The Roster: Vol. 26

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.

Rick Gipson

PRINCIPAL, MICROSOFT SOLUTIONS

Dallas, TX

Now Playing: My brother just turned me on to Netflix’s adaptation of Lost in Space, so I’m currently binging to catch up on it. My all-time favorite shows both were HBO miniseries produced by Tom Hanks – Band of Brothers and From the Earth to the Moon documenting the journey and sacrifices involved in two of the most impactful events in our country’s history – War World II and the Space Race.

Favorite Book: I have a lengthy commute to the office and leverage audiobooks to pass the time. I enjoy books by Malcom Gladwell (e.g., Blink, The Tipping Point, Outliers), Patrick Lencioni (e.g., The Ideal Team Player, Getting Naked), or just about anything on building, running, and mentoring teams (e.g., Leaders Eat Last, The Talent Code, Eleven Rings: Soul of Success, The Mentor Leader, Talent is Overrated).

Passions Outside of Work: The past 5 years has been a whirlwind of travel – Turkey, Greece, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, St. Lucia, Israel, and across the U.S. One of our favorites was our Hall of Fame trip – hitting the rock-n-roll HOF (Cleveland, OH), NFL HOF (Canton, OH), hockey HOF (Toronto, ON), baseball HOF (Cooperstown, NY), and basketball HOF (Springfield, MA) all in a single road trip. Next up is either Tanzania or Peru on a mission trip…

Favorite Sports Team: Kathy and I are avid sports fans – football, baseball, sand volleyball, golf, basketball, but especially hockey. Between Allen Americans (minor league) and Dallas Stars we’ve attended over 500 hockey games the past 10 years including an annual outing with my Credera team.

Personal Values: “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” John 15:13 Beyond the eternal aspects of the verse, it serves as a great reminder to me to never be so caught up in my own agenda, my own busyness, or my own to-do list and be willing to lay those things down to help a friend in need.

Favorite Credera Memory: For 5-6 years, I coordinated Credera’s involvement in an annual sand volleyball tournament called Sandblast. Those were some of my favorite days seeing 30-50 of my colleagues enjoying time in the sun-n-sand getting to know everyone better while raising $30K for local charities. I might have been accused a few times of cherry picking the best players for my own team to ensure we won the tournament. 😊

Mentorship Experience: The opportunity to mentor and invest in others is what gets me up every day and what brought me to Credera. It is in those one-on-one conversations where true relationships are built – whether its discussing career next steps, helping plan out their proposal to the love of their life, a teachable moment following a new experience, a reassuring hand on the shoulder at their wedding, guiding them through the ups and downs of daily life, celebrating much-earned promotions, or sharing in the joy as they grow their families. It is those cherished moments that truly give work purpose.

Biggest Influence: By far my biggest influence is my dad and we are so much alike that my wife questions if I was just cloned. He instilled in me the importance of integrity, hard work, common sense, drive for excellence, and valuing relationships.

Melissa Arteaga

SENIOR CONSULTANT, MANAGEMENT CONSULTING

Denver, CO

Favorite Book: It’s a tie between When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi and The Gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee.

Passions Outside of Work: Hiking with friends, family, and my dog during the summer, snowboarding during the winter, cooking new recipes, and pushing myself to try new things (more recently: fly fishing).

Office Music Playlist: The Credera Denver office has great taste in music and I’m always learning about new artists from my coworkers. I tend to find a new band or artist and then listen to their music non-stop until I find my next obsession – currently on repeat is slenderbodies.

Personal Goals: A life goal of mine has always been to play piano, so I’m trying to teach myself. I didn’t play an instrument growing up, nor do I consider myself to be musically inclined, so it’s been a unique challenge to develop the discipline required to learn an instrument.

Favorite Credera Memory: My favorite Credera memories align with some of my favorite Colorado memories, which says a lot about the people that I have the pleasure to work with. Almost every weekend in the winter I get to spend a day skiing, snowboarding, or just hanging out on the mountain with my coworkers and friends. I wouldn’t trade those experiences for anything.

Mentorship Experience: My default is to fly somewhat solo, both professionally and personally. Since joining Credera, I have sought advice and help from mentors more than any other time in my life because I’ve seen the value (big and small) that those relationships can add to our lives. I don’t think there is a specific recipe for being a mentor or seeking mentorship from someone else, so I am grateful for the freedom to work through what mentorship looks like for me. 

Trey Sedate

SENIOR CONSULTANT, OPEN TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS

Dallas, TX

Favorite App: Things 3. Things is a task management app that helps me keep track of everything from when to take out the trash to the next step in our latest home improvement project. I like having a reliable place for my to-dos without needing to keep track of everything in my head.

Favorite Book: The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss.

Passions Outside of Work: I like to design and develop games with my wife, Taylor. It’s really fun to combine technical skills with art, sound, and design to make something that people can experience and enjoy.

Office Music Playlist: Sufjan Stevens

Favorite Credera Memory: I really enjoyed being able to travel with our team to New York City to kickoff a client project. It was fun to get to know new people, see interesting sights, and eat incredible food in a place I had never been before.

How You’ve Seen the Core Values Lived Out at Credera: The humility shown by those at Credera is exceptional. The people here are always willing to take the back seat, change their perspective, or put others’ interests before their own. It makes it all the more enjoyable to work with others and do the right thing for our clients and projects.

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