'You Learn to Let Go' Elizabeth Rend—n on Success, Growing Pains and Finding Time

When the chance to create LinguaLISTek arose in 1997, Elizabeth Rend—n seized it - and she hasn't let go since.

Yet Rend—n didn't always see herself as an entrepreneur. "It wasn't so much that I'd always felt like I wanted my own business. It was that an opportunity presented itself," she explained. "I kind of looked at it and reflected on what I'd been doing."

Rend—n's reflections led her to the helm of LinguaLISTek, a Columbia-based company that offers language-related software solutions. The company supports the U.S. defense community as well as other industries by developing and providing support software and system engineering as well as foreign language training and support.

Entrepreneurship is in her blood, Rend—n acknowledged. Her father owned a welding business. "Maybe that gave me my first inkling," she reflected. "Maybe that gave me a little more confidence to start a business, because I grew up in the environment where he was managing and running his own business. If you see it as you're growing up, you have the confidence that it can be done."

And it can be done well, if Rend—n's string of awards is any indication: a Business Diversity Achievement Award from Howard County in 2007; a Top Business designation by DiversityBusiness.com in 2006; a Maryland Top 100 Minority Business honor from the Governor's Office of Minority Affairs and The Daily Record in 2006; and the list goes on.



Growing Pains

LinguaLISTek has grown from a one-woman show to about 150 employees with offices in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina and Texas. Rend—n plans to double that size in the next three to five years. LinguaLISTek's presence in Georgia is expanding, and another location is planned in Hawaii.

Rend—n's success has brought her both national attention and local admiration. Pam Klahr, president and CEO of the Howard County Chamber of Commerce, said Rend—n was one of the first woman executives she met in Howard County. "She was the type of person I instantly grew the greatest admiration for," said Klahr. "She started her business in the basement. It's an amazing story, and one that we should all be very proud of."

As the company grows, Rend—n has been forced to evolve as a manager. "You manage a company a certain way at 10 people. How you manage it at 50 is different than how you manage it at 10. Then when it hits 100 people, you can't be that one-on-one person for everybody."

That's when an entrepreneur learns to let go, said Rend—n. "You have to learn to let go of some of that and trust in the people you've hired to manage it and run it. You rely on their expertise."

Handing off parts of a business involves a leap of faith every day, she added. "You trust that the people you bring on have the expertise and ability to do their jobs, and you have to let them do their jobs, and not micromanage."



Health Insurance Challenges

Looking back over her path so far, Rend—n said one of the most difficult aspects of starting and growing her business has been finding insurance for employees.

"When you're a young business, there's not much in terms of health insurance options available. When you grow a little bit, you have more options for health insurance and things like dental insurance."

Early on, Rend—n wished she had some better education on her choices. "The options I looked into were not necessarily the best options for the company. Some more knowledge and some more information would have been helpful."



Circle of Caring

Rend—n's spirit of entrepreneurism extends out the doors of LinguaLISTek and into the community. She serves on the chamber's executive committee, as well as on the board of directors for the Fort Meade Alliance. She also sits on the board of trustees for Columbia's Festival of the Arts, and on the board of the directors for Metro Crime Stoppers of Maryland.

"I have made some wonderful relationships and friendships," said Rend—n. "All these organizations are important to me."

Rend—n wants her business to succeed, but her life is also about working with local communities and schools to drive the educational needs of the future. "It's not just that it's my business," she said. "I live here. It's supporting the community I live in, and supporting where it's going. I like to be involved."

Whether in business or community service, Rend—n seems to rise to the top.

"She has a way of not just being involved but becoming a leader in the efforts in which she is involved," said Dick Story, CEO of the Howard County Economic Development Authority. "She is just an incredibly impressive woman in that she has found time to be entrepreneurial - to start up and operate a successful company of 10-plus years - and she gives back to the community in many significant ways."

A wife and mother of a 14-year-old and 5-year-old, Rend—n also manages to balance work, community involvement and family. "Obviously she doesn't have a need to sleep," joked Story. "She just is able to manage her time in ways that most other people can't."

Rend—n has been described as a curious mixture of extremely driven yet very unassuming.

Julia Mattis, a local RE/MAX real estate agent with the Garth Davis Sales Team, participated, along with Rend—n, in the Leadership Howard County 2006-2007 program. Leadership Howard County was launched in 1985 to develop capable, well-informed individuals committed to formulating plans for community improvement. The program addresses countywide issues in monthly, daylong seminars where these concerned citizens meet with established leaders in business, government and community services.

Mattis described Rend—n as task-oriented yet "very real, human and low-key."

Shortly after Leadership Howard County had concluded, one of the participants had a difficult pregnancy, and her baby was born premature.

"Elizabeth helped organize meals for that family because the family was spending so much time at the hospital with the baby in intensive care," Mattis said. "She's the kind of person who can run a company, plan community events for hundreds of people, be a mom, be a wife - and still manage to help someone in need."