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Nov 30, 2019

The Roster: Vol. 24

Sarah Barber

Sarah Barber

The Roster: Vol. 24

At Credera, we believe we’re truly better together. The Roster is a monthly series that allows you to get to know leaders at all levels across the firm.

Stephanie Miller

DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES

Dallas, TX

Favorite App: Not necessarily my favorite but the most used… Weather, Pollen.com, WebMD Allergy.

Life Hack: To remove red wine spills from the carpet, pour a lot of salt on the spill and then vacuum it up.

Now Playing: Blackish; binge-watching Unbelievable on Netflix; and embarrassingly, the Hallmark channel.

Favorite BookThe Bible and The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer.

Office Music Playlist: Starting mid-November until the end of the year, only Christmas music, baby! The most played is Breath of Heaven by Amy Grant. It’s of my favorite and one of the few songs I can still play on the piano.

Personal Goals: Take an acting class in 2020 (inspired by The Kominsky Method); do something every day that makes me uncomfortable/gets me out of my comfort zone; and spend more time getting to know my neighbors because I recently moved to a new neighborhood.

Personal Values: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Luke 10:27. Sadly, I fail at this way too often!

Mentorship Experience: My mentor will go out of his way to make time for me even though his schedule is packed. I truly appreciate the fact that he is fair and balanced in his advice… he’s encouraging but will also tell me what I don’t necessarily want to hear because he knows it’s what I need to hear.

How You’ve Seen the Core Values Lived Out at Credera: At most companies, HR departments witness the worst in people. At Credera, that just isn’t the case. I’m continually amazed at the graciousness and humility that our people display. When I tell people what I do for a living, they typically make some comment about how they couldn’t stand to work in HR, and they’re usually blown away when I tell them about my experience at Credera. Our people simply are the best!

Best Advice You’ve Ever Been Given: You won’t be saying, “I only wished I had worked more” on your deathbed. Make relationships your top priority.

Ben Grotta

SENIOR CONSULTANT, MANAGEMENT CONSULTING

Denver, CO

Now Playing: I’m loving HBO’s adaptation of The Watchmen. Damon Lindelof is responsible for two of my all-time favorite TV shows (Lost and The Leftovers), and his take on Alan Moore’s classic comic is another fantastic show about ordinary people confronting the unexplainable.

Favorite Book: I’ve read a lot of great books this year – Circe by Madeline Miller, Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, and Ghostwritten by David Mitchell are some of my favorites. The book that will stay with me the most, however, is The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells – a chilling but necessary exploration of how climate change will impact human civilization in different areas, from food production to natural disasters. It is by no means a light read, but it has undoubtedly changed the way I see the world and live my life.

Office Music Playlist: I’ve been listening to a ton of Maggie Rogers and Gang of Youths this year, but now that we’re getting snow in Denver I’m shifting to a more ‘wintry’ playlist. So at the moment, I’m listening to a lot of Arcade Fire, Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, Lord Huron, and Wolf Parade to accompany the gray skies and early sunsets.

Personal Values: One part of my Jewish upbringing that has always resonated with me is the concept of Tikkun Olam, which is understood as ‘repairing the world.’ Tikkun Olam has taught me that if I see injustice or pain in the world, it is my duty as a human being to try to remedy it, not just for myself, but for all the generations that will come after me. The power in this teaching is that each of us has the strength to make the world a better place, so long as we open our eyes to what is broken and apply our will to making it whole again.

How You’ve Seen the Core Values Lived Out at Credera: The core value that has always stuck out to me the most in my work is humility. As consultants, we are sometimes expected to have all the answers, but I do not believe that anyone, from a first-year campus hire to a tenured partner, truly does. That is not to say that my fellow Crederians are not brilliant, confident people – they are! What it means to me is that we understand the limits of our expertise. We are not afraid to ask questions that may portray (unintentional 😊) ignorance or inexperience because we have found that the best way to serve our clients is to understand them. I see humility as a willingness to learn, and we are nothing if not dedicated learners.

Best Advice You’ve Ever Been Given: Some of the best advice I ever received was from Scott Covington, a partner and vice president at Credera. About a year into my tenure here, he told me that one of the most difficult things in consulting (and really life in general) is navigating the ‘fog,’ essentially the feeling of being unsure of the best path forward to accomplish your goals. What I’ve learned from that conversation with Scott and my own experience is to pick out a landmark, even if it is just a shadow of something larger, and start moving towards it. Sometimes you cannot see your surroundings perfectly, and that’s okay so long as you keep your balance and keep moving forward.

Andrew Chepey

SENIOR CONSULTANT, OPEN TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS

Dallas, TX

Favorite Book: I’m a huge Lord of the Rings fan so anything written by Tolkien. I enjoy The Silmarillion for the textbook-like knowledge of the universe, but The Fellowship of the Ring is probably my favorite of the trilogy.

Passions Outside of Work: If I’m not watching hockey, something on Netflix (now Disney+), or hanging out with my fiancée, I’m playing trumpet. I played throughout middle and high school and now play in the McKinney Community and Dance Bands.

Favorite Sports Team: Through the continuing disappointments, I am a die-hard Dallas Stars fan. Hockey is by far the best sport and I’ve been following the team since I can remember. One of my goals coming out of college was to have season tickets, and with the help of fellow Crederian Cameron Weinert, we watched a lot of hockey from our nosebleed seats during the 2016-2017 season.

Podcast Playlist: As a big fan of science fiction, there’s an audio drama out there titled Wolf 359 that I’ve really enjoyed. It follows the crew of a space station in orbit around a distant star (the audio engineering is amazing).  Alongside that, I enjoy a podcast called Potterless, which follows a guy reading Harry Potter for the first time as an adult.

Favorite Credera Memory: I consider myself extremely lucky to have been placed on teams throughout my Credera tenure with some crazy smart and caring people. Whether it’s talking out problems, laughing about what we did on the weekend, or singing karaoke with the door open (sorry neighbors), the times I have spent in team rooms are some of my favorite memories.

Client Experience Highlight: I feel like I’ve always lost when I play Farkle. There was one time where Marshall Treadaway decided it would be a good idea to play with our client after dinner. One of the client’s senior directors wasn’t able to make the dinner and the loser had to bust out laughing anytime he said the word “CSOS” (pronounced “see-sauce”) during a meeting the next day. Needless to say, he thought I was crazy until someone finally let him in on what happened later that day. I went by CSOS for the rest of the time on the project.

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