Persistence and always taking on the toughest challenges are principles Cathy Owen swore by through her rise to the top of Hawaii’s high-tech industry. Today, she is a successful entrepreneur and President of her very own high-tech company, Nanopoint Inc., which is a biotechnology company that develops and markets unique cellular imaging systems for the life sciences market.

As President of a start-up tech company, Owen is charged with a gamut of responsibilities spanning accounting, business development, marketing, human resources and sometimes, still fixing her own IT problems. Through it all, she wouldn’t trade it for the world, citing Nanopoint’s success over the past couple of years as one of her greatest life accomplishments.

Born in Wisconsin and raised all over the U.S. Mainland, technology is part of Owen’s genetic makeup, as her father worked for IBM for her entire life. Upon graduation from San Jose State University with a B.S. in Business Administration, Owen followed in her father’s footsteps, taking a job at IBM – a company she worked for for 21 years and also where she met her husband.

Eventually catching the Silicon Valley tech start-up bug, Owen took a position at her first start up company before relocating to Hawaii in 1999 for an executive management position at an early stage software company.

The culmination of Owen’s years of experience in tech companies came in the form of Nanopoint Inc., which she founded in 2005. Since its inception, the company has transformed from an early stage company operating on limited funds with a limited number of employees to one of the most innovative and successful tech start-up companies in Hawaii.

Pacific News Bytes invited Owen to share her experience with being a woman in the tech industry…..

How did you get your start in the IT field?
After graduating with a Business Administration degree from San Jose State University, I spent a year as an accounting clerk at Tymnet which was an IT services company. I had the opportunity to work with some of the programmers and it seemed they had a lot more variety in their daily work than I had. I had the opportunity to apply to IBM for a programming position at year later which was offered to me. I guess that’s how I got my start and I’ve never looked back.

In your primary responsibilities at work, how do you use technology to improve or advance your organization?
I don’t know how we could possibly be a successful company without technology. We use Quickbooks Online to enable my accounting firm, part-time accountant, part-time accounting clerk and myself to manage the financial aspects of the company. We use Salesforce.com to manage all of our prospective customers and the customer service capabilities to maintain positive relationships with our distributors and customers. All Nanopoint employees use our computer systems for design, development, testing, and documentation for all of our innovative products. As I said earlier, technology infrastructure is critical to enabling our company’s success.

What have been some of the greatest challenges you have faced in your profession? And from these challenges what knowledge or wisdom did you learn and take with you?
When I started in the IT field, most of my colleagues were male and most of the females were administrative help. The best assignments tended to go to male employees but the female employees were encouraged to excel as programmers as well. Because of my competitiveness, I opted to take on one of the least desirable systems programming jobs so that I could prove to myself and others that I was a competent programmer. I truly believe that persistence and taking on the toughest challenges made me a better professional.

Specifically, what challenges do you think women face in the IT field? And how can they overcome these challenges?
I think things have gotten a little easier for women in the IT field in most companies. There are still sectors which are less progressive and that means that women still have to “over-prove” their competence to get ahead and be recognized for their contributions. I still believe that persistence and taking on the most difficult assignments helps women overcome most of the challenges that still exist today.

If you had to give advice to a young woman who hoped to have a successful career in the IT world, what would that advice be? Why?
The best mentor from my past was at IBM. He taught me that the most valuable employees and those that would ascend to the most senior positions would be well-rounded individuals – by that he meant they were technically competent, good leaders, and had excellent business skills. As I’ve moved from job to job over the years, I’ve always used that advice. Women should think carefully about the existing skills they bring to a job and what skills they can develop in a job. To continue advancing in their career, women need to aggressively develop new skills that are valuable to their current and future employers.

What is unique about your work environment?
For the past few years, Nanopoint has been an early stage company operating on limited funds with a limited number of employees. I’ve been blessed with an outstanding startup team that has gone far above the call of duty to build the foundation of an excellent company. We are now exiting the startup phase of our business. We continue to provide an environment where every single employee is encouraged to contribute their ideas and discuss problems and concerns that need to be addressed to ensure the company’s success.

In your profession and in life, what do you consider to be your greatest accomplishment thus far?
Taking Nanopoint from an idea with very raw technology to a company on the brink of success, while raising two exceptional daughters (along with my supportive husband) is most definitely my greatest accomplishment.

What are your goals/ visions for the future of Nanopoint Inc., as it relates to technology?
Nanopoint is a technology company. We believe that our live cell imaging systems and supporting products will change the way that drug discovery and biomedical research are done in the future. Our goal is to have our cellTRAY technology adopted as the adhoc industry standard over the next few years.

What do you enjoy most about your job? Why?
The best part of my job is interacting with my exceptional technical staff and potential customers. Every day I have the opportunity to learn more about our technology while sharing my business knowledge and experience with my staff. Great companies have great people and it’s my job to develop my staff to contribute up to their potential.

What do you enjoy least about your job? Why?
I dislike fundraising the most. It is extremely difficult to find investor monies for early stage technology startup companies from outside Hawaii. There is a lot of competition for funding companies in Silicon Valley and our physical distance makes it difficult for non-Hawaii angel investors and venture capitalists to seriously consider investing in Hawaii technology companies.

If you weren’t in the IT field, what other career or profession would you pursue? Why?
I have always had an interest in teaching and photography but neither of those professions was well suited to my educational background. When I retire from the technology section, I hope to teach part-time at the university level where I can perhaps develop some new entrepreneurs for Hawaii.

Outside of work what do you do in you free time?
Managing a startup company gives me little free time but you’ll usually find me cheering at my daughter’s volleyball games or editing videotapes for the coaches.