Making Better Decisions: Leaders in Data

In this week’s episode of Making Better Decisions, host Ryan Sullivan sits down with Brady Crawford (Senior Associate BI Analyst at Cerity Partners.) Brady emphasizes the critical role of trust, relationship building, and strategic alignment in fostering a successful data culture within organizations, particularly in tech consulting. They highlight the importance of moving beyond technicalities to understand the "why" behind data practices and decisions. This approach not only enhances collaboration but also ensures that data initiatives align with broader business goals and strategies.
 
Takeaways:
  • Brady emphasizes that trust and relationship building are crucial in building a successful data culture within any organization. This involves understanding colleagues' and clients' roles, their goals, and their perspectives, which helps in aligning data strategies effectively.
  • Brady speaks on the concept of data culture being described as integral to how organizations operate and make decisions. It begins with leadership commitment to using data effectively, aligning resources and strategies with clear business goals, and ensuring data literacy across the organization.
  • The need for effective relationship building facilitates smoother project execution and client engagement. By understanding individual preferences, communication styles, and professional goals, consultants can tailor their approach to effectively collaborate and deliver value.
  • Brady reflects on the dynamic nature of consulting roles, where continuous learning and adaptability are essential. Both Ryan and Brady find value in tackling new challenges and leveraging their team's expertise to build robust data solutions that support organizational growth.
  • The conversation underscores the interconnectedness of technical expertise, relationship building, and strategic alignment in fostering a successful data culture within organizations, particularly in the context of tech consulting and financial analytics.

Quote of the Show:
  • “Trust and relationship building are key pillars to building a successful data culture.” - Brady Crawford

Links:

Ways to Tune In:

Creators & Guests

Host
Ryan Sullivan
Guest
Brady Crawford

What is Making Better Decisions: Leaders in Data?

Dive into the dynamic world where data meets decision-making! Hosted by Ryan Sullivan, a seasoned analyst, this podcast is your go-to resource for understanding how organizations harness the potential of data to drive strategic decisions. Join us every Wednesday as we navigate the ever-evolving landscape of data-driven transformations, making every episode a journey toward smarter decisions and better outcomes. Making Better Decisions is proudly sponsored by Canopy Analytic, helping companies make better decisions using data.

MBD - Brady Crawford
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[00:00:00] This is Making Better Decisions. I'm your host, Ryan Sullivan. Decisions are where rubber meets the road for organizations. Each week, we'll be learning from people who are on the front lines of turning raw data into better outcomes for their organizations. This show is sponsored by Canopy Analytic, helping companies make better decisions using data.

Ryan: to another episode of the making better decisions podcast. Today's guest is an experienced business analyst with a focus on business intelligence and data analytics. He's spent multiple years in both consulting and developer capacities, helping companies across the United States perform data tasks such as data warehousing, integration, visualization, and even dabbling into some advanced analytics.

He's Microsoft certified in Power BI and Azure Data Fundamentals. Senior Associate BI Analyst at Serity Partners, please welcome Brady Crawford. Thanks for joining Brady. Glad to have [00:01:00] you.

Brady: Yeah. Thanks, Ryan. Pleasure to be here and, uh, love, love this podcast. Uh, it's super helpful. Uh, I was telling you the other day, but, uh, I think it's really, really good for somebody in our position to be going and listening to stuff like this, because I think there's always more to learn from others in the industry.

So appreciate what you do here. Yeah,

Ryan: Yeah. Thanks. I, I really appreciate that. I think one of the things that's been fun to me is as I've, you know, in my formative years as a developer and a consultant, I was consuming a lot of, you know, more or less like how to content, you know, and that got increasingly more complicated. And I was reading like all sorts of like, you know, crazy books and tutorials and like always on the cutting edge of the tech.

But one of the things that, you know, I've definitely found is that some of the, Strategic side of those conversations kind of more of like the why are we doing this? Um has has become a lot more valuable to me these days and it seems like there's a market of people that want to You know consume that much that information as much as they want to consume some of the how to [00:02:00] information Um, so thanks for listening anyways one of the uh, the kind of Standbys for this podcast.

One of the things that we like to keep static is, is our initial question. And then things kind of go off in their own direction from there. So I'll ask you the same question that I start everybody off with. What is the one thing you wish more people knew about using data to make better decisions?

Brady: Yeah. Great question. Uh, there's, there's a lot of different answers you could give. I think in my own personal experience, I would say that trust and relationship building are key pillars to building a successful data culture, whether that be at your business. wherever it may be, I think, especially in developer roles or consulting roles, we'll get into the technicalities of everything and get really drenched in the tools that we're using and drenched in just getting from A to B, but we don't always ask why.

So I think that's really critical, you know, trust and relationship [00:03:00] building with colleagues, with clients, whatever your role may be, That is super critical because in talking to people, you get to better understand them, what their role is in the organization and what they're trying to do, and the more we can get to the why, we less focus on the what and the how, and the why helps drive us in the what and the how and how we get there, so.

Ryan: Yeah, absolutely. You know, I think of, you know, it, it feels fairly obvious in the consulting space, you know, sure. Consulting, particularly tech consulting, has this kind of information asymmetry. It's a lot like, you know, somebody going to like a car mechanic or to like, you know, get something, you know what I mean?

Like if you don't really understand cars and this person tells you it's going to cost five grand to get your car fixed, you're just kind of like, well, will it? You know, because they, they have information you don't have. And it's kind of the same thing in our line of work, right? Like [00:04:00] we understand this technology really, really well.

And when you're working with other people, you know, you tell them how long something's going to take, or it's going to cost, or, you know, that's an easy ask, that's a complicated ask, you know, Oh, you don't actually want to do it that way until you've developed. Some of that trust and rapport and, you know, things like that, you know, it's tough for somebody to know, you know, how, how best to work with you.

And I, I definitely found that there were times where, you know, you, you build something for somebody, they see that it's great, they run into the same problem that you warned them about. And then they're like, Oh, okay. You know? And so then the next time you're like, you don't really want to do that. They're like, okay, I won't do it.

You know, and you know, that gets, that gets built over time. One of the things that. That you mentioned, you said, you know, you talked about trust and relationship building, being critical to make a good data culture. What is, you know, a lot of us talk about this. What does data culture mean to you? [00:05:00] Hmm.

Brady: I, I think data culture is something that frankly that organizations either have or they don't. And I think it really speaks to how the business operates and how it makes decisions really. So, uh, to me, data culture is all about, uh, multiple different steps. You know, I think from the beginning it has to be leadership commitment.

So from the top of the business, your leaders have to be committed to using data. And what that means is investing in it right. So investing in the right resources, but also investing the right people and making sure that they align with the firm and the overall clear vision and strategy that you're laying out for what data is going to speak to.

And, uh, in that, then you take that strategy and that vision. And then I think that's where relationship building and then data literacy comes into play. Because once you come in here, And again, you sit down, you can get really technical, but I think it's important to take it [00:06:00] to the high level to people that aren't always dug into the data, like we are at a row level, going field by field, looking at something and then helping them to understand what we're trying to measure, what they're trying to measure and how we can piece that data together and then.

Really set out and document here's what this field is going to represent in your data. Here's what this KPI is trying to measure. Here's why we're trying to measure it and making sure there's alignment there. And that's where the relationship building is really important because you're going to work with different personality types.

There's going to be people that are super data minded, focused, love digging in row by row. And then you'll work with other people that aren't that interested in digging into a row by row. Like I just want a high level of what, My business, what my piece of the firm is doing and, you know, what am I doing?

Well, what are we not doing well, so we can work on improving that. And I think with that comes data governance, because that creates the cat, the accountability factor. So whenever you're working with [00:07:00] those people and building those relationships and working through data, then you can get into, okay, how do we.

Make sure that we build processes and build different things in place to make sure that we're capturing this data appropriately and Continually doing it the same way, making sure it's consistent to improve not just overall data quality, but the decisions that we're making, because the better the data, the better the decisions at the end of the day.

And, yeah, right, right. Hopefully. And so, yeah, that's the thing. I think, you know, there's, I know I talked about multiple different pieces there, but. To me, that relationship building is the key of it all, because as soon as you get that commitment from leadership, you get your vision and your strategy of what your data is going to look like and how you're going to use it, then it's really BI analyst role, uh, whoever it may be in that organization to say, okay, Even managers, like let's emphasize what this data means.

Let's make people accountable for what we're [00:08:00] using this data for and make sure that we continue to consistently use it across the base. And fortunately myself, I've been in a, in a great role with Serde partners where data is everything to us. You know, we have leadership commitment across the organization and we're continuing to invest in that.

And, you know, they understand the importance and it shows in the day to day, because We're constantly growing, constantly making decisions that are improving the firm. And in my past experiences, I've seen companies that did that well and companies that didn't do it well, and companies that are trying to figure out what does it take to get there?

You know, and, and I think those are the key steps. I think it's maybe a little bit easier than most think, but you have to get buy in. That buy in is so important that everybody understands the importance of it. You create that accountability, continually improve it, and then document it. You know, document what you're doing, how you're doing it, why you're doing it.

And then as you gain new [00:09:00] colleagues, uh, you continue to emphasize that, or gain new clients, you continue to emphasize that.

Ryan: Yeah, I like that. I mean, I think that one of the things that I've found over the years, having worked with, you know, a lot of different companies, big and small, is that is, you know, you're absolutely right about the buy in, right? It's critical. If, you know, the things that we're doing are just kind of like every month having to fight for their life, you know, then.

You're kind of in this situation where what is most easy to measure is what gets measured and considered successful. And that's not necessarily the stuff that leads to the best business performance. So one of the things that I've found on that buy in front is that at least to me, buy in means like a fundamental agreement that the use of information will improve all areas of the business. Because if you believe in that, then you say. [00:10:00] Oh, well, like what's the ROI of this particular like dataset? And you're like, well, I don't know, you know, but like somebody in operations will eventually have a question and that change, that's where you'll see the ROI, but it's not really predictable.

You know, it's a lot like, uh, you know, the, the saying that, you know, people have for marketing, that's actually been mentioned on the pod here, right? Like people know. That marketing works. They just don't know which half of the marketing that they're doing is the part that's working, you know? And my, and my thing is that, you know, obviously data person says, invest in data.

regardless of ROI. Like, I don't mean that, right? Like, obviously like the, it's a, it's a balancing act. You know, I'm actually not someone who thinks you should just go off and spend a million dollars on building a data warehouse before you build your first report. Like, no, no, no. Like, let's start, let's start doing simple well and gradually, as you said, that, that mindset of just start and do continuous improvement.

Um, but you know, I do, I do kind of see every once in a while, like, you know, business pressures are [00:11:00] reality, but to the extent, You know that we can focus on, you know, like longer term investment in providing resources to people as opposed to like a singular product, you know, like a single report. I've seen that work much better.

Now, one of the things, you know, that, that you've touched on is relationship building a couple of times. And, you know, I remember kind of being, You know, fresh in this space and just kind of like, you know, something like that, like makes sense to me. Like I could vibe that like, Hey, these people are trying to buy on trust.

Like how do I build that trust? And like really the only answer I ever had was just do like really solid work and work. Crazy hours and everybody will like you. And over time, I've realized that like, there's a little more to it than that. So I wanted to see if I could get your take, like what are some of, you know, the action steps, you know, thought patterns that you might pass on to someone [00:12:00] as far as how to start building some of those good relationships?

Brady: Yeah, for sure. And I think, uh, especially early on in my career too, in consulting, I think that was the way that I thought it had to be done. Uh, thankfully I've found that, like you said, there's a lot more to that. Um, obviously, you know, the more you work, the harder you work on something for somebody.

They're, They're more inclined to like you, but, uh, you know, thankfully, but, uh, in my experience now, uh, for me, it is all about getting to know that person. What is their role? Why are they in that role? You know, and figuring out really more about them on a personal level. Even personality traits to know, are they more introverted or extroverted talking about, are they more of the finite, you know, analytical row by row?

Are they more of the high level thinker? Um, and the way I really do that is like, before I try to dive into any project. I really try to get to know business leaders before a project even comes to me. You know, in a developer role, I had the opportunity to do [00:13:00] that, knowing who our business leaders are and try to make an effort to make that connection to talk.

Even if it's not about data itself, just talking about day to day lifestyle, you know, what our roles look like, what we're doing on a day to day. Because I think Not only are you developing that relationship on a personal level, but you're also learning about their role and, you know, the different things that they're really focused on.

You know, they tell you without you actually having to go ask like, what are you doing and why is it important to you? Cause I think that's a little bit more like, you know, on the spot type question where they're afraid to answer. If you just get to know them. They're going to naturally talk about those things that are important to them, naturally talk about what their goals are for not just themselves, but the people that are under them, the people that are working around them.

And then once you do get into a project, how much easier is it, you know, when you step into that room with that person and you've already developed that relationship and you can talk about, you know, here's what [00:14:00] we're trying to track. Here's why we're trying to track it. How do we get there, you know, and, and why are we doing what we're doing?

And. All those questions become far, far easier. You know, for me, that first step in a project with business requirement documentation of saying. You know, here's the list of things that we're going to try to tackle in this report, that meeting gets cut in half because we're already sort of on the same wavelength as far as what they're looking for.

So I think that's, that's the biggest thing. I mean, make an effort to try to, you know, if, if you're in a developer role, make an effort to reach out to the people are going to be leading and that you'd be building reports for. I think consulting, it's sort of the same, you know, you don't have as many opportunities with a client to, to go out there, but you definitely still have the opportunity to get to know that client on a personal level and understand why they do what they do.

Ryan: Yeah. I, I absolutely love that. You know, it's so funny, you know, whether it's, you know, some of the, the stuff that we're [00:15:00] making here on the podcast or like content that I go out and consume and, and all of these places, it's funny the answer to like how many questions is just, yeah, just like craft, like a real human being, positive relationship, right?

Like get to know that person. You know, and it's like, everyone's like, Oh my God, that's me. You know, it's like, Oh yeah, just like, like, yeah, talk to people, get to know them. Like everything works way better when

Brady: Don't be an AI robot, anything like that. Just be yourself, be a person.

Ryan: exactly. You know, so like one of the things that, that I've found is obviously, you know, being in a very kind of, Technical computer empowered role.

It's very, very easy to be, uh, remote with a lot of this stuff. And to, you know, one of the things that I've found is that the remote environment though, totally fine and workable, um, it does kind of lend itself to like send request human on the other end of the computer, works on requests, send the request back.

And, you know, there's like, it's. [00:16:00] Something that, you know, I try to battle against like creating like tighter cycles where we're like communicating more often throughout the process so that it's not just like big, long development spurts. And the person doesn't know where things are at. You know, another thing that I found again with that, that remote thing is just getting, The opportunity to try and, you know, meet in person, even if, like you said, you don't get that many opportunities, but like every time you get the chance to just say like, Hey, you're in town, like let's get a cup of coffee or a bite or whatever.

Um, you know, I've found that that, you know, you end up talking about all sorts of stuff and it's just much more comfortable. Um, you know, so I think that that's, that's great advice. Just kind of like the human element. It's, it's amazing, you know, how it's everywhere.

Brady: that's a great point too. And I think, you know, remote work obviously is ever since COVID has really taken off and, uh, you know, with legacy Argi before we merged with Serity partners, um, You know, we were pretty much in office majority of the time, but [00:17:00] now Serde Partners is east to west coast, you know, and so on an operational level, from where I'm at in the organization, helping clients from east to west, you know, I'm helping clients in San Francisco, I'm helping clients in, in New York or Chicago with certain reports and, The point you made was great because I was talking to my, my boss, Connor, about this, but we went to Chicago last year to get in person.

First time. I met some of my teammates from there and also our COO and some of the other leadership team and talked about just face-to-face, you know, having, having dinner, talking to each other, getting to know each other, and I felt like leaving there for some reason. Even though you're in it every day and you're getting that, you know, process of what we're trying to do, why we're.

it. I felt like leaving there, I had more energy or like my, my mind was more settled because I'd had that opportunity to connect with him personally. And I've been like, okay, like we're on the same wavelength now. We know what we're trying to do. [00:18:00] Uh, and I think it leaves you wanting more of that. And I think it's on, it's the same way on the other side, right?

Like the client or that person. They want to work with you more. They want to get to know you more. And again, all of that leads to successful building down the line.

Ryan: absolutely. I mean, one, one other thing that, that I found that I'm kind of curious to know, I mean, I know that, you know, now with Sarah to your kind of like a little bit more focused on financial stuff. And I actually want to circle over to that in a moment. But, um, One of the things I found with consulting is it's, you know, in general, like data concepts are pretty much always the same.

Like people are like, Oh, well, what type of data? And I'm just kind of like, eh, you know, it doesn't, it doesn't really matter. However, from like a trust standpoint and like getting to build relationships, like, At this point in my career, like most major industries, departments, functions, like I've at least touched like one thing in the past related to that.[00:19:00]

One of the things that I found was like somebody, you know, you're coming in to meet someone and it's like, Hey, like I did some research on your company ahead of time, like prior to coming, you know, whether it's, you know, a meeting with an individual or, you know, going to talk to a client, like having looked up that person on LinkedIn, having like checked out their company's website, like if it's an industry that I'm not familiar with, like, have I made myself.

At least familiar with like, okay, like what do you actually sell? Like, what are some, you know, of the terms, what are the types of quantities that you care about, you know, and like getting to have those conversations with people, it shows that like, okay, like they're smart, but they also, you know, are willing to invest, which again, like it goes to that personal relationship stuff that, that you've been talking about.

Brady: Absolutely. Yeah. LinkedIn was a game changer, I think for sure. Uh, just in that, in that space, cause that, that gives you all the upper, if you're in consulting, like. use LinkedIn to your advantage, you know, that was absolutely a great tool to get to know a client, to see what they're working on, [00:20:00] what their company's tied to.

For sure. That's a great point.

Ryan: Yeah. So, like I said, I want to transition and learn a little bit about. analytics within the financial space. So I was wondering, can you take a few minutes and tell us kind of like at a really high level, like what type of analytics work you're doing right now?

Brady: Yeah, for sure. Absolutely. So, uh, once we came in, so I was originally looking Uh, Argi Financial Group. We merged with C Partners at the end of 20 21 20, or, sorry, 2022. Uh, time goes by fast

Ryan: Yeah.

Brady: but, uh, once we merged with them. So with Argi, I was really focused on the Power BI space. I, I had that background in consulting of data warehousing, uh, helping firms.

When I did that, uh. build their data warehouse and then get to the point where you could report in Power BI.

Ryan: Mm

Brady: Argi, we were more focused on building those reports just straight out of a dynamic CRM. You know, we didn't have a data warehouse. [00:21:00] We hadn't got to that point yet. Um, and so once we emerged with Serity Partners, uh, Connor Powell, myself, my boss, room with the, with the finance team and with, uh, Will Johnson and, uh, data engineering team and Reggie Hopton, who was there, uh, initially to talk about.

You know, what's the goal? You know, like what we're talking about here, what, what's, what's the goal? What are we trying to achieve? Why are we trying to achieve it? And they were in the process of building a data warehouse. And so, uh, just like consulting, when you get dropped into that, it's a whole new ball game.

Yeah. So really the first, uh, six months, I would say, or so it was all about learning how our data warehouse functioned. And really just running SQL queries, getting comfortable with the data. So, uh, what the software is that we use, we use, um, Python to pull scripts, uh, from our APIs or our portfolio management systems for where we manage [00:22:00] assets from different custodians and then as well as Salesforce.

So we use Salesforce CRM and then Will and Tim Hunt, who worked with us at Argi Financial Group now is on the data engineering team with Serity. They work together and they do. Phenomenal work. I mean, they're the ones that really do that back end lifting of, you know, pulling that data and getting it using Meltano to do the ETL processes and then.

We use data lakes. And then from that, we then build data marks. And so using those data marks, that's what we use for our reporting. And really our reporting is pretty mainstreamed right now. I mean, we're focused on identifying client activities. So new clients, lost clients, and the different pillars of our business.

We're tracking, you know, our assets, our market return, uh, and then also, you know, just common business. KPIs, which is revenue and things of that nature. And so, uh, we. are centralizing everything [00:23:00] in that data warehouse. And again, building the firm's trust in that. So working with market leaders, working with everybody and then using it for day to day.

I mean, the goal is to make it a one stop shop and make things easier, things that should not be difficult, make it easy. So whether that be our ADV reporting or whether it be, we're trying to report something to our board, you know, that that's our goal in life. I think every business intelligence. person, consultant can say, like, we want to make things easier.

And, uh, Will Johnson always says it. He's like, if, if you can dream it, we can build it, but he can build it a lot better than I can, so I'll give him credit on that. But, uh, but you know, it's, the sky's the limit in that. And, uh, you know, so that's really the main goal right now. And then we do, we are building Power BI reports and we have reports, growth reports for all of our pitfalls.

Pillar leaders. So working with them to identify how they want to track opportunities, how they want to track [00:24:00] leads within their different sectors of the business. And then try to tie that together to not only what the firm goals are, but where we want to be, uh, we're constantly growing firms. So I'd say that's the biggest challenge for all of us, uh, at Serity Partners is, you know, we're constantly emerging in new firms and welcoming colleagues to grow with us.

And with that, you're going to have different systems, uh, different Different people, you got different, different locations, different styles. And it's challenging, but it's, it's fun too. Like I, at Argi, what I always say is I feel like at Argi for some reason, I was like able to stay a step ahead. At Serity Partners, it seems like I'm usually a step behind.

But I don't view that as a bad thing. I think it's actually rewarding because you're constantly being thrown new things and new challenges that you have to think through. And, you know, sometimes they're a headache, but at the end of the day, like once you solve that thing, it's like, okay, like. This is amazing what we're able to do.

You know, we're, we're [00:25:00] managing a, a massive RA firm, uh, and centralizing all this data in one place for us to report on. And, uh, it's, there's not a lot of firms that are able to say that. And that's why I'm so happy where I'm at because Like I said, they just invest in the right people. They invest in the right systems and, uh, there's commitment.

You know, we, we have a lot of really, really great people and a lot of really good seats in our firm and a lot of across the leadership. And I think without that, you know, I don't know if Serde Partners would be where it is today. So absolutely.

Ryan: Well, that's, that's awesome and very exciting to hear. I mean, I think one of the things, you know, this obviously, you know, Saying, you know, like the financial sector, that means that's a lot. It's like a really, really big section of the economy. But you know, if I can be so bold from my experience as to say that, like in general, the financial sector [00:26:00] from a technological adoption standpoint.

I would say kind of like lags behind other industries. Now,

Brady: Yeah, for

Ryan: in, in, in fairness, I think that this makes a lot of sense, right? Like there are certain places, you know, like if I make widgets and I do some sort of like cool tech adoption and that shows me how I can make them for 2 percent less cost. Okay.

Well that matters, you know, whereas if I do a bunch of like cutting edge financial reporting. I don't know how much like the return on investment is. Whereas if I get that number wrong, like for example, like, Oh yeah, we put together this new report and it goes out to the clients and they're like, what, this is half of my actual assets under management.

It's like, okay. Yeah. You know, so like messing with other people's money or their perception of their money is something that, you know, everybody's very cautious around. So I think that caution has caused, you know, Uh, a [00:27:00] higher focus on kind of stability, predictability, reliability, and like less of a focus on some of the cutting edge stuff.

And what was cool was that like all of the things that you mentioned to me were, were areas where, you know, some of that risk isn't there, but you're able to reap some of those returns, right? Like looking at things like, you know, client retention and all that stuff. Tell me a little bit about what it's like working in the financial sector where there is this kind of like caution.

I think duly so, but there is this caution. How are you guys, you know, doing such a good job of moving forward? And, you know, I, I'd have to say, I think beating at least some of your peers by doing that.

Brady: Yeah, for sure. Uh, for me, it's, it's tied to the data governance space. I think that we do, of anywhere I've ever seen or experienced, we do such a great job of constantly monitoring and thinking about processes that we have in [00:28:00] place and seeing where there's gaps and where there's gaps, we instantly try to, okay, let's develop a game plan.

What part of the organization does this touch? Which advisors team, teams does this touch? How do we get them to. You know, lay out a simple standardized process of here's how we're going to do this. Uh, we use Confluence a bunch, which you may or may not have heard of, but documentation tool, and it's a full resource of.

Those types of processes and procedures, but also things like our data warehouse. How does our data warehouse function and give a high level overview for anybody in the firm that needs to go in and read about that. And I think also, again, talking about our investing, uh, we're, we've began Serety Partners University, which is located in our Louisville office.

And we're completely renovating that office. And we're bringing in all of our new colleagues, the next generation of advisors to learn, not just financial advising, but learn the pieces that like myself, [00:29:00] compliance, accounting, billing do on a day to day. And like, here's our process and here's what you have to do to ensure success and to ensure that we get things right.

Because you're absolutely right. It's a lot more sensitive. And I think trust is harder to build in the financial services sector, because on our level, whenever we deliver reports, I can build the most beautiful, perfect, awesome Power BI report, but if they see that one net cash flow for a client be off by 8 million or something, That would be a red flag.

And then instantly I sort of view it as like a three strike policy. Like, you know, first time, okay, he's working through it. Second time, starting to lose trust. And then third time, it's like, it's really hard to get that back. And so that's the emphasis on the data warehouse. And that's why I think we're doing so well is because we're so focused and entrenched on getting the processes and everything down and thinking of every last niche that could cause a number to look wrong or, or not look right.

[00:30:00] And making sure that. We emphasize that with the teams. And then once we report on it, you know, it's more like digging through a needle in a haystack if we have an issue, which is how you want it to be. You know, if you want it to be as close to perfect with also realizing it can never be perfect. Right.

And I think that's another thing that the firm struggle with and especially like C suite, I think any C suite, you know, obviously you want your hands on perfect. Timely data and getting to that perfect mark. You can't get all the way there, but you can get pretty dang close. And so that's kind of the way I think we've, we've approached it and done a really good job of, of managing it and just documenting what we do and you know, how we do it.

Ryan: That's incredible. You know what I mean? Like, obviously like data governance is, is, uh, You know, really viable answer. I mean, I think it's also kind of one of those things in my personal opinion, that's, um, it's hard to strike the right balance with, you know, sometimes like you'll go on this like governance [00:31:00] initiative and it just kind of like grinds any development to a standstill.

Cause there's just like so many levels of like approval and you have to write, you know, 15 documents for like a measure change or something. You know what I mean? It just like, it also sounds like, You know, one of the things that you guys are doing that, that really makes that work is like that Academy that you were talking about, where we're like training everybody and investing the time and the effort into making sure that everybody understands, here's what we have, here's how you access it.

Here's what you're allowed to see. Here's what, you know, all of that stuff that, that sounds to me like, uh, you know, a really, really good recipe for, you know, to kind of bring it full circle to, to make that happen. That data culture that you're talking about involves like a lot of engagement, a lot of training.

And, you know, it sounds like you guys are having a lot of success with that, which is very cool. You know, excited to see where things go for y'all.

Brady: for sure. Yeah. It's, it speaks to the growth and everything that we're doing. So it's awesome.

Ryan: I love that. So one of the things that, you know, it's funny, we spent a good chunk of the day talking about, [00:32:00] you know, the, the personal side of things and getting to, to build relationships with people. I actually, I'm also a big, big believer in that. So I like to give everybody who's listening the opportunity to get to get to know you a little bit more on a personal level, like, tell me a little bit about Brady, like, what do you like to do outside of work?

What's fun? You know, all that.

Brady: Yeah, for sure. Uh, I, I'm from Kentucky, born and raised. Uh, I've lived here my whole life. Uh, met my wife here, my whole family's here. So, uh, been with my wife for about eight years, been married about three, uh, expecting a baby in January. So that'll

Ryan: That's wonderful. Congrats.

Brady: thanks. So more, more excitement there. Uh, That's a whole new challenge for me.

I got a lot more to learn.

Ryan: Yeah,

Brady: but yeah, I mean, I've lived here and outside of work. I mean, that, that really is, uh, my, my everything. I love hanging out with family. I've got a huge family on my mom and my dad's side. [00:33:00] Uh, Love spending time with them, uh, have one little nephew already, two older brothers that, that live in Louisville and, uh, see them quite a bit and, uh, hang out with my wife's family as well and her siblings.

Uh, you know, I'm a big sports guy, big Kentucky Wildcat fan, no shocker there. Uh, sorry Louisville fans, but

Ryan: I was going to say, you could go one of two ways on that front and either way, you're going to make everybody angry.

Brady: sure, yeah. So, uh, big Wildcat fan and, uh, also, you know, NFL. I'm a big, uh, Patriots fan, so that typically makes people mad too, so. But, uh,

Ryan: How'd you end up a Pats fan?

Brady: well, it, completely coincidence, so everybody, I tell people that and they're like, oh my gosh, your parents named you after Tom Brady.

And it's like, no, my parents didn't even watch sports before I was

Ryan: Yeah. Yeah.

Brady: None of my family was into sports until I got into it. But, uh, growing up, you know, watching the TV, seeing him play, it's like, oh, that's awesome. His name's on the, my name's on the back of [00:34:00] his jersey. It's like, so came a huge Tom Brady fan.

I was like, from that point forward, I was a Pats fan. And even now to where the misery is, if you're a Pats fan, you know, but, uh, You know, I think I've settled they're not going to win another Super Bowl in my lifetime, but we'll see what happens. yeah

Ryan: Yeah. We'll see, man. So I, I, I live in, in Boston Metro. I grew up in Rhode Island. I've been, uh, you know, Boston sports fan my whole life. Um, You know, growing up, like we were bad, the Pats. I mean, don't get me wrong. Right. Like with, between like the big four teams, like we always had somebody who was like doing some sort of contention, which is great, you know, but like the Red Sox, when I was growing up, we're in the curse, they hadn't won anything since Babe Ruth, and then you had the Pats who were like bad, bad.

Like, I remember I wore a bled so Jersey. In my hometown and people would heckle me. I was like, yo, he's yours too. Like this is our team like this, you know, come [00:35:00] on.

Brady: the Celtics though. I mean it

Ryan: Yeah. Oh, a hundred percent.

Brady: Uh, but and now and now you get the Celtic didn't go to the parade the other day. I didn't know if

Ryan: no, no. Unfortunately, you know, you know how it is, man. I had to, had to work, but you know, we did, we did enjoy the games and you know, the Bruins had a good run.

Um, you know, can't, can't, can't, You know, the pets we'll see might be a rough year, but, um, you know, and then the Red Sox are overperforming. I'm, I'm, I would say I'm mostly a baseball guy nowadays. And you know, it's not, I think we got a chance, man. I like this team. It's a lot, it's a fun team to watch. I like them.

Brady: Yeah, I watch them quite a bit. I don't have a problem with them or the Yankees I know most people hate the Yankees at We're Reds fans for the most part in Kentucky. We don't have any pro sports teams in Kentucky, so we got to outsource a little bit there.

Ryan: That's right. That's right. Yeah. Although you got to say you guys, you guys have like, I would argue one of the best. sports rivalries in the country, particularly for basketball.

Brady: the last five or six years has been great, but you know, we got [00:36:00] new coaches at both schools now, I think it'll be better. Uh, I know a lot of Kentucky fans, including myself, are kind of happy that Cal's moved on and started a new chapter and see what that looks like. So,

Ryan: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I'll, uh, I'll, I could talk sports with you all day, so I'll move that along for any of the listeners that aren't sports fans, but, um, anybody, uh, liked what you had to say, wants to reach out, connect with you, find out more about you or your company, what are the best ways to connect?

How can they find you?

Brady: Yeah, absolutely. My LinkedIn, you know, if you can attach a link there, uh, Happy to connect. Uh, I set up calls with people all the time that are just interested in talking about the day to day, whether you're a developer or a consultant. Uh, and I like to learn from other people too. So if you think there's something that you could teach me, I'd be more than happy to, to get on a call.

Uh, but also, uh, you can talk to us at Serety Partners, uh, go to our website. Uh, There's some information in a contact link there for me [00:37:00] as well. So, um, you know, happy to talk anytime to anybody that that's interested and, uh, you know, just talk about anything. Like I said, I think building the relationships is the first part and analytics can always come after.

So, yeah.

Ryan: Yeah, absolutely. I love that. Well, Brady, I think one of the things that I've enjoyed so much about this episode is that we have had, you know, a lot of folks who've been in like a lot of different And I think like your experience, just, it feels a little bit like home to me. It's very close to my own, like having done, you know, Power BI and analytics development and consulting, like a lot of really similar stuff.

And I thought that you brought, I think like. Wisdom is, is, is the right word, like a level of just kind of, you know, it took me a long time to figure out [00:38:00] that, like, just be friends with people and everything works out. Like that took me a longer time than I want to admit to figure out, you know what I mean?

So like, you know, it seems like you have your feet underneath you and I really appreciate you taking the time to share some of your experience and some of your knowledge. And you know, I thought that it was delivered really, really well. So thank you so much for coming onto the podcast. Appreciate your time.

Brady: I mean, thank you. It's an honor for me to come on here and talk to you and, you know, talk, I know you have a ton of experience as well. And, uh, it's just fun to talk to somebody like you said, that's got the same background and I think we've been in the same realms at different times, but, uh, and we know the.

The fun and also the challenges that comes with that. So I appreciate talking to you and also appreciate you doing the podcast. I, like I said, I think this is a great podcast for anybody in business intelligence or just within a business trying to build a data culture. I think listening to stuff like this is huge.

It gives you the information you need to help do that. So thank you for what you're doing.

Ryan: Thank you, [00:39:00] Brady. I appreciate that, man. You know, I also want to thank the audience. If you guys have, have learned anything or laughed or had a good time, you like the episode, please make sure to tell a friend, give us a, you know, like a subscribe or review, you know, a good one. I hope, you know, whatever, all that other call to action stuff, just, you know, share us, do something.

Um, anyways. Brady, thank you so much again for coming on. I really, really appreciate it. And this has been another exciting episode of the Making Better Decisions podcast. Thanks for listening.

That's a wrap for today's episode of making better decisions for show notes and more visit, making better decisions dot live a special thank you to our sponsor canopy analytic canopy. Analytic is a boutique consultancy focused on business intelligence and data engineering. They help companies make better decisions using data for more information, visit canopy analytic.

com. There's a better way. Let's find it together and make better decisions. Thank you so much for listening. [00:40:00] We'll catch you next week.