Cake decorator turned office management guru for Wayne County steps into retirement

Wayne County Clerk of the Board of Commissioners Diane Austen's career is a testament to the power of hard work, perseverance and a commitment to making a difference.

Her career path was more of a winding road. After eight years of working at the Wayne County Public Defender’s Office, she left public service to follow her dream of becoming a business owner and opened Austen’s Cakery in 1996.

“I began cake decorating at age 13 and selling wedding cakes at 16,” she said. “I took classes at the Wilton School of Cake Decorating in Illinois with various notable teachers, including Wesley Wilton, Nicholas Lodge and Colette Peters. Owning a cake decorating business was always a dream of mine, but I found the retail store portion was not.”

Fortunately, opportunity at the county knocked once again, and Austen returned with a part-time job in the printing department. She worked at the print shop Monday through Wednesday and focused on wedding cakes the rest of the week.

“It was perfect,” Austen recalled. “I began only focusing on wedding cakes and stopped selling decorating supplies to accommodate my printing position.”

Austen balanced her time between the two jobs for the next few years. However, in 2003, she was asked to fill in as secretary for the Commissioner’s Office. In less than two months, with the retirement of the Clerk of the Board, she was promoted to the position and closed her cake shop.

Digitalization, driving hard bargains and organization

From day one, Austen began modernizing office procedures by digitizing everything she typed on paper onto her computer. This made document locating easier and saved time preparing future documents.

When the time came to purchase copy machines, Austen used her negotiating skills, drove a hard bargain, and obtained office copy machines and service agreements for a fraction of the retail price.

When annexation laws were revamped in the early 2000s, Austen received a manual detailing the significant changes. She read through it, created a quick user guide, and became proficient in processing the various annexations.

Austen said her attention to detail was her greatest asset, which was evident when she transitioned the county’s payroll into a new human resource software program.

After serving 21 years as clerk for the commissioners and 31 years at Wayne County total, Austen will pursue another of her lifelong passions − teaching dance classes at the Valley College Grange.

“I’m very grateful that I could mentor and benefit from a number of talented new staff here at the Commissioners’ Office whose friendship now makes leaving bittersweet,” she said.

Dan Starcher is the Public Communications Coordinator for Wayne County.