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.
Seema Desai
SENIOR MANAGER, MANAGEMENT CONSULTING
Dallas, TX
Favorite App: WhatsApp, personally it’s been very helpful to stay connected to my friends and large extended family in London. We celebrate everything via WhatsApp – birthdays, anniversaries, random Tuesdays. There is no shortage of love on our family chat.
Now Playing: Current top 3 – Suits, Scandal, and Family Feud! There isn’t much that a little Harvey Specter, Olivia Pope, and Steve Harvey can’t fix.
Passion Outside of Work: Dancing. I grew up learning various forms of dance – ballet, jazz, and several forms of Indian dance. I decided to focus on Indian dance and have competed and performed across the nation. Since moving to Texas, I’ve learned how to two-step!
Favorite Sports Team: Michigan sports (Go Blue!) and Detroit everything – the Lions, Tigers, Pistons, and Red Wings.
Office Music Playlist: I can’t listen to music while at work or I immediately start choreographing in my head, it’s a problem! So you rarely see me with headphones while at work.
Favorite Credera Memory: Dressing up as a larger than life Monarch butterfly during our last company trip! Ironically this memory is tied to losing a very stressful round of Farkle! As scared as I was for my Farkle consequence, I’ll never forget how much fun this was. I especially loved that a little girl at the resort was convinced that I was a ‘real-life Monarch butterfly.’
Client Experience Highlight: Taking a helicopter to visit an offshore oil platform during a recent client engagement. We had hard hats, steel-toe boots, and all! (p.s., I didn’t own steel-toe boots prior to this) We traveled 18 nautical miles offshore into the Gulf of Mexico to visit the pumping platform. It was a rare opportunity and fascinating to see the sheer size and scale of oil rigs and platforms sprinkled throughout the Gulf.
Best Advice You’ve Received: Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
Conner Collins
CONSULTANT, INTEGRATION AND DATA SERVICES
Houston, TX
Favorite Tech Tool: I don’t know if this qualifies as a “tech tool”, but I am a big fan of Morning Brew’s email subscription. I receive a digestible email newsletter each morning that summarizes big market events and technology news from the previous day.
Passions Outside of Work: I love music–especially live music in smaller venues like Stubb’s in Austin. I also enjoy traveling, doing things with my hands, like woodworking, and sports–particularly baseball, golf, and football.
Favorite Sports Team: Houston Astros. Hands down.
Office Music Playlist: Usually a random Daily Mix on Spotify, but I’ve also become a big fan of asoftmurmur.com. Full rain, 3/4 thunder, and half volume of wind for when I really need to focus.
Favorite Credera Memory: There have been a few moments at Credera where I was able to take a step back and realize how awesome of a company I work for. There was a particularly beautiful golf hole that overlooked the ocean during the Credera Golf Scramble in Laguna on our last company trip where my team and I just kinda stopped and soaked in the moment. I was reminded of how thankful I am for a company that values communal experiences and celebration of success like Credera does. Participating in a Harvey Build Day for our Service Day would probably have to be a close second though. There is just something special about getting to take a day off work to serve others and build something with your hands.
Best Advice You’ve Received: Invest in the people around you. At the end of the day, life is about relationships and I have never found myself wishing that I spent less time learning about who someone was, what drives them as a person, and how they operate. Especially in a business scenario, knowing what someone values, how (and why!) they do the things they do, and their strengths and weaknesses make for far more successful and fulfilling interactions.
Nick Mulenos
SENIOR CONSULTANT, CLOUD AND INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES
Dallas, TX
Favorite App: My favorite App is currently Things. I suffer from procrastination and have a ‘less than excellent’ short-term memory, so having a powerful & simple task management App is definitely helpful.
Life Hack: This may be too obvious to be called a ‘Life Hack’, but hear me out. Grant the benefit of the doubt to everyone you interact with. You’d be surprised how many people deserve more grace than you’re initially willing to extend their way.
Now Playing: My favorite show, and show that’s always on at my house, is Scrubs! That show is wonderful, just wonderful.
Passions Outside of Work: My passions outside of work consist of strengthening my ‘Wine & Food Nerd’ knowledge, traveling as often as possible, and making my wife smile. I also enjoy cooking and hosting friends and family as often as possible.
Favorite Sports Team: The Dallas Cowboys & The Baylor Bears
Office Music Playlist: Frank Sinatra, Michael Bublé, Dean Martin, Vivaldi, Sammy Davis Jr., and 2 Cellos. Call me an old soul or someone who’s stuck in the past, but you can’t go wrong with these artists.
Personal Values: Humility, Authenticity, Honesty, and Sympathy
Favorite Credera Memory: My favorite Credera memories are from our partnership with Mercy Street a few years ago. The entire firm turned their attention towards a few local schools and facilities served by Mercy Street, donating our time and resources in hopes of impacting the lives of students.
How You’ve Seen the Core Values Lived Out at Credera: Our yearly Credera Service Day efforts are one of the clearest pictures of how Credera employees live out the firm’s values. The willingness of those you work with to step out and serve together is nothing short of a powerful experience.
Best Advice You’ve Received: “Don’t bring a problem into someone’s office and leave. Bring a problem into their office, set it on their desk while you discuss possible solutions, and take the problem out with you. Your focus should always be on the pursuit of a solution, not the communication of failure or the assignment of blame.”
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