Annelie Niebuhr, 25

Annelie Niebuhr could star in a chamber of commerce production about people who grew up here, left for big cities, then came back. 

Her story is ripe for that tale: Born in Germany, she moved to the States with her family when she was 14 and graduated from the Pine View School. Then she was on to Pittsburgh, where she graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a degree in chemical engineering and a minor in Chinese. Up next: Three years with Citibank, first in Hong Kong and then in Chicago, where she worked as an analyst in the investment bank unit.

That’s three continents for Niebuhr before she turned 24, in addition to a job working with some of the investment banking industry’s top thinkers and leaders. “I’ve always had in interest in business,” she says.

It would seem there would be few options for someone like Niebuhr in Sarasota-Bradenton. But through some friends she found out about an opportunity at Lakewood Ranch-based Roper. The publicly traded firm is a $3.5 billion technology conglomerate, with holdings in everything from health care and education companies to food, energy, transportation and water entities.

Roper hired Niebuhr in March. She works with a team responsible for two distinct tasks. One is to oversee about 20 companies in the Roper portfolio. Leaders outside the Roper headquarters run these businesses, and Niebuhr’s team offers support on management and any financial issues, much like a consultant does. The second role is to analyze potential acquisitions for Roper, such as studying the balance sheets and looking into integration. “It’s been eye-opening to see how a big company like this functions,” says Niebuhr.

— Mark Gordon

Q&A

Name:  Annelie Niebuhr

Age:  25

City of residence:  Sarasota, Fla.

Twitter handle: NA – probably one of the few who actually don’t have one!

Employer:  Roper Technologies, Inc.

Title:  Corporate Finance and Development

Birthplace:  Hannover, Germany

Years on the Gulf Coast: I moved back earlier this year but I also spent four years of high school in the area

Marital status/children:  Single

Alma mater:  Carnegie Mellon University, B.S. in Chemical Engineering, Minor in Chinese

Best place to network:  LinkedIn

Coolest business experience: I moved to Hong Kong after college to work in investment banking. It was fascinating to live and work in Asia!

Messy desk or clean workspace:  I like to call it an "organized mess"

Best business lesson ever learned:  Always stick with your instincts and don’t be afraid of challenges

A website that makes your job easier:  CapitalIQ

Community group you’re most involved with:  Forty Carrots

Favorite off-hours activity:  dinner with family or friends

Two people, dead or alive, you’d like to have dinner with:  Steak dinner with Benjamin Franklin and Warren Buffet and cocktails with Jennifer Lawrence and Jane Austen afterward (I realize that is four people but I couldn’t decide!)

What you would be doing if you could pick another career: I would probably be a Marine Biologist – I am fascinated by the ocean and everything in it!

Top item on your bucket list: I have a few… live in Spain, whale watching in Alaska, scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef

Skill you’d like to learn:  To speak Spanish

Who would play you in a movie about your life: Diane Kruger

If I had a magic wand I’d: have an unlimited supply of chocolate!