PROJECT MANAGER OF THE QUARTER – October 2023
He’s a jack of all trades in customer support. He has an extensive background in IT. He has been with us for half a decade. He’s a military veteran.
And he is the dog in the Dog on Fire meme.
He’s our own Ian H., our Project Manager of the Quarter.
Why does Ian describe himself as the Dog on Fire? He is always calm under pressure and thrives on complex, demanding projects. “If you need someone that’s always up for a challenge, or an impossible situation, please pick me, I’m your guy!”
What makes Ian the dog? While it is part of his natural personality, his training in the United States Navy surely helped.
That’s not all he got from the Navy. In addition to gaining valuable leadership skills as a supervisor, he developed the technical skills that set him on a path to earning a Bachelor’s degree in IT. While taking courses in networking, programming, and database management, it was the coursework in project management that really resonated with Ian.
The calmness, the technical background, and the leadership all come together in Ian’s role at ModSquad. For Ian, it isn’t just about personal success – he helps make everyone on his team a dog on fire.
“Building a strong collaborative and trust based environment is key.” Ian says about his management style. “When the team trusts one another and feels like their opinion matters, the project is in a great place.”
The results speak for themselves. Recently Ian led a project for a hot Texas startup that ramped from 15 to 300 Mods in a short period of time. He and the team stood up to the challenge by talking ownership of the process and making sure everyone on the team was successful. “The client had set extremely lofty goals, and we were able to meet and surpass each one.”
When not at work, Ian can be found caring for his two children, which makes up most of his free time. That’s not to say he won’t occasionally play video games or listen to music. He loves anything rock related from traditional Hippie music to hard rock.
His one Achilles Heel is hobbies. “I’m a terrible, terrible hobbyist.” Ian jokes, “I start to get into something, and after I feel like I’ve got a good grasp on it, I stop doing it.”
Here’s what Ian’s colleagues have to say:
“Ian has done an exceptional job on every project he’s been involved in. He has been the leader of hard projects. I would never hesitate to give him any project at any time and he’d absolutely make it shine. He deserves this honor!”
– Chris C.
“He has done amazing work with the team and absolutely deserves it!”
– Theresa G.
“Ian is a steady hand who is always willing to step up and help where needed.”
Michael M.
“My experiences working with Ian in the past year have been stellar.”
– David F.
Want to work with (or become) a dog on fire like Ian? We’re hiring.