Welcome to Fluid Truck’s Employee Spotlight blog - where we highlight one of our awesome employees once a week so that you can meet the people behind Fluid Truck!
At Fluid Truck, our product is people. We bring in smart, talented people with a lot of ambition and we give them the opportunity to grow and expand their skill sets rapidly. Our end goal is to equip every person who joins our team to one day grow beyond us to create incredible things on their own. Learn more about our employees every week! Interviews are edited for clarity.
Week Four: Meet Stephen J.
Stephen - or Joos as we call him around here - is the Head of Product at Fluid Truck. He’s the guy behind our product development, along with a huge team of developers, which is a big job at a tech-focused startup like ours! In addition to being an app genius, he’s known as the office bartender and can be found scooting his way around Denver on his electric scooter. Keep reading to learn more about the one and only Joos!
What do you do when you’re not working?
I have recently been going to school! I just finished getting my MBA at the University of Warwick. That's been taking all of my free time, and it's been very challenging to balance! When it's not school time, I like doing outdoor stuff - probably like everyone else. I like to ride motorcycles and road bikes, and I like to scoot around to different spots around time.
Do you have any pets?
Olive the pandemic puppy! She's a rescue - a toy poodle. A tiny little thing! She's very sweet.
What’s your favorite part of your job?
I like solving all of the very interesting problems that pop every day. I like talking to our customers - and learning the interesting ways that they use our trucks. Everybody is using our trucks to get a job done, and every day I'm learning about different ways that businesses work. I haven't seen this, but there's a guy who uses us for a balloon company! I keep thinking about opening the back of the van and balloons getting sucked out!
Do you have any secret talents?
I can cook eggs to spec! 🍳
What’s the best professional advice you’ve ever received?
“Feedback is a gift.” It's from my old COO named Luis. He would always say it kind of jokingly - it was half sarcastic because he usually said it after we got yelled at by someone higher up. In reality, it is actually a gift.
Do you have a favorite line from a movie or song or book?
"This is an adventure" -- from The Life Aquatic
If you were going to have a TED Talk, what would it be about?
My wife and I have a social enterprise called Small Screens. It's about mobile education for smartphone learners. So, how do people who are getting a smart phone for the first time learn how to use it? My TED Talk would be called, "The opportunity that there is with new smartphone users." There are millions of people who are getting a smartphone for the first time that are adults. Everyone thinks about children and kids, but as the price of smartphones go down, more people are going to be getting one for the first time. There is no support for them. Think about Uber as it grows - for example in Kenya. Drivers have phones for the first time. You're introducing this brand new thing and there are so many possibilities.
If you could have a Fluid Truck full of something, what would it be?
Pappy Van Winkle.
What is your favorite snack?
Tate's Chocolate Chip cookies - mini, super crunchy chocolate chip cookies.
Any hobbies or side hustles?
Small Screens, and I help out my wife with her podcast - it's called “ESL for Equality." I'm also on the board of a nonprofit called Bright by Text. They're about changing outcomes for families through communication for new parents.
What would you tell someone who wants to work for Fluid Truck?
If you want the latitude and responsibility to actually solve real world problems, Fluid Truck is for you.
Want to work with super interesting folks like Joos at a company that’s actually solving real world problems? You’re in luck - we’re hiring! Click here to check out what positions we have available.
