineering and computer consulting service company.

There were some tough times, but everyone pulled together to do what it took to survive, like selling signed art off the walls on E-Bay to pay the electric bill. Today there is money in the bank and that is partially due to the huge advantage of being a women-owned business in the industrial automation arena.

Sue, hats off to your entrepreneurial spirit!