Spotlight: Travis Ebert

Travis Ebert is an Account Manager at Kitestring.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work? Hobbies. I have lots of hobbies. I’m “fairly” active and love the outdoors. I enjoy hiking, cycling, mountain biking, martial arts, and lifting weights. I’ve been coaching either basketball or football for the last 9 years, but I’m going to take a few years off until my daughter gets old enough to get into sports. I also love to read and draw, but I don’t get much time for that anymore. 

What are some of your favorite things about living and working in NWA? I actually don’t live in NWA. I have family in NWA, but I live down by Fort Smith and drove up every day for work, and yes it was very much worth it!

I really enjoy all the bike trails in NWA, that would have to be one of my favorite features. They continue to actively expand the “trails” off the Razorback Greenway, which makes for a fantastic riding experience and a constant change of scenery.

What are you passionate about? That is kind of a loaded question, and I would probably group things into two categories: Things I’m passionate about, and things I’m interested in. As far as what I’m passionate about, I would probably list God, family, martial arts, cycling, and the pursuit of knowledge. Most of those are self-explanatory, but I love to learn new things. Obviously, I love learning about technology, but I enjoy learning in general. I’m a big DIY person that loves to build anything, so I’m constantly working on learning new skills like small engine repair or wood working. If I’m not improving then I’m stagnating, that’s probably the best way to sum it up.

Tell us how you started down your career path. Were you influenced by anyone? My junior year in high school I participated in an engineering program where we built a robot to compete against other schools in our area. I loved it. It literally consumed me day and night. I started leaning towards an engineering degree, but my mother setup a meeting with a local business owner to discuss “computers.” I discovered that this owner was currently paying a student in Russia $120 an hour to write a program for him. It sounded to me like I would be able to work 2 or 3 days a week, and then play basketball and video games the rest of the time and probably still make a good living. By the time my senior year rolled around, I had discovered that video games were written by programmers… that sounded like the coolest job ever, so I decided to major in computer science.

Tell us about some of your proudest achievements while working at Kitestring. First, let me say that I don’t think any of my achievements would have been possible without the support of the rest of the team. I guess if I had to mention something, it would be when we first got the Sam’s Club International team. We managed to onboard 7 or more people in less than 3 weeks, which was pretty awesome. I was still new at interviewing and having that many candidates selected in that timeframe was very validating and rewarding.

What are some aspects of your job that you enjoy most? Occasionally we get candidates that are in a hard spot and really need a position. Anytime we can help someone out in a bad situation is the best part of my job. Sometimes it is a transfer or visa situation that we can handle, but either way it is very rewarding.

What are some future goals that you have? I started a business last year, but I really haven’t gotten a chance to devote time to it like I need to. I’d also like to get my Azure Solutions Architect certification as my next technical milestone. Outside of work, I’d like to learn how to weld this year and maybe look into using solar energy at my house. I just have to convince my wife those solar panels aren’t ugly, which should count as a goal in itself I think (or maybe that would be a miracle, I’m not sure).