Pittsburgh People

by Julie Pettypool (United States of America)

Making a local connection USA

When you are accepted into a leadership program with student leaders from around the world, you go. In this case, I was accepted into the Hesselbein Global Academy held at the University of Pittsburgh. I had heard of Pittsburgh, but never visited. I expected to find a sleepy town with brown rivers and visible air. Instead, I found new friends and a busy city. Before my trip, I asked my neighbor about the university. He had once been a professor there and occupied an office in the Cathedral of Learning, an imposing waterfall of cement in the center of campus. I also cleared time off from my real estate internship and asked my boss, Dave, for an introduction to the Pittsburgh office of my firm. I knew that office contained the company CEO and Dave’s longtime friends. They quickly accepted my request to stop by the office before I went to the Academy. Driving to Pittsburgh took me across the flat Ohio landscape and over the West Virginian hills. The sky set the tone of my adventure with bits of dusty wisps and penetrating sunshine. When I reached the outskirts of Pittsburgh, I called the office. As I did so, I noticed the red lights of the cars in front of me and people crunching themselves close together. No one honked in frustration. I didn’t think there would be enough cars for this type of traffic in Pittsburgh. My phone clicked and Claudia, of the Pittsburgh office and Dave’s friend, started to tell me that I would hit a slowdown at the entrance of a tunnel and then take a bridge into the city. I hadn’t expected tunnels nor bridges and felt my back straighten with the excitement to get to see them. As I made my way through the tunnel, the light inside the tunnel brightened from burnt orange to a light yellow. I could see what looked like a bridge and I suddenly realized I was on it. When I got my first glimpse of the city, I wanted to stop my car and stare. Silver light sparkled off the rivers surrounding the city while the skyline danced with colors of blue, red, and grey. Towers with sharp corners penetrated the sky with elegance and grace framed by the three rivers of Pittsburgh: The Monongahela, Allegheny, and Ohio. My view of the city didn’t last long. I looked back to the road and steered my way over the bridge to Claudia’s building. I hurried inside and zipped up Claudia’s floor. When I got there, the receptionist greeted me and placed me in a large conference room with a window overlooking city hall. Soon after, Claudia came in with a businesslike swiftness and introduced herself with a handshake. Her gait and movement hinted at her veteran status within the male-dominated industry of real estate. She stood relaxed, with her arms to her side, and held my gaze with serious eyes. I jumped into asking her questions about Pittsburgh and the real estate market. So, she walked over to panels of wood on the wall and pushed them aside, revealing a war-room map of the entire metro area of Pittsburgh. My mind flashed back to a super villain’s lair in a spy movie. She pointed to the four quadrants of the city and detailed the demographics of the residents and traffic flows into the city. She pointed to malls that would probably fail and brand-new developments along the water’s edge. As she introduced me to her city, Claudia began to smile and open up with more stories of clients and city politics. After gaining a firm grasp of Pittsburgh’s market, I toured the office with Claudia. She took me to the CEO’s room, which had footballs, a baseball bat, and pictures covering almost every inch of space. He had a great deal to handle that day, for the company was merging with another, and quickly moved me along to the next person to talk to. I continued touring the office and realized that I needed to get to the university. So, I said my goodbyes and left. What an introduction to Pittsburgh.