Employee Spotlight with Brian, Red House Office Benefits and Accounting Manager

This week, we’re talking with Red House Office, Benefits, and Accounting Manager Brian. Brian’s relatively new to the Red House team, but he brings a boatload of experience into the fold, and we’re ecstatic to have him on board. Apart from his normal duties at Red House, he’s also an avid board-gamer, seafood connoisseur, and blacksmith–a man with a lot of irons in the fire!

Hey Brian, let’s start at the beginning: Tell us a little bit about yourself. What’s your story?

I grew up in Maryland and spent my teenage years less than ½ mile from the Chesapeake Bay (western side). I came up to Massachusetts for college and met my wife through an ex-girlfriend. We ended up in the Providence area to be closer to my wife’s family. I’ve worked in accounting/finance in quite a few different industries (retail, wholesale, healthcare, consulting, manufacturing, and now, construction). I’ve also had some entrepreneurial ventures. I was an Enrolled Agent for about ten years while I had a tax and accounting business many years ago.
Then, we bought a house seven years ago. We have a son who will be 20 this year and is currently studying psychology. We also have an ornate box turtle named Pokey and a 3-year-old Pembroke Welsh Corgi named Leonidas, Leo for short. You may have seen Leo on our blog.

If anyone did miss Leo, here’s a picture from his first day on the job.

Ok, apart from being able to bring Leo to work on Wednesdays, what’s the most rewarding part of your job?

Executing a plan. It could be something as simple as completing an item on my “to-do” list or more complex like developing a budget and evaluating the actuals to budget throughout the year.

As Red House Office, Benefits, and Accounting Manager, what sort of things does your role entail?

My role encompasses three distinct areas: Finance, HR, and Facilities. For finance, I oversee A/R, A/P, cash management, payroll, budgeting, and the preparation and control of the financial statements. For HR, it is benefits administration, reviews, hiring, maintaining documentation such as the Employee Handbook, and all other people items that may arise. Facilities are the overall responsibility for the physical items such as the building, vehicles, and property. I make sure that we have the office cleaned, the property cleaned, the landscape taken care of, and vehicle maintenance done. I’m sure there is more in each area as well, but those are some of the items that came to mind first.

Shoo–sounds like a lot! What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

I enjoy gaming. Board games, video games, and tabletop games all interest me. My son is into Magic the Gathering, and I play casually to spend time with him. I’ve attended PAX East in Boston every year since 2011. I used to help run a board game group in Providence called “The Tabletop Revolution.” I enjoy playing, but I also enjoy the social aspect. Gathering around a board game and sharing that mutual interactive experience, Chatting with friends.

What’s something surprising that not many people know about you?

I enjoy blacksmithing. I am not very skilled in the creative arts. Ask me to draw you a person, and you’re getting a poorly drawn stick figure. Give me paint, and I’ll get more on me than anywhere else. Woodworking…it’ll end up lopsided. But hammering on hot metal, I can make something there. I don’t get to do it often as lessons and time at the forge aren’t cheap, but it’s definitely a way I’ve found can be a creative outlet for me. I’m currently working on making my own tongs.

How about food? What’s your favorite?

Seafood. I grew up on the Chesapeake Bay and probably caught and ate steamed blue crabs a couple of times each Summer. I love all kinds of seafood, though—shrimp, scallops, lobster, mussels, clams, all kinds of fish, oysters–raw oysters as well. Rainbow trout is probably my favorite fish. Bubba from Forrest Gump and I would have gotten along pretty well.

And one more for good luck: what’s the last book you read?

I’m currently reading Traction to help understand a number of ways we do things here. Prior to that, I was working through the four books from Brandon Sanderson’s “Year of Sanderson” Kickstarter. I still have one of the books left to read. I lean more towards fiction and mostly read as a form of escapism.

Thanks, Brian! A pleasure talking with you, and I look forward to seeing you at game night one of these days.

If you’re feeling inspired by our exceptional team of experts at Red House, schedule your Discovery Call today or call the Red House Office. Your dream home awaits!