What got you into this business in the first place?
The opportunity to expand my knowledge base in a new field, and to have the mindset of both an entrepreneur and an engineer. (Also a shout-out to Mrs. Kansas for letting me know about Rhythm Engineering.)

What’s your favorite sports team?
If it’s competitive, I probably like it and have a hard time picking sides, but Rock Chalk Jayhawk for sure.

What do you do for fun when you’re not working?
I invent products, work out, bike, go shooting, and wakeboarding.

What’s the best meal you can prepare?
I make a really great balsamic honey cashew tilapia dish I invented out of the blue. Surprisingly, it is awesome.

What was the first concert you went to?
George Strait with my Dad.

What was the best vacation you ever took?
When I was nine, my grandmother and I went on a cross country trip to the Grand Canyon.  We made a loop around the Southwest for three weeks.  This was before cell phones and GPS, and I had a blast being a navigator on an adventure.

What got you into this business in the first place?
I got into marketing because my journalism professors kept telling me I had too much opinion in the news articles I wrote. Instead of fighting it, I embraced.

What was “your finest moment,” the thing you’re most proud of?
When we gave birth to our son. I was so happy I convinced a beautiful woman to marry me, because my son turned out just perfect.

What’s your favorite sports team?
Jayhawks. Easy.

What do you do for fun when you’re not working?
So far I’ve been to fifteen countries on four continents. We like to travel, especially internationally. Plus, when we travel, I get a lot work done!

What book has had the most impact on you?
Good to Great by Jim Collins. Page-for-page more insightful and practical business knowledge than any other three books put together.

What’s your favorite thing about your job?
I get the chance to tell other people about this great product that really does make a difference. It is a win-win for everyone involved: the agency, the motorists and us.

What was “your finest moment,” the thing you’re most proud of?
Defending my thesis research and graduating college has been my finest moment so far.   I expect that to change.

What attracted you to Rhythm Engineering?
The potential to work with state-of-the-art technologies in the field of transportation.

Do you have pets? If so, tell us about them.
I have a cat named Jethro after the band Jethro Tull.  However he now has the middle name Kramer because of his spontaneous bursts of wackiness like the character from Seinfeld.

What do you do for fun when you’re not working?
Anything to do outdoors.   I am also getting into brewing beer as a hobby.

What was the first concert you went to?
I went to see Styx at my hometown’s Bicentennial when I was a kid.   It was a free concert out in the street.

Do you have a little known talent?
I was an All-State tuba player in Ohio while in high school. I also play piano.

What attracted you to Rhythm Engineering?
The future for Rhythm Engineering is exciting. I wanted to be a part of the team to offer my expertise to this growing company.

What’s your favorite sports team?
NASCAR! We follow many drivers but we root for Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

What do you do for fun when you’re not working?
First and foremost, I am a mother. I volunteer as a child advocate in our school district. I also love to scrapbook and spend time with my family.

What was the first concert you went to?
Bob Seger. I’m still a big fan today.

What’s your claim to fame?
Spending the night in Marilyn Monroe’s house. I had been a Marilyn fan for most of my life. While living in California, my friend lived in her house. It was the most awesome experience for this little girl from Kansas!

What was the best vacation you ever took?
We visited race shops and family in North Carolina and visited the Outer Banks. Waking up every morning to the ocean is a dream. Great family time! More exotic vacations will come later.

What attracted you to Rhythm Engineering?
Everyone at Rhythm is extremely bright in their own area of expertise.

What talent do you wish you had?
I wish I had an amazing singing voice because I like to write songs.

What book has had the most impact on you?
Charlotte’s Web stuck with me because it was the first real book I ever read, and it’s a story about how great friendship can change your life for the better, forever.

What did you want to be as a kid?
I don’t know why, but as a kid, I thought it would be glamorous to be a travel agent. I plan so many trips now that, in a way, I am living the dream.

What’s the best meal you can prepare?
My husband would say I make the best meatloaf. I use my mom’s recipe. It’s all about the chili sauce.

What’s your claim to fame?
I am a former Mrs. Kansas.

What got you into this business in the first place?
I have always been interested in transportation. My first interest was with bridges as a kid. As my education continued, traffic engineering caught my eye and pulled me in.

What’s your favorite sports team?
I graduated from the University of Missouri recently so naturally I am a diehard Mizzou Tiger fan.

What do you do for fun when you’re not working?
I love watching football and basketball in my free time. I also enjoy running and working out.

What book has had the most impact on you?
Well, I should say “The Federal Highway Administration Signal Timing Manual”, but honestly I think “The Road” was the book that made the most impact on me. It was amazing to see how a bond between a father and son was the only thing that could keep them alive.

Do you have a celebrity resemblance?
My friends always call me Bobby Flay and not just because we share the same hair color, but because I make a mean burger.

What was the best vacation you ever took?
I took a trip down to Jupiter, Florida a couple of years ago for my spring break to watch the St. Louis Cardinals’ spring training. I watched Albert Pujols crush home runs while enjoying the gorgeous Florida weather.

What attracted you to Rhythm Engineering?
The opportunity to join a growing business and make a positive impact on society on such a wide scale initially attracted me to Rhythm Enginering. Who doesn’t get frustrated with unsynchronized traffic lights?

What’s your favorite thing about your job?
Getting to work with cutting-edge, high-tech systems and seeing the smiles on clients faces when they learn how to work with the InSync system and how easy it is.

What’s your favorite TV program?
The Office

What do you do for fun when you’re not working?
I spend time with my wife and two children (ages 4 and 2 – lots of fun!). I’m an outdoor type and like to hunt, hike, canoe, and enjoy the glory of God’s creation – be it the Rocky Mountains or the animal kingdom.

What did you want to be as a kid?
A military jet pilot.

What’s your biggest achievement in life?
Being a good dad.

What got you into this business in the first place?
I’ve always been fascinated with technology and pursued an education in the area of computer science. I’m passionate about the development of technology, software and physical things I can get my hands around.

What’s your favorite thing about your job?
I have a voice. I can be creative, innovative and see the results of my efforts in our product immediately. This product affects the lives of many people and it’s an awesome feeling knowing that you had a hand in it.

What’s your favorite sports team?
Royals, Chiefs and Jayhawks.

What’s your favorite TV program? Your least favorite?
I’ve caught every episode of The Office. I really like the IT Crowd (it’s a British comedy). I don’t care for Oprah or late night talk shows.

What book has had the most impact on you?
Artificial Intelligence by Norvig. I fell in love with this area of research.

What did you want to be as a kid?
A comedian.

Who has been the biggest influence on your career?
My parents who taught me to always be punctual and follow through, and that you can achieve anything you set your mind to.

What’s your favorite thing about your job?
Meeting our wonderful client base and promoting Rhythm’s mission of getting loved ones to their destinations safer and faster.  I’m also grateful for the opportunity to work alongside such passionate and driven people at Rhythm.

What’s your favorite sports team?
Kansas State Wildcats… EMAW

What’s your favorite TV program?
Boardwalk Empire on HBO

What was your first car?
‘89 Ford Tempo… white with red interior

What’s your favorite drink? Meal?
Riesling… any pasta dish!

What attracted you to Rhythm Engineering?
The energy and enthusiasm of this team — the place is buzzing. Rhythm Engineering has created technology that is proven to save enormous amounts of time, money and frustration while also protecting the environment and improving road safety. We’re making a real difference.

What’s your favorite TV program?
I’m gonna have to go with Parenthood.  Smart writing, great acting, real-life situations and, without exception, the show always ends with a major tearjerker of a scene!

What do you do for fun when you’re not working?
My husband and I like exploring the quintessentially-KC parts of town like City Market, First Fridays in the Crossroads and Royals and Chiefs games.

Do you have pets? If so, tell us about them.
We have two dogs. Pastor is a mostly-black, shepherd mix (he came from a Spanish-speaking family). Peanut is a cocker spaniel and the cutest troublemaker.

What’s your favorite drink?
A Starbucks soy chai (no water) by day, a Blue Moon by night.

What was the best vacation you ever took?
For our honeymoon, we rented a convertible and drove the Pacific Coast highway from San Diego up to San Francisco. Beautiful!

What was “your finest moment,” the thing you’re most proud of?
When I was promoted to sergeant while with the Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Office. Long time ago…

What’s your favorite sports team?
Chiefs. I know, it’s hard these days… .

What’s your favorite thing about your job?
I think I work with some of the smartest people on the planet.

What’s your favorite TV program?
Law & Order, Bones, Family Guy.

What was your first car?
A 1972 AMC Gremlin

What was the first concert you went to?
A 1979 summer jam with The Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, Dan Fogelberg and some others.

What attracted you to Rhythm Engineering?
The chance to work with a cutting-edge technology that helps a lot of people, cuts down on fuel consumption, and reduces dangerous emissions drew me to Rhythm Engineering. I have marketed electronics in my career in the past and this just seemed like a perfect fit.

What was your most embarrassing moment in this business?
I had left my briefcase on top of my car as I was leaving an important appointment, spilling its contents all over the ground as my customers watched.

What’s your favorite sports team?
Detroit Red Wings

What do you do for fun when you’re not working?
My wife Jodi, daughter Mackenzie and I love to visit the sites in beautiful North Carolina where we live. We are having fun exploring the areas around our home. I also enjoy coaching soccer and outdoor sports.

What was your most obscure job?
I worked in a cement factory making deco patio stones when I first got out of high school.

What’s your favorite drink?
I really like California red wine.

What got you into this business in the first place?
The passion people have here for innovation. Also, contributing to a solution that helps people get to where they are going efficiently, safely, with less of a carbon footprint and with a cost savings to the community. It’s a win-win all around.

What attracted you to Rhythm Engineering?
The people and the culture are second to none, but the real attraction is being part of a team that is doing something great for the community and the environment.

What’s your favorite sports team?
All these Kansas guys are going to hate me, but I’m a big MIZZOU fan. On the pro level, I’m a Denver Broncos guy.

What’s your favorite TV program?
30 Rock is currently my favorite show but nothing has come along that comes close to the Band of Brothers series.

What did you want to be as a kid?
I wanted to be a herpetologist and study reptiles and amphibians. My father’s a biologist and I thought we could work together with animals all day. I also thought I could be a part-time pilot.

What was your first car?
A 1965 Ford Mustang. I bought it when I was 15 with my paper route money. It sat in my garage for about two years. The parts were thrown all around my parents’ house. With lots of trial and error and a few books, my father and I finally got it running when I was 17. I still have it in my garage today.

What got you into this business in the first place?
My passion to improve traffic flow. I also felt that traffic engineers didn’t have enough tools to optimize traffic flow. Being a traffic engineer was like being given a pea shooter and then asked to take on a tank. I believed that I could make a difference.

Who has been the biggest influence on your career?
My wife Jenny and our two children, Joan and Jubilee. They fully supported me as I pursued my dream to “fix” traffic problems. I couldn’t have done this without them.

Do you have pets? If so, tell us about them.
My dad is a vet and so I grew up in a zoo. We raised three lions, a tiger, a hyena and half a dozen monkeys. We even raised a kangaroo. Now that I don’t live in a zoo, I have to settle for a black miniature poodle: Bubbles.

What was your most obscure job?
Delivering newspapers at 3:00 a.m. to pay for grad school. I didn’t last long in that job.

What’s your biggest achievement in life?
Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa. Can you believe that I didn’t shower for five whole days?! The InSync project will also qualify as one of my bigger achievements.

What was the best vacation you ever took?
A trip to Costa Rica. The raw beauty of the land (volcanic mountains, the ocean and lush green forests) captured my heart.

What got you into this business in the first place?
I was attracted to civil engineering and through my course work developed a great interest in transportation. Transportation and traffic engineering are things most people take for granted every day. It’s great to work in a field that impacts people on a daily basis.

What do you do for fun when you’re not working?
I live for summer and lake season. I love to spend time on the dock with a cold drink taking it easy with friends and family.

What was the first concert you went to?
I’m not sure it was my first, but easily my favorite was Garth Brooks at the Sprint Center. I was lucky enough to see one of the greatest entertainers ever perform “one last time.”

What was college like for you?
The best four years of my life. Had a blast, made lifelong friends and even walked away with a diploma.

What was your first car?
A blue ’99 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck. It had dents on every inch of it and drank gas but was my pride and joy at the time.

Do you have a celebrity resemblance?
I was told as a child I looked like a young Harrison Ford. This definitely isn’t true now and I’m not sure it was then, but I’ll take it.

Who has been the biggest influence on your career?
My first project manager that I worked under as a business analyst taught me what project management is all about.   He showed me the significance of relationship building and organization through project management. This has held my interest over the last 20 years.

Is there a great client story you’d care to share?
My first international experience was with a petroleum manufacturing firm in Japan. I used an interpreter in my training class, and enjoyed the experience of relaying information to someone from a different culture and language. We were successful because of the influence of the interpreter and the interest of the students. It helped me to understand that the world has become a very small place.

What talent do you wish you had?
I wish I could sing and play the piano. I might be headlining in Vegas today!

What do you do for fun when you’re not working?
I run road races on the weekends and my wife and I love wine tasting in small Missouri wineries.

Can you describe your perfect day?
I wake in the morning refreshed from a good night sleep, I see my kids and grandkids in their daily activities, I have a wonderful dinner with my beautiful wife and I go to bed at night with my wife at my side.

Do you have a celebrity resemblance?
Major “Chip” Hazard from the movie Small Soldiers

Who has been the biggest influence on your career?
My Dad.  He immigrated to this county and showed that with a passion for what you do combined with hard work and a never-quit attitude, you can accomplish anything you want.  My dad never got beyond 8th grade but never let anyone tell him he couldn’t achieve what he wanted.

What’s your favorite sports team?
Oregon Duck Football – Go Quack Attack!

What’s your favorite thing about your job?
Working with local cities to help bring residents home quicker and safer and the positive effects the InSync system has on the environment.

What do you do for fun when you’re not working?
Play with my kids, golf, bike and work in my yard

What’s the best meal you can prepare?
Chicken St Gloria (chicken stuffed with crab and a lobster sauce) with saffron rice and grilled seasonal veggies

What book has had the most impact on you?
Fred Factor by Mark Sanborn. It is a great book not only for business but also for life.

What attracted you to Rhythm Engineering?
It is rare to find an industry in which computer technology hasn’t been thoroughly applied. I thought working at Rhythm Engineering was a chance to be involved with something unique and to really change the world.

What’s your favorite sports team?
Flying Monkey Lacrosse, the club lacrosse team I play for.

What do you do for fun when you’re not working?
Listen to music – 80’s alternative, gothic rock, electronica, minimalism, etc …

What did you want to be as a kid?
A rabbit. As I got older, I switched to astronaut. Then computer programmer. The last one came true.

What’s the best meal you can prepare?
Grilled steak and marinated shrimp, asparagus and/or artichoke, a nice spinach salad, and your favorite mixed seasonal drink.

Do you have a celebrity resemblance?
I’ve been told Tom Green (before the gray started to show).

Who has been the biggest influence on your career?
My parents. They made me believe I can achieve anything if I work hard enough.

What was “your finest moment,” the thing you’re most proud of?
Beating teams from nine states to win the Southern District ITE (SDITE) Traffic Bowl competition

What are your favorite TV shows?
The Simpsons, Forensic Detective on the Discovery channel and anything on NGC

What book has had the most impact on you?
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

What’s your biggest achievement in life?
Earning my Master of Science degree… I hope to change that!

What’s the best meal you can prepare?
A mean Chicken Curry and Biryani

What got you into this business in the first place?
I discussed changing careers with my wife at the beginning of 2011 and she suggested that I go play in traffic. I do not think this is exactly what she meant, but she is pleased with the move.

Is there a great client story you’d care to share?
I have been fortunate in that my career has given me many opportunities to represent innovative companies and products and witness positive change and increased quality of life for many people.  I now have the opportunity to be part of bringing loved ones home sooner and more safely.  It does not get much better than that.

What book has had the most impact on you?
Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss.  (Seriously, read it again.)  It is one of the best, most concise guides to effective selling and is also a great case study.  It demonstrates that a positive attitude, belief in yourself, belief in your product and persistence produces results.

What’s the best meal you can prepare?
It depends upon the ingredients available.   Crème brulee to Tom’s Nuclear Waste Chili – I’ll challenge anyone to a cook-off.

What was your most obscure job?
I installed patient information systems in a state psychiatric hospital system.  I was always concerned that if the staff really got to know me, they would not let me go home.

What was the best vacation you ever took?
My best vacation was a 10-day road trip with my wife and kids that started in Vegas, took us through Death Valley, Yosemite, John Muir Wilderness, Sequioa National Park, all over LA, and back to Vegas.  We have places in our country that are so incredibly beautiful that written words cannot capture their splendor.  Get out and see the USA!  The best part of the trip was that our kids were “tweenagers” – old enough to be able to take long periods of sitting in the car and enjoy the scenery, but young enough to still enjoy their parents’ company for days on end.

What got you into this business in the first place?
I’m an impatient person and was fascinated with a company that fixed one of my biggest frustrations: “Why am I waiting at a red light when there is no one around!”  I want to help bring Rhythm solutions to every intersection.

What’s your favorite sports team?
I’m a huge soccer fan and support our local Sporting Kansas City Club. I also like any sport a Notre Dame team is playing.

What do you do for fun when you’re not working?
Spend time with my wife and three kids.

What book has had the most impact on you?
So many, but if I had to name one it is Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It contains basic common knowledge that isn’t always easy to live up to. Both inspiring and challenging at the same time.

What was your most obscure job?
Theater usher for the Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back movie. When that movie came out there were no multi-screen theaters – our theater showed that one movie for over 6 months. May the force be with you!

Do you have a celebrity resemblance?
I’ve heard John McEnroe, Timothy Geithner and Matthew Morrison.