Welcome to the Employee Spotlight series! This week, we are featuring Brad Passell. Brad is the VP of Strategic Accounts and Client Value and has been part of the SpendMend team for nearly five and a half years. When asked what makes him excited to come to work every day, he shared, “I look forward to working with my team on innovative solutions for our clients. I really work with some wonderfully gifted people who happen to be super nice!” One of Brad’s standout projects involves collaborating closely with one of our largest health system clients as they merged their ERP technology. He developed a vendor and item master cleanse reporting model to help identify and eliminate redundancies, ultimately mitigating financial and efficiency risks. Brad states, “This is an impactful value-add that we provide. It doesn’t generate revenue, but it creates a partnership relationship rather than a vendor relationship.” Read the full interview below to explore the project in detail and see how Brad successfully overcame challenges. A fun fact about Brad is that he is from Phoenix, Arizona. He attended the University of Arizona, where he studied Psychology. He chose this field because he was fascinated by how and why people make decisions. In his free time, Brad enjoys hiking and is dedicated to the trails every Sunday! One of his go-to trails is the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, which offers routes ranging from 1 to 20 miles across diverse terrains. This spring, he plans to tackle a one-day Grand Canyon rim-to-rim hike—a 26-mile journey that will take over 12 hours! His advice for anyone interested in hiking? “Just get up and go. And take enough water!” Another fun fact about Brad is his passion for vintage hi-fi systems and vinyl records. He has assembled a complete vintage setup and owns a collection of a few hundred records, spanning classic rock to hip-hop. One of his favorites to play is Random Access Memories by Daft Punk. A particularly valuable record in his collection is Tracy Chapman’s debut album, which has skyrocketed in demand over the past few years. If you’re a fan of records, be sure to ask Brad about his collection!
Brad is a committed member of the SpendMend team. We asked Brett Stuebinger, Senior Vice President of Client Value & Innovation, about Brad, and he said, “Brad is an integral part of the SpendMend team. He has a knack for finding innovative ways to better serve our clients, enabling us to truly partner with them. Brad is a phenomenal relationship builder whose humor and razor-sharp wit bring a refreshing energy to everyone around him.” We couldn’t have said it better ourselves! Thank you for all your hard work, Brad!
Interview with Brad:
What is your role at SpendMend?
VP of Strategic Accounts and Client Value
How long have you been with SpendMend?
Almost five and a half years.
How did you first learn about SpendMend?
I worked with SpendMend while I was with my previous company.
What three words would you use to describe SpendMend?
Resourceful, Thorough, Innovative.
Where are you located/from?
I’m from Phoenix, AZ.
Where did you go for higher education? What did you study and why?
I went to the University of Arizona for college, where I majored in psychology. I was very interested in how and why we make the decisions we do.
Why do you look forward to coming to work?
I look forward to working with my team on innovative solutions for our clients. I really work with some wonderfully gifted people who happen to be super nice!
Before working at SpendMend, what was the most unusual or interesting job you’ve ever had?
I’ve had many jobs since I was a kid. The most unusual/fun thing was being Assistant Waterfront Director at an all-girls summer camp in Wisconsin when I was a 20-year-old college kid.
What is one fun fact about you?
I’m a pescatarian.
What type of music or podcasts do you listen to during the workday?
I listen to a mix of news, folk rock, Grateful Dead, and Trip-Hop.
Do you have any hobbies or participate in any activities outside of work?
Hiking, golf, tennis, and putting together a solid vintage hi-fi system with a collection of a few hundred records.
What are some of your favorite hiking trails or destinations?
There are a lot of options here in the Phoenix metro area and almost countless places to go within just an hour or two. McDowell Sonoran Preserve, about 15 minutes from me, offers hikes from 1 mile to 20 miles that take you over all kinds of terrain.
How often do you go hiking, and do you have a favorite season for it?
Currently, I’m on the trails every Sunday. Any season, but summer is good for hiking here.
Do you have any hiking goals, such as completing a specific trail or visiting a national park?
I am doing a one-day Grand Canyon rim-to-rim hike in the spring. This will be a 26-mile hike from the north rim to the south rim and will take over 12 hours. I’m going to be so hungry when I’m done!
What advice would you give to someone who wants to start hiking?
Just get up and go. And take enough water!
How difficult was it to put together your vintage hi-fi system?
It was pretty easy to learn about the different options and find gear to buy with all the information out there on the internet and social media groups.
Did you run into any challenges finding or restoring components?
I got lucky and have a vintage repair shop about a mile from my house, which is great because I’m really good at breaking things.
What genres or artists dominate your record collection?
I’ve got a lot of everything, from classic rock through hip-hop.
Any favorite albums you keep coming back to?
There is an album by Daft Punk, Random Access Memories, that just sounds so amazing that it must be played at loud volume.
Do you have any rare or particularly valuable records in your collection?
One that has gained a ton of value in the last year or two is Tracy Chapman’s first album because Luke Comb’s recent cover of Fast Car was huge, and her original album was never reissued, so the only ones out there are originals from 1988, and the demand went through the roof!
Who do you interact with?
Clients, Suppliers, and Potential Clients
Can you describe an interaction when you helped a client or a supplier that stands out in your mind?
Working closely with one of our largest health system clients as they merged ERP technologies, we were able to pull together a vendor and item master cleanse reporting model to help them reduce redundancies that would ultimately lead to financial and efficiency risk. The client had thousands of vendors and hundreds of thousands of items that they did not have the resources to focus on, and the reporting model allowed them to work on more strategic initiatives. This is an impactful value add that we provide that doesn’t generate revenue but creates a partnership relationship versus a vendor relationship.
What were some of the biggest challenges you faced while developing the vendor and item master cleanse reporting model? Many challenges were around validating what data/vendors to keep and which to remove. You can’t just remove vendors from a vendor master without validation, as there can be many reasons beyond purchasing as to why a vendor is maintained as active.
How did you and your team approach/overcome those challenges? We held bi-weekly meetings with the client to walk through the potential vendors for removal and to assist with data validation. Much like most challenges, it comes down to communication.
Have you received any feedback from the client on how this initiative has benefited their operations?
Yes, it was a successful first stage. As the client continues the project, we will reconnect for ongoing maintenance as vendors continue to be added and removed every day, and many of our clients look to upgrade or change ERPs, so this becomes more and more of a necessity.
Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently in this process?
I don’t think we’d do much differently, but it is very important to discuss goals and what a successful project will be at its conclusion so you have milestones and performance metrics to make sure you are on the right track throughout.
What was the best compliment you’ve ever been paid by a client or supplier?
My favorite compliment is when my client told me, “You’ve earned the right to present anything to me.”
What is the best part of serving the healthcare market?
The mission! We don’t work at the bedside. We are actually a few steps away from that, so knowing that the work we do helps our clients provide the best possible healthcare at the lowest possible cost – what more could you ask for? We could all be working in other industries, but we choose to work in the most complicated and difficult industry because nothing matters more to the communities we live in than quality healthcare.
What has been your experience with SpendMend community service events?
One of the downsides of not working in the Grand Rapids area is I don’t get to participate in the community service events in person, but our team has made it possible for us to donate or work in our local communities on behalf of our company, so packing food at local food pantries or volunteering for nearby charity events is always encouraged and shared.
Do you want to shout out a co-worker who has helped or inspired you at SpendMend?
Nash Shook – the man, the myth, the legend! He pretty much created the role I am in. He was the first! I used to work with Nash at my previous company, and when I learned he was working at SpendMend, I knew I was heading for the right company!
What advice do you have for prospective candidates who want to join the SpendMend team?
Be ready to roll into an ever-evolving and growing company that is nimble enough to make moves! Every idea is listened to, and most are put into action.
What has been your proudest accomplishment at SpendMend?
Early on, I helped completely revamp how we deliver our client-facing business reviews and report-outs to allow for our work to be shared in a succinct and valuable way that our clients appreciate and look forward to. Here we are 5 years later, and we continue to evolve, but this has been maintained as the foundation of our presentation platform.
What is something you’re looking forward to in the future at SpendMend?
The way we are growing and evolving, who knows what’s next, but I’m excited about it. What I do know is that whatever we do next always starts with “How will this help our clients succeed.” With that in mind, we can’t lose!