Taking the leap takes conviction, alright. Here, Bryan K., a Software Developer and Technologist, explains how he found his way onto the team.
Tell us about your background.
I’m originally from New England, but have lived in many locations over the past 20 years. I’ve been a developer professionally for 15 years, but coding since I was 14 (I tried to write SimCity for the TI-83 when I was a sophomore in high school).
How would you describe your work style?
My work style varies from day to day, based on what needs to get done. Some days I’m in my home office, music off, just focusing on writing (e.g. this article); others, I’m in a coffee shop by myself, or in a conference room with colleagues whiteboarding a solution.
Any superpowers?
I think my superpower is writing, as it’s something I probably enjoy more than most developers. I’m typically the one taking the lead to write up stories, documentation, designs, or emails to customers.
How do you spend your time outside of work?
Outside of work, I’m passionate about spending time with my family, cooking, and being with nature (in the woods, on the beach, in a park).
Why’d you join Zus?
As I was searching for a new job, I thought about people I’d enjoyed working with in the past. I also knew I wanted to stay in healthcare, as there’s such potential to move the needle in terms of quality of care and overall patient experience. My previous three roles were all in healthcare, and I wanted to continue to focus on that. I ended up reconnecting with an old colleague who was at Zus and jumped at the opportunity to get involved.
What are you looking forward to working on over the next year?
There’s a lot to be done and a lot of ownership to be taken. Right now, I’m looking forward to figuring out the fundamental unknowns that come with starting something totally new.
- How do we accelerate our developers to deliver value? Are there tools we need to write to go faster while maintaining stability and security?
- What technologies should be used? Does the team have experiences with those technologies from other companies? Any “gotchas” we can avoid?
- How do we balance all of this work with our personal lives? To keep this from turning into a 24/7 job, stability and security are key.
What I’m most excited about is the day we deliver our solution and our customers tell us “You made the difference between us failing and us succeeding”. There is no better feeling than seeing your customers succeed.
Why should others join Zus?
There is so much opportunity to finally make a dent in healthcare. A lot of money is being invested in companies working to displace the existing healthcare system, but it’s all very piecemeal. To enable builders to roll out their apps and share their data securely and correctly is a major opportunity for everyone. From an engineering perspective, the ability to see something grow from a seed to a production-ready system is incredible. It will be an arduous journey, but as they say, “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey”.
Last question–if you could have dinner with three people (dead or alive), who would they be?
- Winston Churchill. I recently read “The Splendid and the Vile” by Erik Larson and was really intrigued by Churchill’s unorthodox leadership style. To be able to inspire and encourage the UK during such tragic times is remarkable.
- Dave Grohl. Lead singer of the Foo Fighters. I’ve been listening to the Foo Fighters since I was a teenager, and he is a phenomenal performer.
- Adelbert Knight. My great-great-grandfather who fought in the Civil War and was a POW at Andersonville. He wrote in two diaries about life as a POW, which my Dad transcribed when in high school.