At Apex, we believe that our greatest strength is the people that make up our team. In November, Gregg Burke, Director of Sales and Marketing joined our team and we are thrilled to share with you all of the great things we have learned about him over these past few months.
In this Employee Spotlight, we’re pleased to introduce Gregg Burke, Director of Sales and Marketing. Let's dive into what makes his passionate both in and out of the workplace.
What keeps you passionate outside of work?
I love spending time with my family of four boys and my wife. We live on Vashon Island and we are outside either in sunshine, drizzle, or snow making memories and hitting the beach or mountains for boating, hiking, camping, or backpacking.
What problems do you solve for clients in your role?
I enjoy finding unique solutions to difficult problems. As a Sales Director I also get to work with a team of high energy and highly motivated salespeople and designers who go the extra mile to provide excellent products and services. Creating a beautiful space is only part of our approach to helping clients problem solve in the modern workplace.
What’s your favorite aspect of your role at Apex?
I would say making the move from being on the road to being more local and focused on our region is a breath of fresh air. I love the maker mentality in the PNW and being a part of that every day is exciting! We are creating amazing spaces and helping businesses make a difference with incredible projects every day.
How do you keep a healthy work/life balance?
Work for me is more of a lifestyle and less work. I’m just built that way. I truly enjoy working with my customers to find a solution and building lifelong relationships through the process of building trust and partnership. My family has that same approach to life, and we love working hard, so it’s a great fit for us. The saying we use at home is, “hard work pays off!”
If you could choose anyone, who would you pick as your mentor?
My mentor is my best friend of all time: Tony Griffiths. He’s the HR Director for Samsonite Asia and presently lives in Singapore. We spent time with him recently in Australia and I miss him here every day. We have been longtime friends and brothers through thick and thin, climbing mountains and sport climbing since the mid 90’s. We shared being young and out in the wilderness exploring peaks, through finding love with great partners, and eventually becoming fathers. We learned to trust each other on the sharp end of a rope and those experiences of being at risk apply to everyday life, including the ability to tune out the outside world and just breathe and concentrate on a task to be 100% focused. A lot about business and life can be learned by being out in nature.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
Take a breath and listen. Think about next steps. Count to three. Plan your next move. Then act.
What’s your favorite restaurant in Seattle?
I’m a dive bar guy. I would say the Pacific Inn Pub in Fremont. I’ve been going there since my UW Days. Cold beer and fish and chips. You know it’s good because your clothes smell like the fryer the next day. Pacific Inn Pub Go Dawgs.
If you could do anything and know you would not fail, what would it be?
Climb Mount Everest immediately.
Tell us something that might surprise us about you.
I used to work at Woodland Park Zoo. I also worked and operated an Adventure Travel business focused on South America where I traveled to almost every continent and I was a founder of a non-profit in 2000 that is still running in the PNW that uses mythic journey and magical realism to teach environmental education.
Which part of our company DNA speaks the most to you and why?
Being a natural problem solver. My wife says all the time that I am an expert at crisis avoidance as well. I think these two skills together makes for a great business strategist. Funny that this strategy when I was young kept me alive on the mountain, now I use these skills to keep Apex flourishing in an everchanging workplace environment.
