It's the last spotlight of the season! This past month we've spent some time introducing all the wonderful people who make up the Peachtree team. If you missed last week, we heard from
Nicki Carmack, our Creative Director.
Today we have Matt Gray in the spotlight. He is our IT and Operations Manager as well as a consistent life saver.
Tell us about your
history with Peachtree.
I started at Peachtree ten and a half years ago as a marketing
intern. About a month into my
internship, one of the ladies that worked at the front desk at the time left
the company to move back home to be closer to her family. I was asked to pull double duty: at first by working
part time answering phones while spending the rest of my time continuing my
internship, and then after my internship ended, I was asked to spend that time
helping the sales department with stuff like order entry, invoicing, and trade
shows. Before too long I was moved over
to the sales department full time. Since
I had graduated from an engineering school and know my way around computers, I
started to be involved in technical projects; at the same time, my work with
trade shows got me more and more involved with logistics. That led me to a bunch of different roles
over the years, ranging at times from being an information specialist to a
project manager, and even running the warehouse for a bit before ending up in
my current role as the IT and Operations Manager.
What are your top
three favorite books, any genre?
I’m so glad you asked for three. I couldn’t pick just two, and four would have
been a nightmare, but in no particular order:
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
The Stand by Stephen King
Shogun by James Clavell
If you could be a
literary character for a day, who would you be?
It might be a bit of a cop out answer, but Jasper Fforde’s
Thursday Next. She’s able to move in and
out of any story or book ever written at will, so I could visit all of my
favorite books and characters that I wanted.
Who is your hero
or role model and why?
I’d have to say my parents. I’m extremely lucky to have them in my life
providing the example and guidance that they have.
What is your
favorite thing about working at Peachtree?
I’ve loved reading since as far back as I can remember,
and it’s an amazing feeling getting to help bring something you loved so deeply
as a kid to today’s children.
In your position,
what do you consider to be your secret weapon?
Does restarting a computer count? ;)
Do you have any
big interests or hobbies that you focus on outside of work?
Reading is and always will be the main one, but lately
I’ve been trying to improve more hands-on skills like home improvement and
cooking.
If, in an alternate
reality, you were to have gone a completely different career route, what would
you have done?
Believe it or not, I was actually this close to majoring
in physics in college.
Feel free to write any questions or comments for Matt below!
Labels: A to Z of Publishing, Behind the Scenes, Employee Spotlight, Interviews, Peachtree Publishers