Happy workaversary to Jesse, who celebrates his first year with us this week! Jesse’s quiet tenacity is a driving force for us all at the office. He came to ASI following a career in law enforcement, and has become involved with quite a few of our customers’ systems and languages. He also plays a mean game of cribbage…
See what we learned about Jesse…
- What did you want to be when you were a kid? Originally wanted to work as a Geneticist focusing on gene therapy.
- Where’d you grow up? School? Grew up in the Manitowoc area, initially went to Lakeshore Technical College and attended the Police Academy. Did most of my “growing up” during that time.
- Favorite podcast? I’m a big space nerd, so I love listening to Houston We Have a Podcast.
- Biggest pet peeve? People scraping silverware against their teeth. Drives me nuts.
- Favorite piece of technology you own and why? Have a virtual reality set. Wish I had more room in my place so that I could keep it set up. I just personally see a lot of opportunity with virtual reality, whether its recreational or business related.
- What’s the weirdest job you’ve ever had? Worked as a mental health counselor while I was in College and worked as a Police Officer. Can’t say the jobs were weird but definitely lead to weird situations.
- If you could choose anyone, who would you pick as your mentor? The guys would probably call me out on this is if I didn’t answer this truthfully. Probably Elon Musk.
- If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do? Go on a year long trip.
- What is the first concert you attended? Disturbed concert, along with Lacuna Coil and Killswitch Engage.
- What music is on your iPhone/Android phone? Ice Cube, Imagine Dragons, Korn, Johnny Cash, Hollywood Undead, Queen, Tom Waits, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Theory of a Dead Man, Trace Adkins. I’m too lazy to branch out and add more artists.
- What chore do you absolutely hate doing? I need to teach Midas to clean his own litter box.
- What are some of your pet peeves? Scraping of metal. Chewing loudly. Repeating myself multiple times.
- If you could learn to do anything, what would it be? Learn how to draw without it looking like a small child was the artist.
- What was the last experience that made you a stronger person? Went back to school full-time after having been out for a several years. Taught me not to fear making a significant change in my life.
- At what age did you become an adult? Twenty, moved out and was working a full-time job. Experienced a few things during that time that made me grow up rather quick.
- What would you do (for a career) if you weren’t doing this? Pipe dream is to work in the space industry.
- What would you most like to tell yourself at age 13? Take more STEM courses, volunteer in the community sooner, be more confident in your decisions.
- How do you define success? Everyone is breathing and nothing is irreparably broken.
- If you could switch your job with anyone else within ASI, whose job would you want? Rocky’s
- What do you like most about ASI? It’s a unique group of people at ASI. The group works well together and the dynamic is just very different as compared to my other jobs.
- Are you messy or organized? Depends on what it is and if someone is going to see it or not.
- Do you recall any embarrassing moment at work? Not really embarrassing, but it was definitely awkward to be a part of a pizza party for Andrew’s birthday immediately following my first interview.
- If you could meet anyone in the world dead or alive who would it be and why? My dad. He passed away when I was seven months old. Out of anyone, would rather meet him.
- What are three career lessons you’ve learned thus far? Document; Understand your worth; Be a team player, not the problem.
- What celebrity do people think you look like? When I was younger people said I looked like Mac Miller. Now people say I look like Nick Offerman (Ron Swanson), no idea why.
- What do you always want to try and never did? Scuba diving
- What does true leadership mean to you? Leader is side by side with the people that they lead. Treats the role more so as a mentor rather than a supervisor. Believe that they’re not infallible.
- What is on your bucket list? Fly on a plane; visit Australia; see a rocket launch
- What is your favorite movie and book? Don’t really have a favorite movie. My go to book growing up was “The Hobbit”, I’ve read that on numerous occasions.
- What kinds of hobbies and interests do you have outside of work? Covid has thrown a wrench into this, but I want to get my pilot’s license to be able to fly drones. Kayak when I’m able to. Looking to start gardening this year now that I live on the ground level.
- What phobias do you have? Ophidiophobia & Athazagoraphobia (we cheated and looked these up – fear of snakes, and fear of forgetting or being forgotten)
- What tv show/movie are you ashamed to admit you love? I’ll still watch kid shows from time to time. Recently watched “Camp Cretaceous”, couldn’t resist a Jurassic Park show.
- What was your favorite book, toy, or outfit as a child? Had a T-Rex toy growing up. Absolutely loved it, not sure what happened to it.
- Which one would you want most – flying cars, robot housekeepers, or moon cities? Without a doubt, Moon Cities. Aspire to be a space janitor one day.
Thanks, Jesse, for continuing to inspire us to expand our skills every day; AND for introducing us to Athazagoraphobia today!