Brenna Bechtold: Cat herder extraordinaire

We’re back with another installment of the Team TGG Bio Series. Of course, I had to be reminded to write the post by our Project Manager. Little did she know that SHE would be next in line! Ha!

Without further ado, let me introduce Brenna Bechtold.

So, I’ve already given away your job title, but for those who don’t know what a Project Manager does, can you give some more detail? My all time favorite go to analogy is herding cats.

Wait. You can’t herd cats. Oh.

Despite having an almost impossible, job, what is your favorite thing about it? Working with such a talented group of people!

Are there any projects you've worked on at TGG that you're particularly proud of? The Western Fire Chiefs Association Firemap.

Yeah, that one is pretty cool. Tell us about your work location situation. Many of our developers are remote, with a few in-office. What’s your approach? I’m more remote with the occasional office appearance.

Speaking of office, did I hear that you worked as a receptionist once? I did. I went to Alaska after college to “find myself.” I ended up working for the FAA as a receptionist. Not a great fit, but was an interesting slice of life to see all the various people that would come through.

Where did you grow up? Geneva, IL, near Aurora, which is probably best known for (throws devil horns, rocks head) WAYNE’S WORLD!

Sweet.

So what do you do when you’re not herding cats? I like to play pinball on a team, as well as the various occasional console games. I can do limited crafts, like sewing or cross-stitching. Taking my dog to experience new things is up there. My latest vice has been nail polish - I have about 70-80 bottles of various color polish.

That’s a lot to unpack. Your dog must LOVE you, but can we start with the nail polish? How often do you swap out the colors on your nails? Do you ever have a different color on every finger, or do you usually wear the same color on all fingers? A little bit of both! There are times I'll do 5 different colors, 1 for each nail, but I usually just try to find two that compliment well and alternate. I swap out colors fairly frequently - I'd say maybe twice a week, maybe more often.

Tell us more about pinball! You play on a team? Is that in an organized league, or is it an informal thing? I have been playing on a team with breaks (for obvious reasons) since late 2016. It is an organized league. The concept is similar to a softball league - you have a set roster that plays out a home location (in our case, bars). My home bar for years has been Clinton Street Pub in SE Portland. You play against other bars either at your home or theirs. There are two competitive seasons each year, fall and spring, with a shorter, summer mixer season that is meant to introduce new players and help them find teams. I have been on the team for years but this is the first season that I stepped up as a captain. We are doing alright, heading into the A division playoffs as the final seed.

Wow. That’s amazing. Good luck! Now tell us about your dog! Do you have other pets? My big ole doggo’s name is Roz. She is a part Great Dane rescue. She’s my Covid baby. We also have a cat that was trapped/rescued from the streets of North Plains named Plato. He's the best little brother. I also have a dwindling collection of house plants.

Well thanks for giving us a peek into your life, Brenna. Good luck with the pinball playoffs!

Meet Jason Berney

We’re back again with another post in our Team TGG Bio series! This time, we’re going to meet Jason Berney.

Jason, I see that your one-year anniversary with TGG was back on October 18. Happy Anniversary! What have you been doing for TGG for the past year? I’m a Geospatial Developer. I build web maps for business analytics - think Google Maps with your proximity to restaurants or Uber directing your route. I create the user interface and design the infrastructure to deliver that information to a web page.

That sounds pretty cool. What’s your favorite thing about your job? I get to learn all day, every day, and apply an ever-expanding skillset to a wide range of industries with unique business challenges.

That’s awesome. I’ll bet your mom is proud. Speaking of pride, are there any projects that you’ve worked on that you’re particularly proud of? I’m most proud of The Western Fire Chiefs Association fire map because it is an application that I can share with family and friends and one that they consistently use.

That is a really cool map. What were some of the challenges that you faced in building it? Some of the challenges involved working with a variety of new data sources, including real-time aircraft data from FlightRadar. Ryan Dalton led the effort in capturing and storing different information through a robust ETL solution. We also deployed the application using scalable AWS (Amazon Web Services) resources which were new to the team. As a team, we came together and supported each other in learning these new technologies and data sources. TGG has encouraged and enabled us to drive innovation using new technologies.

How would you describe your “work-from” situation? Do you spend most of your time at The Gartrell Group World HQ, most of your time working remotely, or a hybrid? More remote with the occasional office appearance.

Where did you grow up? Portland, Oregon, specifically Southeast.

What should people know about you? I am a curious individual who loves new opportunities.

What sort of things do you do when you’re not working? I love to travel, attend concerts and play sports (tennis and soccer in particular).

I guess that answers my next question about travel. Got any cool travel stories? Yes! I recently went to Monte Carlo right before the Formula 1 races and got to walk the track.

I assume that was at a time when cars weren’t zipping around! This took place a week and a half before the race. You could sense the enthusiasm in the city for the upcoming event.

OK, final question. Do you have any kids, pets, or plants? I have a french bulldog named Hugo (more often referred to by his nicknames - "potato" and "meatball"). I also have five koi fish, some of which are as big as Hugo!

Thanks, Jason. It’s great to have you on the team!

Meet our President & CEO, Molly Earle!

Molly, in one of her many hats!

Continuing our Team Bio series, we’ll talk to Molly Earle, Gartrell Group’s President & CEO, this week.

I already told everyone your title, so maybe we can jump into what you do at Gartrell. I have a rack of hats that I switch on and off my head with great (ir)regularity. These hats include Business Strategy, Finance, Account Management, Human Resources, Vendor Management, Culture-Building, and Happy-People-Making.

So many hats! Which is your favorite? My favorite thing about my job is working with people - encouraging connections; fostering growth (individually, intra-team, and overall business); and making sure that the people who work for Gartrell feel seen, heard, and well-appreciated. You know that overused phrase, "Teamwork makes the dream work?” There’s a reason why it’s “overused.” My favorite and best work is all about the team - without them, there's no achieving the dream! I see it as my responsibility to nurture and maintain a company culture where people can innovate and collaborate to do truly excellent work (and enjoy the process, too!).

What brought you to Gartrell? My brother, Bryce, started the company back in late 2003. At the time I was teaching middle school science in Florida. I came to Portland in the summer of 2004 to help Bryce with a project. I planned to find a new teaching position here in Oregon in the fall, but Bryce and I had so much fun working together that I decided to stay at The Gartrell Group. Bryce was great at doing all the operational things that made The Gartrell Group work, but he needed some help with the administrative side of things, and that’s where I came in. It took us a few years to figure out which tasks should fall to each of us, but we worked it out. In common entrepreneurial parlance, a solid business needs a “Visionary,” who sees the big picture, including lofty future goals, and an “Integrator,” who keeps track of the details to make the big picture possible - Bryce and I have complementary skill sets that help us fill these roles to a T!

You came to Oregon via teaching gigs in Florida and the Bahamas. You must like to travel. Do you have any good travel stories? I LOVE to travel! One of my favorite travel stories is from my first cross-country drive, from New Hampshire to Oregon, with Bryce. He was 19, and I was 16 (what were our parents thinking?!). We listened to the Rolling Stones and did Billy Idol impressions all the way across the country. We rolled into Sturgis, SD, never having heard of the Sturgis bike rally. We found ourselves surrounded by motorcycles and leather-clad, scary-looking people who all turned out to be super friendly and helpful. At their urging, we rushed from a funny buffet lunch and got the last spot in a campground out near the Badlands. As we unloaded the car (bringing with us a huge Maglite and a hammer, in case any of those “scary” people tried to bother us in the night), a guy who was sleeping on the ground next to his motorcycle in the parking lot said, "Don't run me over when you leave in the morning, okay?" Um, okay!! I've had some pretty good adventures in other countries, too - Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, France, the Netherlands, the Bahamas (where I lived for a year), and Panama (where my in-laws live) - but I haven't even begun to see as much of the world as I hope to. I’m dreaming up several “next adventures,” but I’m unsure when they might happen.

So, you grew up in New Hampshire? Yes! I grew up in the small town of Warner. I haven’t spent much time there in the past decade or so, but I’m pretty sure Warner is still a relatively quiet little town that maintains a certain New England charm. The annual Fall Foliage Festival is always a fun time there, and Warner has great access to hiking and skiing, which are two things I love doing but don’t do often enough.

That brings me to my next question, what do you like to do outside of work stuff? I love to sing. I was in the Smiffenpoofs during my years at Smith College. (The “Poofs,” as they are affectionately called, are a singing group - the oldest women’s collegiate a cappella group in the U.S.) I miss having a regular, organized opportunity to sing with people (I can definitely be found singing at the top of my lungs when I drive, though!). Other things I like to do outside work include watching/playing soccer with my kids, watching them play, gardening, reading & talking about books, watching live music, traveling, cooking, and eating delicious food! I even like doing laundry, if you can believe it, and it’s a good thing I do because…(see below!)

Tell us more about your family. I have a husband and three kids - all boys! - ages 21, 11, and 7. It's pretty amazing to have such a spread in ages because I feel like I've always got a foot in every developmental stage. We've finally left behind the toddler/preschool stage, but I've got elementary school, middle school, and college going on at once right now. No pets, much to my chagrin - I’m not sure I need another “being” in my life that requires lots of love and attention, but when I’m ready, I’d love to add a “doodle” of some sort to our family!

Thanks for sharing your story with us, Molly!