The monthly member spotlight is an opportunity to learn more about a leader at one of our member companies and showcase the work they are doing. This month, we spotlight Keegan Howlett, Manager, Client Engagement & Recruiting at InnoSoft Canada Inc. Learn more about InnoSoft Canada in our member directory.
Name: Keegan Howlett
Title: Manager, Client Engagement & Recruiting
Company: InnoSoft Canada Inc.
InnoSoft Canada Inc. is a technology company specializing in recreation management software, across North America , for Universities and Colleges as well as Health and Wellness Clubs and Parks and Recreation Departments. Our product, Fusion, is a very intuitive, all in one solution that makes the lives of facility operators a whole lot easier and improves the recreation experience for customers using these facilities.
1. What is your role and what is your favorite part of your job?
By far, it is leading a superb client centered team, a team that builds on its synergy and a team that ensures our customer relations and retention strategies are always considered critical. Needless to say we have a great CEO and Executive team that emphasizes trust and freedom to do what is right. We are a focussed and client-centric organization and therefore I ensure that we totally respect, listen and act on any and all feedback. Fortunately for me, we are not huge when it comes to numbers of staff so in addition to my main responsibility areas, I play a key role in our recruiting initiatives and have been visioning with our development team in planning our roadmap for the future. We have great customers who love working with our team and I believe our people really help drive our organization forward. It doesn’t hurt that we have a really great user interface and product to sell – but certainly coming to work everyday and collaborating creatively is what I love most about the job.
2. If you could have coffee with any business leader or industry expert, who would you choose, and why?
I am a big fan of Seth Godin. His daily blog is thought provoking and he has a very interesting way of looking at marketing, business and life in general – if he wants to meet for coffee, I am in. And if that doesn’t work I am always good to have a coffee with my sister Tara who not only loves coffee but loves to talk, she helps keep me grounded.
3. What is the #1 business book/blog/website you would recommend?
Well I already plugged Seth Godin – you can’t go wrong with his blog or his books. I’d also recommend Daniel Pink – his book Drive is an easy read packed with valuable insight. I just started using Trello to track my reading list (it is a great tool) – I’m not huge on the whole e-reader thing so I’m using technology instead to manage my books, it is awesome.
4. Looking at your company’s future, what are you most enthusiastic about?
Our company has been a market leader for awhile. We have experienced great growth over the past 3 years and I am very enthusiastic about that continuing long term. You can get from our name that we are innovative and breaking into new industries and markets. It is a very exciting time. Our development team is awesome and the product that they have crafted so beautifully over the past few years has been integral to our growth. They are all about our clients and customer’s ideas and that has a big impact on the way we are perceived in the market. Since I speak to clients regularly, being able to take their user feedback directly to our development team and enhance Fusion to maximize their connection to the software is pretty cool.
5. What excites you most about the local tech community?
I can’t say enough about how excited I am (and the rest of our company is) about the local tech community. A year ago we joined TechAlliance and it has really opened us up to the great people and organizations in and around London, many of whom we didn’t know much about, until joining. For any start up in London, getting involved with you folks (@TechAlliance) I think is an invaluable way to help grow your brand, your network and ultimately your presence in London. We have several women who attend the Women in Tech Peer2Peer Group as well as colleagues going to other sessions. The feedback is always very positive. In just showing up to many of these events, our team has become very motivated by the buzz surrounding all of the great companies locally. London has always had this great community awareness and TechAlliance is no exception.
6. What causes or community activities is your company involved in?
At InnoSoft, it starts at the top. Our CEO, Brian Foster, has really emphasized the importance of the company playing a role in the community and I know that myself and the rest of the team are 100% behind him. We can never do enough! I came from a background working with organizations including the Boys and Girls Club, Big Brothers Big Sisters of London and the YMCA so I am fortunate to have seen so much need in our city which has made me committed to doing something about it. At InnoSoft, we have several annual initiatives such as holiday food and gift drives, family sponsorships and this year each employee was able to contribute half a day’s work to a charity of our choice. Two of our other team members, Laura and Amy, have been great in coordinating different events each month as well – We adopted a park with the City of London which we clean a few times a year and we have participated in the Big Brother’s Big Sister’s of London and Area Bowl for Kid’s Sake for the past 3 years.
