Tim Horst
Web Development Manager
“I’m a detail- and process-driven person,” Tim says solemnly, “who has the ability to communicate on both a business level as well as a technology level.”
And then, when asked if he has a nickname around the company, he throws in a Monty Python and the Holy Grail reference.
“There are some who call me… Tim.”
Our resident study in contradictions, aka our Web Development Manager, Tim is an
avid adventurer who toured the United States professionally for years racing bicycles. For no clear reason, he drove the length of Vermont completely off-road. And, he’s visited the Mayan temples in the jungles of Guatemala, where his son was born.
When not adventuring, he manages the Web Development team to ensure the quality and build of our dentists’ websites. He also manages the technology projects that SmartBox requires, and ensures that our Web technologies are constantly improving so that our dentists’ sites deliver the best experience possible.
His passion for quality and improvement is something he describes “as both a blessing and a curse.”
“I’m passionate about doing the right thing,” he says, “and bringing that same philosophy to my work. I don’t look for shortcuts, and I expect the members of my team to do the same. I try to focus on the best process for the best results. I’m not satisfied with the way things are. I am always striving to better what we do, whether it is in the actual development, in communication, or in the process involved in our websites. I know that there is always a better way to get it done.”
When not pushing the envelope at work, he’s pushing himself to improve. “I enjoy competitive things in my spare time. You’ll either find me in marksmanship competitions, or trying to lower my handicap while chasing a little white ball around a field.”
Tim fits right into the fast-paced, future-oriented atmosphere at SmartBox. “Because we are a new, evolving company, SmartBox gives us the ability to implement change as needed, without the overhead of historical processes and paths. This allows us to better build the mousetrap.”
Even better mice should consider that a warning.
As a better process, better results, better future-oriented person, Tim is surprisingly down to earth. “I’ve never lived much by the half-full, half-empty thought process,” he muses. “I tend to be a realist, and take life as it comes to me … bumps, curves, and all. I believe life has too many things it will constantly throw at you, and how you deal with that realization is how you find happiness and success.”
Tim is living proof that contradictions can be a strength. Or perhaps he proves Walt Whitman’s assertion: “I am vast, I contain multitudes.”