Employee Spotlight: Seth Stayer
Tell us about yourself and how long you’ve been with Optimal Dynamics.
I’m Seth Stayer and I’ve been at Optimal Dynamics for nearly a year. I live in Pittsburgh, PA with my wife and son. I graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science. Prior to Optimal Dynamics, I spent 6 years in the industry leading the technology team at a flatbed trucking company.
Can you briefly summarize your job?
As a Solutions Engineer, my primary goal is to build trust with customers and ensure that our product exceeds their expectations from the moment they sign a contract. I work to understand a customer's business goals and the reasons behind their decision to partner with Optimal Dynamics. Success is seeing the customer adopt the tools and realizing real-world business impact. The most rewarding aspect of my job is collaborating with various folks throughout the transportation industry and helping them to improve their business.
Success is seeing the customer adopt the tools and realizing real-world business impact.
What inspired you the most to join Optimal Dynamics?
Four years ago, I encountered Optimal Dynamics while working at a trucking company. At that time, I was focused on fixing the technological challenges and improving the manual processes of just one company. However, Optimal Dynamics was improving the inefficiencies at an industry-level and I wanted to be part of that. I continued to follow Optimal Dynamics' progress over the years and seized the chance to join the company when the opportunity presented itself.
What do you like best about our company culture?
The transparency of the leadership and quality of people is remarkable! The top-down transparency fosters a team that takes pride in their work and supports each other. From day one, I was given the opportunity to succeed and show my value.
What is unique about what we do at Optimal Dynamics?
Many companies have tried and failed to automate complex tasks in a scalable way. At Optimal Dynamics, our solution is unique because it is built on decades of research and experience, and it can be configured to solve many variations of the same transportation problem without sacrificing quality.
What is your favorite part of your job?
The opportunities to make a difference and grow are endless. Both internally and externally, I am given the opportunity to affect positive change for the long-term success of a business.
How does your work impact our product, and, therefore, the industry?
I’m helping to refine and redefine our customer onboarding process. With these improvements, we can continue to scale as a company and give our customers an opportunity to realize our value much faster.
What have been your biggest accomplishments on our team, and what was the impact on the company?
Early on, I assisted on various fleet study projects that helped to improve the solution quality for some of our larger customers. This helped to retain the trust these companies have in our solution. More recently, I took on the challenge of adopting and advocating for our OD360 Customer Framework. I helped the team lay the groundwork for scalable and repeatable customer satisfaction.
How have you grown professionally while on our team?
The skills I've developed at Optimal Dynamics have prepared me to tactically address the challenges trucking companies face. My industry experience and technological background gave me a solid understanding of these issues, and now I can effectively advise customers on best practices for process improvement and change management.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I’m a “family-first” dad, so I spend most of my free-time with my wife and son. My son is a little over one, so spending time with him usually means reading, “Dear Zoo” 11 times so he can look at the animals. My wife and I like to watch football which is apparent because one of my son’s first words is “football” and he knows the sign for “Touchdown!” We spend warm days outside walking or hiking. On the cold days we like board games and watching The Office.
Can you share a hidden talent no one knows about you?
I tend to find a couple four-leafed-clovers every year. Do I ever “look” for them? Not really … they just find me. I found one while on a run through the city. I found one while getting out of the car at my recently purchased house. I’ve found them in the middle of a baseball field (right before the ball was hit my way of course!). I’ve found multiple at the same time so that my nephew can have one. They are all over the place. I actually stopped saving them or even picking them years ago because I figured I’ll leave them for the next person to find. I don’t have extraordinary luck or anything, but I do tell my wife that I keep finding them because I used all my luck to get her.
What’s the best advice you can give to someone who wants to work at Optimal Dynamics?
Don’t be afraid to test the status quo. Whether working with a customer or an internal team, there is room for improvement. Take time to understand the process, but then feel empowered to suggest meaningful improvements. Probably the best question to ask is, “Why?”
