Patent attorney Priya Cloutier wasn’t all that surprised when she caught the entrepreneurship bug earlier this year.
After all, she has been representing startups for more than a decade.
She left a comfortable job a big firm in October to start her own practice, Cloutier Global. Things are still just getting started, but Cloutier said she was able to bring over some clients from her 10 years in the industry.
Before going into law, Cloutier was a nuclear engineer for about five years. She was part of a team working with the U.S. government to figure out how to manage nuclear and chemical waste at various sites.
Cloutier said that experience informed her values today, as her practice works for all sorts of companies. But clean energy and clean technology have always been her “love and passion.”
“I think it’s the only way to move us forward as a civilization and leave this a better place than I found it,” she said.
Cloutier doesn’t slow down when she’s not busy fighting legal battles over intellectual property issues. She’s also an avid runner who has completed more marathons than she can count, most recently in October.
“I hated my time so much that I decided to do another one [in December],” she added.
Next up, Cloutier said she’s going to be busy getting her practice up and running, while also training for her first triathlon. Eventually, her goal is to one day complete an Ironman race, which totals more than 140 miles of running, biking and swimming.
Meet our new Geek of the Week, and continue reading for her answers to our questionnaire.
What do you do, and why do you do it? “I’m a general practice intellectual property attorney. My happiness is working with people to make their visions materialize. My passion is clean tech and clean energy because that’s the way we save the world for generations to enjoy.”
What’s the single most important thing people should know about your field? “Not everything should be patented, like trade secrets. You should only patent things that can be easily reverse engineered.”
Where do you find your inspiration? “From running. After a morning run, nothing seems impossible or even improbable.”
What’s the one piece of technology you couldn’t live without, and why? “Smartphone. Is this a serious question? I can run my whole business from the palm of my hand from anywhere in the world.”
What’s your workspace like, and why does it work for you? I just started up. My office is a mess now, but I’ll make it my own over Thanksgiving. I really don’t live like this.”
Your best tip or trick for managing everyday work and life. (Help us out, we need it.) “I’ve been doing this since my older son was born — 20 years ago. Time for yourself has to happen before anyone else wakes up, otherwise life gets in the way. I wake up at 4 a.m. to pursue my passion — I’m a marathoner turning triathlete. Work at work, and go home to have dinner with the kids. Work starts again when they go to bed.”
Mac, Windows or Linux? “Windows. I love the new Windows 10.”
Kirk, Picard, or Janeway? “Janeway, of course.”
Transporter, Time Machine or Cloak of Invisibility? “Time machine.”
If someone gave me $1 million to launch a startup, I would … “I would launch a clean tech accelerator. I love the idea of working with great minds from concept to realization.”
I once waited in line for … “Black Sabbath tickets.”
Your role models: “Easy: M.K. Gandhi. Who doesn’t want to inspire people to look within themselves and outside of themselves in order to move the world forward?”
Greatest Game in History “The marathon! Or maybe, the triathalon.”
Best Gadget Ever: “Smartphone.”
First Computer: “Macintosh when I was in high school; with the dot matrix printer.”
Current Phone: “iPhone 6 Plus. I have the big one because I’m old and it’s easy for me to see the screen.”
Favorite App: “Weather App. I have three of them on my phone. I obsessively consult them to see what the weather is going to be like during my training sessions.”
Favorite Cause: “STEM education for the underprivileged. This is the way out of poverty. I am the living example. I grew up very poor. But for my STEM education, I would have never been able to sit at the table.”
Most important technology of 2015? “Nuclear Power.”
Most important technology of 2017? “Nuclear Power.”
Final words of advice for your fellow geeks? “Own yourself, let your freak flag fly. Be passionate and show your passion — its contagious. Analyze your failure, and always fail up.”
