Brett Schwarz, chief financial officer, has been a part of the Travois team for four years. Brett is responsible for the oversight of the financial aspects of Travois, including billing, accounts receivable, accounts payable and the general ledger.
1. How do your past experiences help you in your current position? Prior to joining Travois, I spent several years working in the financial services industry. I consulted for global Fortune 500-sized organizations on financial operations and revenue growth strategies. I try to bring the best practices from those experiences here.
2. What places in Indian Country have you enjoyed visiting and why? I have enjoyed visiting future clients in California to help inform them about housing options through the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program. Specifically, I like meeting new people and discussing options to help with the challenges their organizations face.
3. What did you want to be as a kid? An All-Star caliber NBA point guard. Sadly, it just didn’t work out.
4. Do you have a hidden talent? I have an almost useless talent of remembering specific details from conversations as far back as I can remember.
5. Many Travois staff members are animal lovers. Do you have a pet? I have a cat named Maxwell. He belongs to my daughters, but I seem to be the only one who feeds him or changes his litter box. He doesn’t play well with dogs, so he doesn’t come to the office. I am fairly confident he could take Eden’s dog, Petrie, in a fair fight.
6. What is your favorite meal? A double cheeseburger with ketchup, mustard, and grilled onions, with a side of onion rings, and a Bud Light
7. What is your favorite local restaurant? The Red Snapper
8. What talent do you wish you had? I wish I could golf worth a darn. I never had the patience required to learn the game correctly.
9. What do you like to do when you aren’t working? Workout, watch sports, coach youth soccer and basketball teams, watch movies, and cook (I didn’t say bake)
10. What do you like about Kansas City? I love the Country Club Plaza.
What do you dislike? The winter
11. What kind of music do you like? Anything but country (or anything sung by James Taylor)
What is your favorite band? OneRepublic or Imagine Dragons
12. What is your favorite TV show of all time? “Breaking Bad”
Favorite movie? “The Silence of the Lambs”
13. What is one interesting thing about you that you would like Travois staff and clients to know about you? I flew into New York City seven hours prior to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center. My client was a global insurance organization headquartered in Connecticut. Just three months prior, they relocated their headquarters from the World Trade Center to Greenwich, a suburb of New York City — glad they made that move.