Field Pros Direct welcomes Bridgewater Group to the family!

Field Pros Direct welcomes Bridgewater Group to the family!

Today we made an exciting announcement. As of March 2, 2021 Field Pros Direct announced the acquisition of Bridgewater Group, Inc., with their 25+ year track record of success as a third-party administrator (TPA) in the claims space. This acquisition brings together Field Pros Direct’s technology-based claims solutions and Bridgewater’s 25+ years of service-based knowledge, expanding opportunities for both companies, their teams and their stakeholders. 

With this new relationship comes opportunities for both companies to accelerate their property, liability, catastrophe (CAT) and TPA claims services by leveraging simple technology and their collective industry expertise. For Insurance Carriers, this relationship will expand the lines of insurance in which Field Pros Direct can offer technology-enabled solutions to streamline the claims process. For adjusters and team members, this will significantly expand opportunities for professional growth.  

Field Pros Direct is an experience-focused technology company that helps Insurance Carriers, Adjusters and Service Providers innovate their claims process, simply. Field Pros Direct’s CEO, Matthew Anderson, was drawn to Bridgewater Group, Inc. partly due to their outstanding track record of success in the London markets over the past 25+ years. 

“Bridgewater Group, Inc. is well-established in the London market which complimented our history of innovating through Lloyd’s Lab. Between both companies we can offer a wider variety of innovative solutions to the claims ecosystem in both Domestic and London markets, including robust technology-enabled solutions for Property, Casualty and CAT programs and more,” said Matthew Anderson, CEO of Field Pros Direct. “Beyond our business growth, we are truly excited to be able to offer both teams more opportunities to grow and expand the family-like culture that both Field Pros Direct and Bridgewater Group, Inc. were built on.”

“What brought us to Matt Anderson and Field Pros Direct was the level of comfort in knowing that he would take Bridgewater into the future while sharing so many of our values,” said Bridgewater Group’s co-founder, Barry Kriegel. “The potential that I saw with Matt Anderson was far greater than the sum of both parts.”

“We knew the day would come where we would step aside while setting up Bridgewater for continued success” said Cindy Custard, Bridgewater Group’s founder. “It was critical that with our continuity plan we ensured that our team and clients would be taken care of” continued Cindy. “Working with Field Pros Direct seemed like a win-win for everyone involved as I believe our strengths are what will make us better together.”

This acquisition enables both companies to drive further innovation across the Insurance industry through simple technology backed with deep industry expertise.

ABOUT BRIDGEWATER GROUP, LLC

Bridgewater Group is an 25+ year-old independent adjusting company specializing in third-party administration (TPA) of claims while servicing both Domestic and London-based insurance companies. For more information about Bridgewater Group, visit www.bridgewatergroup.net

Team Spotlight: John Darragh

This month we shine a Team Spotlight on our Director of Account Management, John Darragh, for his two-year anniversary at Field Pros Direct. For those of you who are new to our series, our Team Spotlight is a Q&A style-blog that will introduce you to our team on a deeper level. We highlight a different team member on their anniversary and ask them questions ranging from professional to personal matters. 

Part of providing a great experience is having the knowledge to understand what experiences need to be improved. John Darragh has been in the claims industry for over 45-years, providing us with a wealth of knowledge on good and bad experiences over time in insurance. If you haven’t met John, you will feel right at home when you do. While he may consider himself “shy,” others who have met him know that’s not the case. Join us on our journey to get to know John a little more during our Spotlight interview.

What is your role at Field Pros Direct? What does your average day-to-day look like?

As far as my role goes, it is the Director of Account Management. The position is a hybrid between sales and client support, as I manage client relationships and also nurture those relationships even after a sale is completed. 

Each day varies based upon the day, but generally, it starts with reviewing incoming correspondence from Carrier partners to ensure all their needs are taken care of. Then I move over to working on our Carrier Stewardship reports to provide them with performance trends and to help build a better relationship with them. 

Over the past year, what was your most rewarding experience?

There’s been a lot. I guess I would say that when I came to Field Pros Direct we were in the early infancy stages. It has been truly rewarding to see how the company has grown, from the people, to the technology, to the clients. I am genuinely proud of the team’s efforts under Matt Anderson’s guidance.

What is your favorite benefit or feature of the Field Pros Direct solution? 

I’ve been in the industry a while and have seen a lot. The most rewarding part of being here is really the team and the growth that has stemmed from such a great team. It’s very interesting to see how growth really looks, especially being that my history has generally been with more established companies that were entrenched in their ways.   I need to be dragged into some of the technology, but it’s been a lot of fun learning along the way! 

Over the past year, what is the biggest lesson you’ve learned? 

Everything doesn’t fit into the same mold. You need to be flexible and must be able to mold your product to the client’s needs. The reality of molding our services to fit their needs is not easy, but it’s necessary to maintain those relationships in the industry. Another lesson is that listening is really the key. People are used to salesmen and women walking in and talking the whole time – sometimes talking entirely too much. Being able to listen and really hear what their needs are is something we all need to be able to do.

In 3 words, how would you describe Field Pros Direct?

Collaborative. Flexible. People-focused. 

On Monday morning’s we spend time on a call with senior staff to get a report of what’s going on throughout the company. There’s a lot of collaboration that goes on within those calls to get input from everyone. Even if you don’t have direct dealing with a situation, we have the opportunity to share our perspective and get the perspective of others.  As far as flexibility goes, we have been quite flexible. We’ve been focused to service our clients and have had the flexibility to add people when we need to change and grow on the fly. As for being people-focused, that word really says it all. We pay attention to our people and know how important quality of life is for everyone. It’s essential to make sure they have the best quality of life to couple with their job so that they can get through life without the stress and strain that can come with working in this industry.   

What is something that people may not know about you?

I’m basically shy. I don’t like to talk about myself and would rather focus on others. It is very difficult for me to sit back and talk about myself. My joys in life are my wife, my two children, and my 6 grandkids and watching them grow, even though we haven’t been able to see them much with the pandemic. The grandkids range from 4-17 with 4 boys and 2 girls. When I’m not with my family in New Jersey, I like golf because I’ve gotten too old for all other sports. 

And that’s a wrap! You can find more about John Darragh at www.fieldprosdirect.com/meet-the-team or connect with him on LinkedIn. 

Welcome Neil Atkins to the Leadership Team

Welcome Neil Atkins to the Leadership Team

As Field Pros Direct continues to simplify the way property claims are handled with experience-based technology, we have strategically added a new Director of Claims Operations, Neil Atkins. Neil comes with over 17 years of experience in the insurance industry from the Nation’s largest Independent Adjusting (IA) firm to Enservio, a 15-year-old software company. Since entering the claims industry as an adjuster, Neil provides a perfect mix of first-hand adjuster experience, innovation, and CAT knowledge to the team. Moreover, he brings an eagerness to be a part of a culture that values constant innovation in order to shape the future of claims. 

When asked why Neil made the leap from Enservio to Field Pros Direct, he said that ”Field Pros really checked all of the boxes for me, from the culture and people, many who are familiar faces, to the vision and innovation of the product. There is a blend of new technology and fresh ideas that are really exciting.” Neil continues “This is very clearly an environment where you can be expressive, challenged, but also supported by a talented group of people who are in it to win as a team.”

”Field Pros really checked all of the boxes for me, from the culture and people, many who are familiar faces, to the vision and innovation of the product. There is a blend of new technology and fresh ideas that is really exciting.”

In Neil’s new role, he will be working directly with Field Pros Direct’s COO, Bentley Laytin, while managing our Carrier accounts and contributing to enhancing our claims process and technology.  “We are very excited to bring an individual of Neil’s caliber to the Field Pros Family. Neil not only has vast industry experience but also is a great addition to the culture” states Laytin, who also worked with Neil previously. 

Field Pros Direct’s entire leadership team is thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Neil. Matt Anderson, CEO says “Neil's desire to create solutions that solve problems for insurance carriers and adjusters make him a great fit for the Field Pros Direct family."

Join us in welcoming Neil to the Field Pros Direct Family! 

Field Pros Direct Expands Our Technology Team

Field Pros Direct Expands Their Technology Team

Optimizing experiences for our clients, our adjusters and policyholders has been at the forefront of our minds as we continue to build our team. To help deliver even more features and functionality, we recently brought on Jesse Schimmel and David Gurley as our newest Software Engineers. Michael Hearn, our technology lead, hand selected both engineers to ensure they could build our vision and fit into our culture by ultimately helping us provide a better experience.  

When asked what David saw appealing about joining the FPD team, he said:

I'm always looking to work with good people, doing good work, and people I trust spoke very highly about the company. I have also spent a large part of my professional life working for giant corporations, so it felt really good to join a smaller nimbler organization.

Both Jesse and David, are natural problem solvers and genuinely love coding - so much so that they both enjoy coding in their free time! Their passion will be essential in their new role, as they will be working on the development and completion of Version 2 of the Field Pros Direct platform.

"I'm extremely excited to have David & Jesse join our growing engineering department! They both bring some tremendous knowledge developing software to solve very similar problems to the ones we are solving", states Michael Hearn, Product Lead of Field Pros Direct.

Join us in welcoming Jesse and David to the Field Pros Team!

Team Spotlight: Mike Hearn

Team Spotlight: Mike Hearn

This month we shine a Team Spotlight on our Technology Lead, Mike Hearn, for his one-year anniversary at Field Pros Direct. For those of you who are new here, this series is a Q&A style-blog that will introduce you to our team on a deeper level. We highlight a different team member on their anniversary and ask them questions ranging from professional to personal matters.

Simplifying complexities through continuous innovation is one of our core values. Our technology plays a critical role in that innovation, which is why Mike’s job has such a huge impact on the entire Field Pros Direct experience. Mike’s background ranges from former adjuster to overseeing operations at a previous technology company, making his wide-range of skills a perfect fit for his role here (and well deserving of the nickname “technology guru”). We all wear many hats, but it’s our experiences and expertise that give our team the diversity to truly innovate our solutions. Wearing many hats himself, Mike tells us about what being a technology leader means to him. Now it’s time to dive in and get to know a little more about Mike Hearn. 

What is your role at Field Pros Direct? What does your average day-to-day look like?

As Technology and Product lead, my responsibility is the management of our proprietary software. That includes managing the product vision and roadmap. I work closely with our engineering department and business leaders to prioritize and release new product updates or features, ensuring the our product aligns with our overall vision.

“What does my average day look like?” I think I ask myself that on a daily basis, because is there really an “average day”? Simply put it is a lot of Slack, a lot of Asana and a lot of coffee. But really, it involves a lot of interaction with our business and engineering team to ensure that we are all in sync. I start the day reviewing communications to address any pressing items or bugs. If we encounter a bug it’s usually addressed first thing in the morning. If we have a new feature rolling out, I may be testing new features or helping support the internal or external users of the product.

Our external users drive what we do, with the goal to make their lives easier and provide a product they want to use. Feedback from that user group is critical. I love checking out their feedback so that we can find ways to incorporate their suggestions into future products and releases.

Over the past year, what was your most rewarding experience?

Honestly, I don’t know if there’s a specific experience, but a lot of rewarding experiences tie into our external users. When we see our users benefiting from our product, that’s really where I value the reward. I like to see people not only using our product, but actually benefiting from it. Anytime we get feedback like “wow this made my job easier” or “I never want to do another assignment without your product” that is what drives us and drives me.

What is your favorite benefit or feature of the Field Pros Direct solution?

That’s a pretty easy answer…the team. I wouldn’t even call it a team because I think we’ve really developed a family here. I know that sounds a little cliché, but the culture that Matt Anderson has developed here is certainly unique. I’ve had the privilege of working with Matt on other endeavors and he has a knack for assembling remarkable teams. This team is no different. The folks here are very forward thinking and aren’t afraid to try new things. It makes it easy to come to work every day. From a product leader perspective, it makes my job easier when you know you’re going to be supported by innovative minds when you’re trying to think of new ways to conquer some of the dated tasks the industry has.

To clarify “team”, we don’t just see team members as full-time Field Pros Direct employees. This is anyone we interact with on a daily basis which includes contract resources, our adjusters, and our partners. 

Over the past year, what is the biggest lesson you’ve learned?

One of the bigger lessons I’ve learned (and am still working on) is that sometimes it can be tough to manage expectations. In a world of product development, it’s all about getting product to market. Certainly, it can be tough to manage when ideally you want to release new updates as soon as possible. As the Product Leader, there is a fine line to walk to make sure that you’re releasing products timely, but more importantly making sure what we’re releasing is quality. Of course being “first to market” is important in the technology space. However, you don’t want to release new features just to release something - you want to make sure it’s quality and has impact.

In 3 words, how would you describe Field Pros Direct?

Family. Innovative. Disruptive.

 I think we’ve actually hit on them all in the previous questions. The first would be family, no doubt. I think our entire team (internal and external) work very hard to make sure this is a family-like environment. We all work hard, play hard and have a great time together. The second would be innovative. We have a lot of great ideas that may even be strange to some extent. But I think we have a lot of innovative ideas on how we can truly innovate this industry, together. The last would honestly be disruptive. What we’re doing and what we want to do will change this industry. I know that may seem like a pie-in-sky thinking, but I truly believe that the vision we’re working to accomplish can certainly be disruptive. And that, to me, is exciting!

What we’re doing and what we want to do will change this industry. I know that may seem like a pie-in-sky thinking, but I truly believe that the vision we’re working to accomplish can certainly be disruptive. And that, to me, is exciting!

What is something that people may not know about you?

This probably won’t come as a surprise to some, but I’m not a huge social media person. I guess I personally like to keep some things private. One of my passions people may not know about me is that I love to fish. I’m a huge kayak angler. There’s something about fishing from a kayak that’s drawn me in the past few years. Maybe it’s the fact that you are wrangling in a large fish when you’re pretty much sitting on the water. I fish fresh water, salt water and even competitively. I’m based near Charlotte, NC so the great thing is I can get to coast in a little over 3 hours to do plenty of saltwater fishing. There are certainly plenty of lakes and rivers near me to get the best of both worlds. 

Now for photos to debut Mike’s social media presence.

And that’s a wrap! Thanks for joining us for another Team Spotlight. You can find more about Mike Hearn at www.fieldprosdirect.com/meet-the-team or connect with him on LinkedIn.

FPD Virtual Adjuster Conference 2020 Takeaways

FPD Virtual Adjuster Conference 2020 Takeaways

On May 27th, 2020 Field Pros Direct went live with our first virtual conference. Each year we invite our network of Field Pros to meet in-person for a pre-CAT conference. Our conference focuses on providing adjusters with the training and information they need to go into CAT season ready to hit the ground running.

This year was one for the books. With COVID-19 and social distancing requirements, we were forced to find another way to connect with our adjusters – as cancelling the conference was not an option. So, this year we decided to try a virtual conference while opening it up to adjusters of all experience levels and rosters. 

Creating a virtual conference experience

We went in knowing that a virtual conference will not be able to replace the connections made at an in-person event. Instead, we attempted to do our best to provide a personalize virtual conference experience by using webcams, giveaways and fielding questions live – just like you would at an in-person session. The biggest benefit for our presenters and attendees was being able to attend without leaving their home. Adjusters saved tons on travel and entertainment costs without worrying about wearing a mask and gloves.

Carrier Session Highlights

At Field Pros Direct, we are lucky to have partnered with some pretty amazing Carriers for this conference. As an added benefit, we offered an FPD Carrier Certification for all adjusters who stayed for the duration of the Carrier presentations. This FPD Certification will help adjusters boost their ratings on our smart-matching roster. Here’s a quick recap of the sessions:

• Pharos: Erin Belk, Pharo’s Claim Manager joined us from Louisiana to discuss the policies and procedures adjusters should follow when investigating claims. Erin highlighted the importance of complete documentation on claims to ensure as much clarity as possible.

• Harbor: TJ Daffron, Harbor’s Assistant Vice President joined us from Gainesville, FL. TJ did a great job visually depicting examples of how to determine coverage of certain claims. His presentation was packed with good information sprinkled with a great sense of humor.

  • FUN FACT: The dog that interrupted the beginning of the session was a German Shepherd Lab Mix

• Managing the Public Adjuster: John Langowski, Chief Claims Officer of Swyfft joined us from Jacksonville, FL. John’s presentation had a slightly different angle than the others. He focused on providing best practices to manage a claims process when a public adjuster is involved.  

• Allied Trust: Ron Ligocki, Allied’s Field Claims Manager joined us from Tampa, FL to summarize Allied’s growth over the years in addition to their latest coverage areas. Ron went through a detailed best practice guide for all adjusters handling their claims.

• Boulder/ICAT: Randy Horden, Boulder’s Claim Manager, joined us from Tuscaloosa, AL to discuss ICAT’s coverages in detail in addition to their standards for claims processing. Randy also spent time explaining Boulder’s overall philosophy so that adjusters can be in alignment with their purpose.

Each presenter got 98%+ satisfaction rating from the attendees for their sessions. They each did a fantastic job covering their standards for handling claims – leaving our attendees asking for more!

The New Look of Flood

In addition to Carrier sessions, we also welcomed Bob Butler, Director of NFS, to present the new standards that come with virtual flood adjusting. On April 2, 2020, in response to COVID-19 FEMA released a bulletin giving guidance on handling flood claims remotely. Virtual adjusting is something that has become particularly prevalent during the past couple of months. While some have been utilizing this tool for long before COVID-19, others are being introduced for the first time – flood being one of them.

During this session, Bob and Mary Anne Medina, Field Pros Direct’s VP of Business Development, went through the considerations and requirements for handling flood claims remotely. For those of you who couldn’t attend, you can find NFIP’s claim manual here. Overall the session was very informative for flood adjusters of all experience levels.

Continuing Education and Our Event Partners

Between CE credits, and CPCU certifications, we partnered with some great education providers to present different options adjusters have to stay active. Ryan Holdhusen joined us from HAAG Education. Ryan discussed the benefits that an adjuster can expect by participating in their training programs. We also welcomed Adenike Adeniji from The Institutes. During her session she reviewed the different courses available and gave insights to help an adjuster decide which course may be right for them. Both sessions gave adjusters just enough information to plan for their next step in their professional development.

Virtual Hurricane Happy Hour

To end the 3-days of learning with some fun, we hosted a virtual happy hour. With COVID-19, virtual happy hours have become somewhat of the norm, but can also be a little awkward (not ours!). Our icebreaker was an interactive Hurricane quiz to test everyone’s hurricane knowledge. We had two adjusters tie for first place, leaving to rest of us with lots of new hurricane facts. The FPD team had a great time with the 30+ adjusters (and chicken) who joined the Field Pros Direct team for virtual cocktails with a twist.

And that’s a wrap!

With over 80% of our 200+ attendees saying they would come back next year – we were honored to be able to deliver a Field Pros worthy virtual conference experience. Thank you to all of our partners, Carrier presenters, adjusters and the FPD team for making our first virtual conference a success!

Interested in joining our next event? Like us on social media or subscribe to our blog to get the latest information about our upcoming events and more.

The Field Pros Direct Adjuster Conference goes Virtual May 27-29

The Field Pros Direct Adjuster Conference goes Virtual May 27-29

Every year we host an annual in-person conference to kick-off CAT season with our Field Pros and Team members. This multi-day event is generally filled with networking opportunities where adjusters meet the team while getting CE credits and learning about Insurance Carriers CAT plans. These events were designed to help empower our adjusters by providing them with the tools they need to go into CAT season with confidence. 

This year’s conference will look a little different. With social distancing still in effect, like many other companies, we are stepping outside the box and launching our first completely virtual conference. Our plan is to emulate as much of the in-person aspects of the conference while keeping everyone safe at home. 

About the FPD Virtual Adjuster Conference

During this 3-day event, we are bringing together FPD team leaders, Insurance Carriers and thought leaders to provide you with a wide range of topics. The schedule includes exclusive FPD Carrier Certifications, estimate platform refreshers and even Q&A sessions. By the end of the conference, we hope that all adjusters are ready to hit the ground running when the first hurricane touches down. 

Who Should Attend?

In year’s past, these events are generally reserved for Field Pros. The great thing about this virtual event is that we can now offer it to any adjuster – whether you are in the Field Pro network or not. Feel free to invite a friend too! 

5 Reasons Field Adjusters Should Attend

We know it’s hard to commit to a 3-day event, but if you’re an adjuster looking for more exposure this hurricane season you don’t want to miss this. Here’s 5 reasons why we think you should attend:

1. It’s FREE! Most adjuster conferences can come with a price tag, in addition to travel and food costs. Now, you can get the benefits of meeting the FPD team and learning about Insurance Carriers for free.

2. No travel time. Since it is a virtual event, you can join from virtually anywhere. Your couch, your office, a park nearby (if they are open), your phone – literally anywhere with internet or cell service. 

3. Increase your exposure. By registering for our event, it gives you the opportunity to get on Field Pros Directs radar. Whether you’re a Field Pro already or become one, this is a great way to increase the odds of getting jobs with Field Pros Direct during CAT season. 

4. Pick your schedule. 3-days may not work for your schedule, but that’s ok. You can pick the sessions you want to attend. Just sign into your account at fpdconference.com and select which sessions you are most interested in. 

5. Get FPD Certifications. When you complete an FPD Carrier Certification webinar you get a certificate of completion. This is an FPD exclusive certification. By getting certified with a Carrier it increases your chances of getting assignments through FPD for that carrier. 

How Can I Claim My Free Conference Ticket?

It’s easy. Visit https://bit.ly/fpdconference2020 and select “Ticket” to claim your free ticket. Be sure to fill out your full first and last name so that you can qualify for any FPD Carrier Certifications you attend. 

The entire Field Pros Direct team is excited to be able to offer this virtual conference for you. If you have any questions about the event or registration, you can contact Ally Momot at amomot@fieldprosdirect.com. We look forward to virtually seeing you there!

Team Spotlight: Matt Cronican

Team Spotlight: Matt Cronican

This month the Field Pros Direct Team Spotlight gets shined on our Director of Customer Success, Matt Cronican for his two-year anniversary. For those of you who are new here, this series is a Q&A style-blog that will introduce you to our team on a deeper level. We highlight a different team member on their anniversary to ask them questions ranging from professional to personal. 

Customer Success is a huge part of Field Pros core values, making Matt’s job incredibly important. He does a great job empowering carriers and adjuster success, as you will see throughout the interview. Matt’s problem-solving mindset and dedication to his job influenced a lot of the conversation - and we even discovered a great fun fact at the end! 

What is your role at Field Pros Direct? What does your day-to-day look like?

As the Director of Customer Success, my role is to ensure that our client’s guidelines and processes are implemented properly. The client guidelines range from how to assign claims, how to review claims and beyond. Based on their guidelines I will create training programs and processes and make sure any changes to these guidelines are clearly communicated. I also work closely with the team and clients throughout the onboarding process. 

Each day looks very different and changes often - especially during CAT season. This is why, for me, it's important to plan what items need to get done and give myself flexibility to handle the unexpected. Each morning starts with running reports on claims received and file statuses. This way I can make sure that our open inventory is being addressed and I can monitor capacity. In preparation for CAT season I’m hosting a lot of training calls for reviewers and adjusters to make sure that everyone is up-to-date. We all know how during CAT season the schedule goes out the window and you have little room to adjust. 

Do you have any tips for keeping your team organized during CAT season?

I think it boils down to communication, trust and expectations. Before and during CAT it’s important to set clear expectations so that everyone knows who is responsible for what. More importantly, creating a team of people you trust. When I assign something to one of our team members, there is no question in my mind whether or not it will be completed. Frequent communication is paramount. During a CAT there’s no room for slipping up, so I make sure that I communicate with the team daily (or multiple times a day) during a CAT to answer any questions or offer assistance.

Over the past year, what was your most rewarding experience?

There are a number of projects that I’ve been a part of this past year and am proud to be a part of. First off, our team has strategically doubled in size over the past year. We want to be a success story for our clients, so hiring talent from inside and outside of the industry helps us deliver on our promise. It’s been exciting to be along for the ride. 

Another one is the completion of phase 1 of our field application that we’ve rolled out to our adjusters. I work closely with our adjuster network, so I hear first-hand when they are having a problem. Once we rolled the app out, we saw that it reduces turnaround times and unnecessary phone calls and emails. It was fun and rewarding to work on a product that actually helped them. 

My most recent one was our Virtual Adjusting platform. On top of helping build out the program I stayed heavily involved in monitoring it’s progress after launching. I remember getting a call from a client after we completed our first virtual claim telling me how great this was. That’s the best reward - knowing that your hard work made an impact. 

What is your favorite benefit or feature of the Field Pros Direct solution? 

Our team and customer service. I know that’s broad and vague, but I’ve never worked with a more creative group that’s easy to communicate with. Everyday I know what is expected of me and what’s expected of others. More importantly, I know that I can ask for help if I need it. The fact that the team will gladly accept tasks when I need help, knowing that I would do the same for them really gives me peace of mind. 

Over the past year, what is the biggest lesson you’ve learned? 

Speak up! I wasn’t always one to speak up if I wasn’t the subject matter expert in the area. I’ve now realized that if I have an opinion about something, the team encourages me to let it be known. We all are SME’s of different areas of business and likely have overlapping knowledge. I may be the go-to person for a specific topic, but another team member may have insights that could trigger me to think about the topic differently. 

Another is to ask for help if you need it. The last thing you want is something to get missed because you didn’t want to ask for help. Asking for help is encouraged and when I’m not as busy, I offer my help. It’s a two-way street. Plus, when I help it generally teaches me something new. You never know when you’re going to learn something that can be applied to your role. 

In 3 words, how would you describe Field Pros Direct?

Intelligent, Collaborative and Supportive. 

We have brought together a lot of skill sets from different industries to be successful in anything we embark on. I’m surrounded by people with tremendous knowledge in business operations, finance, HR, programming and more. And, as I mentioned earlier, no matter what the skill set or job title is - everyone is here to support one another.

What is something that people may not know about you?

People probably don’t know how much I like to design and engineer things during my off time. This may be to my detriment, but I love finding different ways to solve problems I find. Recently I’ve gotten into 3D printing. During my free time I’m at home with a compass, calculator and graph paper thinking about what type of useful thing I can design and print. It’s challenging and has made me relearn things like trigonometry and geometry. It’s in my nature to solve problems. By designing and printing solutions, it makes me approach and solve problems differently and helps me see the big picture which I can translate into other areas of my life.

What is the most recent “cool” thing you’ve designed and/ 3D printed?

I’m a truck guy. I’m on my 3rd truck and frequently go camping with friends in Western North Carolina every year. One thing I find myself doing is changing up the way I sleep when I camp. I may go from a tent, to a hammock, to sleeping in the truck. No one way is ever perfect. One day I decided to use the dimensions of my truck bed to print brackets that mount to the bed rails. Using these brackets I was able to put together custom tent poles that fit into them, giving me a quick and secure way to sleep without having to carry a lot of extra gear. 

You can find more about Matt Cronican at www.fieldprosdirect.com/meet-the-team or connect with him on Linkedin. 

Interested in hearing more about Matt’s 3D adventures or asking Matt a question? Leave us a comment below!