At Awesome Inc, we tend to talk a lot about coding and startup businesses. Awesome Inc U and 5 Across are two of our favorite things, but once you walk into Awesome Inc, you might be surprised to see kids in tutus, people trying to build houses and Team Alpha members running around with Nerf guns.

We do a lot of things at Awesome Inc and one of those things is provide coworking spaces for people and their companies. One of our tenants is Leslie Guttman, a freelance journalist and a nonfiction writer who has been featured on NPR and publications across the United States.

Since January, Leslie and her poodle Daisy have become a big part of our Awesome Inc family. Leslie comes to our family lunches, where everyone involved at Awesome Inc comes together to eat good food and spend time together. Garrett, our Director of Daily Activities, says that she is always willing to give advice and loves discussing old school rap with Jay Hamilton.

Leslie became a tenant to avoid the isolation that can come along with being a writer. You can often see Leslie typing away at her next article on our couches with Daisy curled up by her feet, both of them comfortable in the craziness that is Awesome Inc. Leslie said that she enjoys the fast-paced and high tech environment and being surrounded by people who take risks every day.

When Leslie isn’t at Awesome Inc, she spends her time writing stories and visiting people across the great Commonwealth of Kentucky. She also works with the Carnegie Center as a writing tutor and helps other writers improve their manuscripts.

“I enjoy the privilege of being let into people’s lives. It’s great. It involves a lot of trust and it’s a lot of responsibility,” Leslie said about her job as a writer.

Fun for Leslie is working on whatever story has caught her attention. She once wrote a story about a man who turned saving an endangered species of pigs into a full time job. When she was writing her book, Equine ER, Leslie spent a year following veterinarians around Kentucky.

“It’s definitely fun when your work involves driving around beautiful horse country,” Leslie said.

Leslie has had a few other adventures recently. One example is an article she wrote on Hopewell Presbyterian Church in Paris, Kentucky, where they let parishioners bring their dogs to church. Leslie’s articles are frequently featured on NPR and working in radio is an adventure in and of itself, it would seem, especially to members of our blog team at Awesome Inc. In journalism, quotes are considered the most important parts of an article and plenty of writers have been told that their quotes aren’t good enough. So, when Leslie read her story to her editor and he told her the story “needs more barking,” Leslie laughed it off and went out to record more dog barks for her piece.

Like we mentioned before, Leslie gives great advice. Her definition of “Awesome” is treating everyone the way you want to be treated, because it can open doors and help you find what works for you in life and your professional career. Leslie’s other advice is “fall down seven times, get up 8,” and in an environment full of startups, we think that is some awesome advice.

You can read more of Leslie’s stories and check out her book at her website.