Meet Angela Earley ‘05, an RMU alum and co-founder and owner of Penn Avenue Fish Company, which first opened nearly 15 years ago. Now, Angela is set to open a new restaurant in Highland Park. 

The business alumna described her experience at the University as a ‘mind-opening’ experience, as her art elective courses helped her see the creative side to business and entrepreneurship.

Angela’s art background has shaped her approach to business as her work in the service industry has always been a part of her life. Offering new perspectives on tasks, like developing menus or designing event spaces, has allowed her to blend her creative side with her business side. An art professor from RMU even noted to Angela how pairing art with business gave her an edge and gave her a well-rounded and balanced perspective heading into the world of business.

The service industry has always been a steady part of Angela’s life. Throughout college, Angela bartended and worked in the service industry to support herself while studying Business Management at RMU, where she also took numerous art elective courses. Although she initially planned to go into real estate and briefly did after graduation, Angela kept those industry jobs on the side, which reflects her connections to the business world and service industry.

One of RMU’s core values is entrepreneurship. The Massey Center of Entrepreneurship and Innovation as well as the Rockwell Fellowship provides a cohort of student entrepreneurs the opportunity to work closely with the director of the Massey Center, network and attend entrepreneurial workshops, and help to create LLCs and things of that nature. Angela believes these fellowships and connections are vital to student success and development in the world of entrepreneurship.

“... I think it’s a great thing to do because most people don’t go that direction if they don’t have any background on how to do it. It is kind of like a trial-by-error thing, you learn a lot while you’re doing it, but RMU had classes that 100% helped me be where I am right now… starting an LLC and the different tax information you need to know is something I think most colleges lack in teaching…”

Angela credits RMU for helping her with her computer skills and her communications skills, which have provided her with the confidence and knowledge to grow in both a personal and business setting.

“Whenever I was at RMU, RMU was a bit more of a communications-intensive school… but when you’re 20 and insecure and don’t know much, it is hard to converse in certain situations… I found those two skills to be extremely helpful in the business world…”

This month, Angela is expected to open her new restaurant–called The Warren Bar & Burrow–in Highland Park. Similar to Penn Avenue Fish Company, seafood is the highlight of the menu as well as the many wines and drinks that accompany it on the menu.

Angela wanted to share some advice with new alumni and business majors who, one day, want to own or found their own business.

“Don’t be scared… You’re allowed to fail and you’ll never know unless you try. There are a lot of systems set up for when things don’t work out–it’s not the end of the world, so I’d say it is always better to try rather than being too scared to do it or to fall in line with what most people do because it’s easier.”