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Dima Elissa Highlight
You can follow traditional routes and you’ll get traditional responses. Or, you can be bold, brave, and brilliant. You determine your own destiny.
About Dima
- Was born in Beirut and grew up in rural Indiana; her father was a surgeon and both of her parents were very strict and disciplined.
- She got a degree in chemistry from Hanover College, a small school in Indiana.
- After graduating early, she told her parents she was going on a road trip to attend a friend’s wedding.
- Instead, she ran away to Chicago, where she hoped she’d find a community that would be more accepting of her sexual identity.
- Says she grew her greatest strength from forcing herself into that position, where she had no one to rely upon except herself.
- Once she’d settled in Chicago, she decided she really wanted to work at NutraSweet, a large chemical company that produces artificial sweeteners.
- She decided to send a job application not only to human resources, but also to NutraSweet’s vice president, who ultimately hired her.
- She’s since pivoted into 3D printing, which she believes will “shape and reimagine our futures”; she’s the founder and CEO of VisMed-3D, a biomedical 3D printing company.
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