#TeamAlegeus wants to learn more about you. Tell us a bit about yourself and your role here at Alegeus.
This is Pete Reske,
coming to you live from Alegeus’ Merrimack Valley office (aka my home office). Alright, so this isn’t live, but who doesn’t enjoy a bit of a radio DJ flair? I’ve been with Alegeus for nearly 12 years, and for the past two, I’ve served as a Manager of Professional Services. In essence, my role is to assist our partners in running and enhancing their businesses with Alegeus’ products and to guide my colleagues in addressing the diverse needs that come our way each day.
You were Alegeus’ May 2024 All Star for being #PartnerPowered. How do you leverage your extensive experience to provide a best-in-class experience for our partners, and what motivates you to go beyond mere implementation to ensure their success?
Perspective. With the roots of Alegeus being a FinTech organization, there is a natural tendency to think from a singular perspective (siloing) and to jump straight to the atomic level of detail (in the weeds). I am just as guilty of these tendencies as any other colleague, but I am conscious of the pitfalls to these concepts and deliberately work to counter them up front. Opening my perspective allows me to see the big picture and all the interacting elements, and pivoting my perspective allows me to understand the partner’s needs and motivations.
To support this perspective, I have steadily built up a wealth of cross-functional knowledge and experiences consisting of Alegeus’ products, our partners, general business acumen, various communications styles, and more. If my perspective skills could be compared to a painter’s ability to define a composition, these additional sets of knowledge and experience would be the paints, brushes, techniques and other tools and mediums.
In the end, our partners’ success powers our business. To unlock our partners’ full potential, we must truly understand their needs beyond what they directly articulate to us. This is achieved through a balance of knowledge, confidence, and curiosity. Asking good objective-oriented questions is worth far more than any amount of knowledge of existing capabilities.
Humble brags welcome. How have you made a meaningful impact in your role as Manager, Professional Services?
While one singular impact does not come to mind, my contributions represent a growing collection of efforts across a wide range of Alegeus’ needs and interests. For instance, I have recently been entrusted with leading a business-critical initiative, which is both humbling and rewarding given my position in the organization. Additionally, being included in strategic planning for future needs highlights the trust placed in me to influence how Alegeus will serve its partners today and in the years to come.
In your nearly 12 years at Alegeus, you’ve witnessed some exciting evolution. How would you describe the #PeopleFirst culture at Alegeus today?
There are three key areas of focus I would emphasize. First, Alegeus has a deliberate focus on the recognition of accomplishments. Many people work hard every day to achieve critical milestones, and the organization makes an effort to consistently and meaningfully acknowledge these successes. Additionally, Alegeus fosters a value-based company culture centered around corporate and ethical principles rather than rigid mindsets. This promotes goal alignment and allows for diversity beyond the more traditional definitions. Lastly, Alegeus prioritizes and values career growth, which is motivating to employees in the early and middle stages of their careers, while also celebrating those who take the next step in their journey outside of Alegeus.
If you could learn a new skill unrelated to your job, what would it be and why?
Throwing clay pots. 
Hear me out! The simplicity of working with clay, water, and basic physics is a refreshing contrast to the complexities of my daily work. It’s a tactile experience, a welcome change from the conceptual and digital nature of my job. Plus, it’s fun to get a little messy—I love to let my hair down, or in this case hide it under a baseball cap. With pottery, improvement is directly tied to effort; the more you put in, the more you get out. And in the end, you have a tangible creation to show off that speaks for itself.
Let’s switch things up. We’d love to learn more about you outside of work. If you could have lunch with anyone (living or dead) who would it be and why?
I would love to have lunch with Gene Kranz, one of the key figures of NASA’s Mission Operations. Many of my current and former colleagues have endured my references to “The Kranz Dictum”, and how it speaks to accountability and competence.
What’s your favorite book and/or movie and what makes it so special to you?
One of my favorite books is “The Martian” by Andy Weir. It has the absolute best (and colorful) opening of a novel I’ve come across. The balance of knowledge, technical ability, humor, and determination portrayed by the main character Mark Watney resonates with me. Matt Damon did a bang-up job playing Watney in the movie adaptation, but as the cliché goes, the book is better.
While the book is unsurprisingly more developed and, in some areas, more nefarious, the movie “Jurassic Park” has left an indelible mark on my identity. Some people may point to the fact that my dad suggested I play hooky on the second to last day of school to see “dinosaurs eat people” on opening day. Other people may point out that I was already a dinosaur nut. (For the record, Tyrannosaurus rex will always be the biggest, most imposing predator to walk the Earth. Some of the others you hear about came close, but T. rex was the king.) But what really sticks with me as time goes on is Jeff Goldblum’s portrayal of Dr. Ian Malcolm.
To the great annoyance of friends and family, I quote and share GIFs of prominent one-liners daily, usually more than once a day. I typically did not stop to think whether or not I should, because I was typically too preoccupied with whether or not I could weave a reference into normal conversation. And now that this sharing of myself has gone off the rails, I am here by myself, uh, typing to myself. THAT, that’s Chaos Theory.