In this new blog series, we’ll be featuring our staff here at Switchbox Inc. to give you a little more insight into what it’s like to work here, and all the interesting stuff that our team gets up to! First up is our CEO and Founder, Joel Stephens.
What do you do at Switchbox?
I do a lot of different things here at Switchbox, but creating a vision where tech is moving and that intersection with what our clients need is a large portion of what I do. As well as cultivating the team culture, making sure our team is taken care of, and how to make it even better. I basically got to create a company that I love to go to work everyday.
On the daily list, I’m usually interacting with clients, and getting to know a wide range of people. Giving them suggestions & ideas to help their visions come to life. Helping them to be successful in their own businesses. Sometimes the largest changes in organizations don’t have to be expensive and time consuming, if you know the right thing that needs to be done, a small change can have a massive impact.
What is your favorite memory at Switchbox?
Working on a project right when I started Switchbox, which was launching a medical tracking application that improved the quality of medical care for 50,000 patients a year. A lot of these patients that have diabetes & hypertension, which were very treatable, but the average person was only able to be seen every 6 weeks vs. every 2 weeks when they should be coming in. There was a huge gap in the scheduling because the administration staff was relying on memory vs. looking back on the data. This software enabled them to be able to track when each patient should be coming in for a check up visit.
It was such a cool experience to be able to create and execute a fairly simple application that was able to make a large difference in a huge number of people’s medical care. 10 years after the launch the CDC approached us with a request to review the data, because it was the only system they were aware of with this type of statistics in such a clean format.
What’s your favorite movie or TV show?
I barely watch TV and when I do it’s with my kids. Instead I’ll say that my favorite “be-lazy-and-let-your-mind-go-blank” activity is listening to fiction audio books. A personal favorite is “The Martian” by Andy Weir. The movie was good but you really have to read the book.
What do you like to do when you aren’t at work?
Our family loves family vacations, and that work hard, play hard mentality. In 2020 I got my private pilot’s license, as well as high performance endorsement. Some of my other hobbies include scuba diving, BMW race school, recreational home remodeling, and camping. I also love to take long morning walks to start my day.