There are about a million great things I can say about Alex. He’s a guy you can definitely count on if you ever need anything. He has the kindest heart and genuinely cares about everyone. Perhaps that’s why he has so many close friends in the office and outside of work. It’s his ability to befriend just about anyone. Alex’s story is definitely worth the read, so take a few minutes to learn a little more about him below!

How did you get involved with Aplos?
I met Tim when I was interning at The Well Community Church. At the time, he was the Executive Pastor and the interns were taking turns spending time with each department to see how the church works. During our time with Tim, he asked each of us what we would like to do if/when we worked for a church. Most answered with “Pastor or Youth Ministries.” I, on the other hand, said I would like his job. He liked that, and we instantly became friends. A couple of years later he was starting to invest more time and resources into Aplos and needed some help. The role was 90% bookkeeping for a construction business and 10% for working on Aplos stuff. Originally, I thought my wife might be interested in Tim’s offer because she couldn’t find a teaching job, but when she did I ended up getting interested. I talked with Tim, ended up interviewing with him and the co-founder, and ended up jumping on board September 2011. That was almost 6 years ago, back when we had 20 monthly customers, an incomplete product, and not enough work to keep a 23-year-old kid (me!) busy for more than a few hours a week. We were literally working out of a garage.

If you could master anything if your career, what would it be?
Balance. I’m a serial over-committer, and while that helps me learn and be useful in a lot of areas, it also takes its toll. When I was younger, it wasn’t as much of an issue, but now I’ve got a family and several commitments to juggle! Personally, it’s that juggle between Aplos, family, social commitments, church, studying for the CPA exams, and all the little stuff in between. At Aplos, it’s a juggle between a new Services department, training staff, helping with Support and Sales when needed, and then being the guy that’s been here the longest (knowing a little about a lot). Finding a good balance is key.

As a new Dad, what have been your biggest challenges and your best memories so far?

Camden (our daughter) has been amazing for all of her 9 months. The only challenges I can think of are not related to her necessarily, but more with how she’s just changing the dynamic for Beth and me. Simple things like spending time with friends or going on a trip are now a little different and more difficult. But, that’s trumped by her being around, so no complaints! Best memories… each milestone is so fun to see. The first time she laughed, crawled, babbled, or stood up — those are all fun. For me personally, it’s all the times she’s laughed really hard, or when we’ve done family nap-time on a weekend to take things slow and enjoy the time together.

What do you like to do for fun?
I may be almost 29 and over-committed, but nothing will ever replace a good video game for me. It’s still a relaxing avenue for me to have some time unburdened by anything else, where I can sit and lose myself in a new story or experience.

What is your idea of an awesome weekend? And why?
Ha, no idea… it switches back and forth. I think it mainly depends on my mood. Probably a trip with family and/or friends. During the week is usually busy for us, so being able to be social and un-stressed for time is always fun.

What’s a fun fact about you that no one probably knows?
I don’t know if I can still do it, but in High School, I could quote the entire movie of Liar Liar, word for word. I used to put the VHS (old school movie tape!) on while I went to sleep and ended up watching it a couple of hundred times. Ocean’s 11 is a current close second.

What are three things you just can’t live without?
Food, family, and fellowship.

If you had to eat the same food item for the rest of your life, JUST ONE, what would it be?
Tri-tip. My heart brakes for those who have not had a good tri-tip.

Someone puts on 90’s pop in the car, what song do you know for a fact you’d be singing to?
Bye-Bye-Bye, by N’Sync. Not ashamed.

It’s Halloween, your wife leaves you in charge of passing candy out to kids, and she fills the entire bowl with your favorite, Kit-Kats. Do you:

A. Turn the porch light off and save the Kit-Kats for yourself?

B. Be a great guy and pass out those delicious treats?

C. Make a quick run to the store, buy that notorious bag of treats that people buy as a last resort, and keep the Kit-Kats for yourself?

A, 100%. Here’s why: There are hundreds of houses full of less-selfish people for those kids to mooch off. In that scenario, Alex gets the candy and can easily get away with it. Scenario B would mean Alex doesn’t get candy, and scenario C would call out the fact I spent money to have my candy. Scenario A doesn’t leave a paper trail.

Looking back on your life, what are three of the most memorable moments of your life. And why?
Beth and I were friends in High School but didn’t start dating until college. Before then, we always had an affinity for each other, but nothing romantic. I ruined that by having a crush on her first, and then slowly wore her down over time. The first time we acknowledged our romantic feelings for each other and started down that path, I knew she was the one for me.

1. 

The second most memorable moment would be getting through the 46-hour labor and delivery of Camden and having our parents be the first to meet her. She’s also the first grandbaby for both sides of the family, so that was really special. Beth’s mom passed unexpectedly in the Fall, so looking back I am truly grateful that she got to meet Camden.

Third, and not chronological to the above, would be meeting John (co-worker at Aplos). We hit it off quickly, both having some mutual friends, and our relationship has grown a lot over the years. We like the same things, have gone through similar experiences, and can both quote Arrested Development like nobody’s business. The office wouldn’t be the same without him. I was also bribed during a game of Hearts, so there you have it. Love you, buddy.