The Roster: Vol. 22

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.

Jeff Hewitt

PRINCIPAL, MICROSOFT SOLUTIONS

Dallas, TX

Now Playing: This one is a little embarrassing. During our first year of marriage, Jessica and I had a TV and a DVD player, without TV service. So, we could only watch whatever DVDs we had laying around which, for whatever reason, happened to be the first four seasons of Everybody Loves Raymond. So, we’d get home at the end of the day to make dinner, finish up work, do laundry, and Everybody Loves Raymond was always playing in the background. Even today, if we end up in front of the TV and can’t decide what to watch, we’ll watch a rerun or two – it’s sort of become a comfortable part of our routine over the past 15 years.

Favorite Book: I think this changes over time, so maybe in the past two years there are a few books that stick out – The Knowledge of the Holy, by A.W. Tozer, which unpacks the attributes of God. In A Brief History of Thought, by French Philosopher Luc Ferry. In this book, Ferry walks through the history of philosophical thought from the stoics to post-modernism – a great 300-page overview if you’re curious about those things. Finally, the book of Psalms in the Bible. The Psalms give expression to the full array of unfiltered human emotion – loneliness, love, awe, sorrow, regret, joy, fear, anger, the list goes on – and through it all, the Psalmist finds that God is truly satisfying.

Passions Outside of Work: I love spending time with my family – my wife is my best friend and as the kids get older they are becoming more like friends in different ways too. So, going out to eat, playing board games, watching them play sports, and everything else we get to do together is really fun. We also love building relationships with and serving alongside our church in Frisco. In the past two years, we’ve seen marriages healed, addictions broken, and many others freed from a menagerie of different hurts, habits, and hang-ups.

Office Music Playlist: My ADD requires that it can’t have singing or words and it can’t be distracting. It’s best if whatever it is quickly blends into the background of my thoughts and drowns out other sounds. Probably half the time I listen to white-noise and the other half I listen to the Deep Focus playlist on Spotify.

Favorite Credera Memory: We’d been working most of the summer and through the fall to roll out our client’s new solution. It had been a tough project working late nights, occasional arguments, unhealthy client culture. There had certainly been good times as well, team lunches, and plenty of joking around. I can remember being with my family in South Texas for Christmas, set up at the kitchen bar, working with the team to put in the final touches and stabilize the production rollout. After the Christmas break, which most of us worked through, we decided to throw a “thank you” dinner at a nice restaurant for the team. It was fun to sit around the table, seeing the different complementing personalities and abilities, everyone laughing and enjoying food and conversation. I realized after all that we had been through together that I had a genuine affection for the members of my team and that as much as I enjoy building cool stuff with technology, building the relationships was so much better.

Best Advice You’ve Ever Been Given: Someone once told me to find rest in discipline and sacrifice, which sounded crazy at first. I have an acute natural tendency to drift toward passivity and ease – things like binging on Netflix, isolating from relationships, or doing my best to keep my feet propped up all Saturday in an attempt to find what I believe to be rest. The truth is it’s rigged! I’ve never regretted foregoing a measure of personal achievement and what I think is rest for investing in things bigger than limited finite me – leaning into relationships (even when difficult), serving others, expanding my understanding of reality and truth through the right books. Although it’s always easier to feed my own belly in the moment, discipline and sacrifice to the right ends engender proper perspective, a forerunner to peace and rest.

Ricky Zorn

SENIOR CONSULTANT, MANAGEMENT CONSULTING

Dallas, TX

Now Playing: My wife Nena and I have been watching This Is Us on NBC.  Although originally I dragged my feet because I thought it was a bit too much of a soap opera, I became intrigued with the character development and ability of the writers to make you understand and empathize with the lives of the people on the show.

Favorite Book: Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, which recounts the life and survival story of Olympic runner and American military airman Louis Zamperini during WWII.  It’s an incredible account of courage, faith, and perseverance that takes you through Louis’ 47 days adrift in the Pacific and time at a Japanese POW camp.

Passions Outside of Work: Leading workouts at my church on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, training high school athletes, quail hunting with our dog Remi, and competing in intramural sports.

Favorite Sports Team: Professional: All of the Dallas sports teams;  College: The Harvard Crimson – although I also support my wife’s team – The Texas Longhorns.

Favorite Credera Memory: During my second year at Credera, the Management Consulting practice participated in a community service event with Advocates for Community Transformation to clean up an alley in West Dallas that was filled with trash and a hotspot for dealing and taking drugs – I lost count of the number of drug needles we picked up!  Serving the community with my coworkers at Credera is one of my favorite things that we do.

Best Advice You’ve Ever Been Given: During my freshman year at Harvard while I was going through a difficult time, a YoungLife director shared a verse from scripture with me, reminding me that God’s will was for me to be joyful always, to pray continuously, and be thankful in all circumstances.  Attempting to live this out has transformed my mind and my life.

Natasha Solanki

CONSULTANT, OPEN TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS

Houston, TX

Favorite App: HabitShare. It allows me to enter the daily habits/tasks I’d like to accomplish and each day I can mark them as complete/incomplete – all while sharing my progress with my friends! It gives me a real sense of accountability and helps me keep my day on track.

Favorite Tech Tool: Xcode! I’ve been making iOS apps since high school and I can’t get enough of it.

Now Playing: Lucifer. The devil himself comes to LA … to solve murder mysteries. It’s much more interesting than it sounds.

Favorite Book: The Secret.

Favorite Sports Team: Houston Rockets!! I’ve been playing/watching basketball in Houston since I was 8. Plus how could you not be a fan of the beard!?

Office Music Playlist: R&B, Hip-Hop/Rap – Love listening to artists such as Drake, Jhené Aiko, 6lack, etc.

Mentorship Experience: My mentor, Brock, has been the greatest source of guidance and information. I have learned so much in my first year of working and that can be largely contributed to him. Credera’s employees truly embrace the meaning of teamwork – no matter how packed Brock’s schedule was, he always made time to mentor me.

Best Advice You’ve Ever Been Given: Never believe you’ve reached your cap. Anything is possible if it’s on this earth so let’s get to work.

• Culture
• The Roster
• Credera Culture