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Today's spotlight: Diane Palmquist
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Age: 41
Title: Vice president of SAP Products, SoftBrands
Education: Bachelor's degree in technical writing from the University of Minnesota; MBA from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management executive program
Family: Married with two children: Dolph, 17, and Natasha, 11
Previous job: Director of product management, SoftBrands. I also worked at a number of start-up companies and was president of my own company. We built software as a service tool for other software companies.
Hobbies: Anything outside, including skiing, tennis and biking. I also do a lot of reading.
Why do you do what you do? Quite simply, it's what I'm good at. I really love technology and software and I also really love the business side. I feel like it's a unique talent to be able to put the two together. I understand application software and the market forces that drive people to buy software.
Career path: I started out in high school, writing programs and games for my friends, but I never thought there was a future in that, for whatever reason. I wanted to be a writer, so I went into technical writing, but that only lasted three months, then I became a software designer and project manager. It just went on from there.
Other than your current position, what's your dream job? To be a novelist. My daughter and I are working on a series of books for teenage girls. The protagonists are twins who solve mysteries using electronic gadgets.
What's something about yourself that others would be surprised to know? Rain or shine, and no matter what country I'm in, I get up at 4:30 every morning and go for a very hard workout at the gym. It keeps my stress levels low.
Best vacation: Wandering Europe with my family.
Advice: Never compromise your ethics.
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