Most Interesting People 2013: Radhika Reddy

Why she's interesting She came to Cleveland from India in 1989 with $20 and a visa, bound for graduate school at Case Western Reserve University. She planned to stay a year, but it's now been 23. After building Ariel Ventures, a successful finance and business advisory firm, Reddy is now working to create a foreign trade zone centered around her Ariel International Center.

All-in-one Inside the 68,000-square-foot former Leff Electric building, Reddy has everything a global startup needs — incubation space, shared tech and business services and an event facility for up to 350, surrounded by striking downtown and lake views. Next up? Adjacent warehouse space, international restaurants and gift shops. "We have 117 ethnic groups in Cleveland. I want to make a place for all of the international diversity we have."

CULTURE SHOCK Reddy had to adjust to being alone during her yearlong Rotary International exchange program at CWRU. "I was in this tiny dorm by myself. I was used to having family get-togethers with 500 people. It's a very lonely country when you come."

NO, WE INSIST Indian manners dictate declining offers of food at least three times while your host firmly insists. "When the Rotarians took me for my first dinner, I said 'No, no.' So they took the food away! I called home, 'They are so rude here!' "

LOCAL EATS For a taste of her hometown of Hyderabad, Reddy orders biryani at India Delight. "It's basmati rice with lamb or chicken made in a very specific style from Hyderabad. I've never found it anywhere else."

NO REGRETS Reddy never ponders what life might have been like if she had returned to India. "If you know anything about Indian spirituality, you have to live in the moment. Whatever I do, I love."