Angie Koepcke, a Charming Entrepreneur

2 Minutes before the hour.  No ONE comes to work to fail.  Everyone goes to work to be the best they can be. A person spends most of their time proving these 2 points at work.

Today I have the awesome pleasure of interviewing a charming young lady, Angie Koepcke , who is a 1st class Scrabble player and very kewl parent to her children, when she's not busy running her very successful company. I've won a few Scrabble championships myself.  So I know where Angie is coming from.

Welcome to our radio show called "Extraordinary People" where we interview ordinary people who tell their extraordinary stories.  Shoot me a note, if you would like to be on one of our upcoming shows.

What is the name of your company and what products or services does it provide?
Angie: World Wide Bus Parts, Inc., we are a global heavy duty transit parts distributor. www.BusPartsWorldwide.com 

What role do you play in your organization?
Angie: I share responsibilities with my business partner, including bid analyzation, product development, customer and vendor relations, and everyday tasks like bookkeeping, packing and shipping, and filing.  We both must be able to do every job very well and focus on the same goals.

As a successful business person, how did you get started?
Angie: Originally, I started  working with my father. The industry I work in was hit hard by federal budget cuts and the terrorist attacks, many companies went out of business.  The company I worked for previously  was a victim of negative environmental impacts, eventually filing for bankruptcy.  The demise led to the rebirth of several  new companies, including my own, which has been successful because we steered clear of big budget sales forces and excessive borrowing popular during the 80’s and 90’s.  We keep it lean, we don’t borrow money, and we do everything we can to insure we are self-sufficient.

How did you learn what it takes to succeed?
Angie: I saw many mistakes made by others firsthand, everything I learned was by experience.  I have been in the industry for ten years.

What family activities do you enjoy?
Angie: I like playing with my kids, jumping on the trampoline with them is fun.  I like cooking out on the grill, and going to the park or beach.

What do you like to do in your spare time?
Angie: I paint and write, currently I am working on a novel.  I like to garden, but I am allergic to poison ivy and my yard seems to be teeming with it.

What are your concerns about the world today?
Angie: I am concerned with the corporate mentality of the government.  Corporations tend to consider people expendable for the survival of the profit margin, and a government should never be run that way. It is not socially responsible.  There are things more important than money.

If you had all the time and all the money you needed, what
types of things would you do? Consider money as no object.
Angie: I would work to find cures (not treatments) for diseases such as cancer and mental health.  I would like to see the educational system overhauled to fit the different types of intelligence children possess, so they don’t fail grades for not being able to memorize information that in all practicality will not put food on the table when they grow up.  We have a power as a people that can be harnessed and used to our advantage if we focus on the divinity of life.  Maybe money, as a tangible, is too easy for people to hoard, and we need another type of currency.  I would try help people work together as if money was no object.

Are there any tips or advice you would like to offer people?
Angie: I would say to anyone who wants to accomplish anything, never give up.  There is always hope.

Are people more interesting than product stories?
Angie: To me, yes.  I could write biographies for the rest of my life and never get bored.

What are your goals and aspirations for the future?
Angie: I’d like to be a full-time writer.

What obstacles do you have to overcome to achieve your goals?
Angie: I can not feed my family as a full-time writer, I don’t have alot of time to write.

Which people have been role models to you?
Angie: My parents, they have taught me alot.  My grandparents, they have showed me the way good people behave.

What are your favorite books, computer programs, or forms of entertainment?
Angie: I like Blogit, I like live music, I enjoy playing Scrabble, I like magazines, and independent films.

What time of the day are you at your best?
Angie: I am a night owl by nature. I’ve been trying to fight it for years to get along better with everyone else, like my son’s school, but it’s hard work.