With new and increasing client demands and a tremendous 2018 behind us, we’ve added a slew of new XDSers here over the past several months, from developers to strategists and producers. Instead of the usual drawn-out introduction, we asked them a few questions about themselves, some pretty straightforward, others a bit more thought-provoking (like superpowers and type of animal they are :)). We figured you don’t truly know someone until you know what their favorite 90’s movie is! So without further ado, meet our all-star team.
Mark Broomell, Lead Developer
Q: If you had to use an animal to describe your role at XDS, what animal would that be and why?
A: A majestic owl clutching a boombox playing Darude’s Sandstorm on loop. (I do my best work late at night and require dated 90’s beats to do said work.)
Q: Why did you choose to work at XDS?
A: I jumped on the opportunity to work with an agile, focused team that is dedicated to honing their craft.
Q: What is your favorite project that you’ve worked on in your professional career?
A: A web crawling / scraping robot that interacted with web APIs on a UI level to generate new leads for clients.
Q: What’s your superpower?
A: Teaching! I love educating others about web development.
Q: What advice do you have for prospective XDS candidates?
A: Work hard, communicate early and often, and know how to operate a coffee maker.
Q: Before working at XDS, what was the most unusual or interesting job you’ve ever had?
A: Program Director at an AM station outside Baltimore, MD.
Q: What’s your favorite 90s movie?
A: Raising Arizona.
Q: What are the top 2 things on your bucket list?
A: To hike/bike the Trans-Canada Trail and have a drink with Bill Murray.
Q: What is your favorite quote?
A: “If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.”
Tiffany Scott, Experience Designer/Strategist
Q: If you had to use an animal to describe your role at XDS, what animal would that be and why?
A: Octopus — speaks to my uncanny ability to juggle 8 different types of tasks at once!
Q: Why did you choose to work at XDS?
A: The opportunity to empower users to have a better quality experience with the medical industry — I want to help enable humanity to be better informed & feel more confident in their medical decisions.
Q: What’s your superpower?
A: Finding delicious gluten-free food in the Deep South.
Q: What advice do you have for prospective XDS candidates?
A: Be flexible, be ready to laugh at dad jokes, & be well-versed in gifs.
Q: Before working at XDS, what was the most unusual or interesting job you’ve ever had?
A: I taught ESL in Spain for 6 months during university!
Q: What’s your favorite 90s movie?
Q: What are the top 2 things on your bucket list?
A: Stay overnight in a castle on the northern coast of Portugal, & visit Trader Joe’s HQ to get the low-down on new food before it’s released.
Q: What is your favorite quote?
A: Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. ~picasso
Amy Merenlender, Digital Producer
Q: If you had to use an animal to describe your role at XDS, what animal would that be and why?
A: I would say this role is an Emperor Penguin, as they are extremely resilient animals!
Q: Why did you choose to work at XDS?
A: I chose to work at XDS for a couple of reasons. I liked the appeal of a startup because there is so much room for growth, and I would make more of an impact in my role than I would at a larger company. I also really liked the culture and values, which is very important to me. Being happy at work is half the battle. I can honestly say that I enjoy being part of the XDS team!
Q: What is your favorite project that you’ve worked on in your professional career?
A: My favorite project that I had worked on in the past was a Hot Buttons Veeva app that was completely custom, from the design to the development. I helped the client see her vision and took her through the entire process. Even though we had some challenges along the way, we delivered just in time for her National Sales Meeting. The reason I loved this app so much was because it was so unique to the Veeva platform, and we had never done anything like it before in the past!
Q: What’s your superpower?
A: I have the ability to laugh at just about anything.
Q: What advice do you have for prospective XDS candidates?
A: My advice is to be real and be passionate.
Q: Before working at XDS, what was the most unusual or interesting job you’ve ever had?
A: Oddly enough, I was a photographer at the Celebrity Apprentice Grand Finale event. Joan Rivers kept asking me if she looked good and to hold her makeup!
Q: What’s your favorite 90s movie?
A: Hands down, Big Daddy!
Q: What are the top 2 things on your bucket list?
A: See and photograph the Aurora Borealis, and really to just travel anywhere with my family. I want to expose my children to many different cultures and life experiences!
Q: What is your favorite quote?
A: “Inch by inch, life’s a cinch. Yard by yard, life’s hard.”
Will Figueiredo, Developer
Q: If you had to use an animal to describe your role at XDS, what animal would that be and why?
A: The animal I would use to describe my role at XDS would be a Cheetah because they are extremely fast and agile. As a developer, we must also be fast and agile.
Q: Why did you choose to work at XDS?
A: I chose to work at XDS because there is a huge potential for growth for both the company as well as myself as an individual. It’s exciting to be able to join the team early and see how far we can go.
Q: What is your favorite project that you’ve worked on in your professional career?
A: My favorite project I’ve worked on so far in my professional career would have to be a benefits calculator for a company’s new hires. Benefits can be quite difficult to understand and it’s not always clear how much money will be coming out of each pay for benefits so to create a tool to make that easier and clearer for new hires to understand was pretty cool.
Q: What’s your superpower?
A: Bringing ideas to life on the web.
Q: What advice do you have for prospective XDS candidates?
A: If you’re looking to work for a collaborative agency with great people and massive potential for growth XDS is the place for you.
Q: Before working at XDS, what was the most unusual or interesting job you’ve ever had?
A: When I was in high school, I worked at the local ice rink. While it’s not a very unusual job, it was the only job I’ve ever gotten paid to sit in an office and watch tv 90% of the time.
Q: What’s your favorite 90s movie?
A: This is a tough one as there are a lot of great 90s movies. However, growing up in the 90s and a sports guy, it’s a toss-up between The Mighty Ducks and The Sandlot.
Q: What are the top 2 things on your bucket list?
A: I haven’t put much thought into a bucket list having still not reached 30 years of age, but if I had to pick 2 things right now they would be to visit the hockey hall of fame in Toronto and to do the Stephen Ambrose Band of Brothers tour across Europe.
Q: What is your favorite quote?
A: You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.
– Wayne Gretzky
– Michael Scott
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About XDS
Created with the purpose of providing big agency services without all the rigidness and overhead, The Experience Design Studio is a full-service East Coast-based Digital Agency that focuses on customer experience solutions in the health and wellness industry.
With strategy at our core, XDS make our client’s tools and technology easy to use, engaging, and effective by looking at the complete customer experience – analyzing every touchpoint with the core focus of understanding how real people, patients, doctors, mothers, fathers, payers – interact with an experience.