Life According To ... Susan Helper

It always amazed me in D.C., we'd have these one-hour meetings with an agenda, and usually some 20-something wunderkind running the meeting, and everybody was so disciplined.

Part of the reason is because nobody derails you with a creative thought.

The ability of people like me to go back and forth [between public and private sectors] is really vital I think to the success of our government.

My time management is a whole lot better. I get a lot more done.

Northeast Ohio is small enough that somebody who has an idea and pushes for it can get it implemented. One person working hard can do a lot here.

No one person does anything in Washington — even the president. Everything takes a team.

We have a manufacturing knowledge and base here that very few other cities have.

I used to do a lot of basketball and Ultimate Frisbee, but it's hard to find people my age who want to do that. So now I do individual stuff like cross-country skiing.

Don't get me started on the snow in D.C. There were days every winter where things were shut down, so my husband and I would hike out and have lunch.

I have a picture of him cross-country skiing at 16th and T streets.

I live in Collinwood, and there's a rec center there with a pool. You sort of swim next to somebody for half an hour, and they're your buddy.

I used to go to yoga classes in D.C., and nobody ever talked to anybody. It's less friendly than Cleveland.