Employee Spotlight: Brett
Who are you? Give us some highlights from your past:
I am Brett Swope, 27 year old father of 2 beautiful girls Aria (8), and Enora (1). I spent a lot of my young life in, or recovering from, foster care and a lot of that took place in nature and on a board of some kind. I lived in California for 18 years, and during that time I found a love for the road less traveled. Rock climbing, bushwhacking and making my own way through nature brings me a sense of purpose that I rarely find anywhere else. Connecting to my immediate surroundings and depending on my skills and willpower gave me the confidence I needed to move forward and leave my rough start behind. From Idyllwild, Big Bear, Mammoth, and Joshua Tree, I spent time outside as much as I could. I picked up surfing, paddleboarding, skateboarding and distance longboarding in my late teens and early adult life.
Tell us about a very memorable trip outdoors from the last few years:
I have lots of memories of nature, but something I experienced in the painted hills of North Dakota led me to propose to my now fiancée. We were road tripping from Minnesota to Oregon for a music festival (shoutout to BassCanyon at the Gorge) and on the trip one of our first stops was at the Painted Hills Nature Park in North Dakota. I shared a moment with my then girlfriend, we spent hours talking while walking, laughing at anecdotes, and talking about the future.
Somewhere along the way we stopped, the peace of that moment stuck with me more than anything. It was like the world stopped, there was no sound, no wind, no smells. She and I stood there holding hands and not saying a word. I felt a kindred spirit in her and together we shared a moment, just two people standing on an otherwise empty patch of earth completely uninhabited by anything substantial. We exist on a floating chunk of debris in an expanding realm completely unfathomable to us, we exist together and I have never felt closer to anyone.
What do you do at CNOC?
I am the Production Manager, with 9 years of experience in manufacturing. I hope to finally break my own mold and discover my potential in coding, welding, and other areas I hope to support the company with.
What is a running project you are working on at the moment that no one knows about yet?
I have been working on learning MIG welding, mostly for fun, sometimes on contract jobs. But my ultimate goal is to test out and get my certification.
What is your favorite product that we make?
Honestly the running flasks* are my favorite - I have a running backpack that had these large pockets and no one ever told me they had a purpose. I longboard long distances and I usually run out of water near the first quarter and I have to stop and refill. Now I can load up two pockets with these flasks and won't need to refill on a trip even once.
What’s an interesting (or not-so-interesting) non-CNOC factoid about yourself that is important to who you are as a person?
I write and perform slam poetry, and hyperbolic anecdotes. English was the only class i passed with an A every year. I've written over 1,000 three page poems, and 500+ anecdotes. And have never published anything, nor do I plan to.
*Editor's note: check back in a week!
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