September 2022 Employee Spotlight
Board game enthusiast, singing, and programming…these are a few of the qualities from our team member spotlight for the month of September! Louis Knight has been a .Net Developer at Metova for 6 years!
Tell us a little bit about yourself, Louis!
So how long have you worked at Metova?
Louis: 6 years officially!
What were you doing before you joined?
Louis: I was doing software development with Lifeway and another startup company before that.
What drew you to Metova?
Louis: I had a few friends who worked here at the time. I ran into them on a random day and started talking to them, and they started telling me about the life that they had at Metova. The autonomy that they had, and the support that they had as a team. They were hiring, and it sounded like a good opportunity.
What is it about you that most people don’t know?
Louis: I’m a huge board game player. I love playing a lot of board games – and video games – but mostly board games. I collect a bunch of them.
What are your favorite games?
Louis: My favorite video game is Destiny 2. The thing I love so much about it is the community. I’ve connected with so many people from the United States and have actually got to meet some of those people. I still game with a handful of guys up in Michigan. We try to do meetups once a year. We did one in Denver and another one in Kentucky. As far as board games go – Marvel Champions. I’m a big Marvel guy and it’s a fun game to chill with people and collaboratively work on something.
If you could choose anyone in the world to be your mentor, who would it be?
Louis: It’s funny enough, no one knows him, because he was a guy that was actually my mentor for a few months, back at the first job I worked at right out of college. Jim Locum is his name. He was a senior dev at the time. I have so much respect for the guy. He was juggling a family, work, and he just made so much time for me and taught me so much. He was a real down-to-earth guy who was making it work. He’s a guy that sticks out when someone asks me for a role model.
What’s your secret talent?
Louis: I haven’t done it since college. I did a ton of singing and choir in high school and up into college. In Tennessee we have All Region, where you can compete and they select a few hundred people. I eventually made it and went on to All State. I performed a few plays in highschool as well. I played Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls!
Which podcast have you been listening to recently?
Louis: Haha, back to board gaming I guess. There are a couple of card games that I’m into, so occasionally I’ll drop in with some of their podcasts. I actually met a few guys out in Minnesota at a convention. They run their own podcast, so I check in on that now and then.
What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?
Louis: The craziest thing I’ve ever done or the craziest thing that’s ever happened to me?
either or.
Louis: I don’t really do crazy things – I’m very routine. The craziest thing that has ever happened to me was back in college when me and a buddy were helping a group of students get to the airport. We were taking a church van – this was back in Atlanta. As we were chugging along the interstate, an oil line burst underneath the van and caught fire! No one got hurt and everyone eventually made it to the airport, but we held up the interstate for 4 hours! There were three firetrucks trying to put out the fire; we had emptied all their tanks. When you looked out, there were five lanes of traffic all waddled out. I’ve never been part of those traffic incidents, I’ve always just been stuck in them. So it was kind of a weird thing to think, “Huh. We caused one.”
What’s the best meal you’ve ever had?
Louis: It’s a steak. I’m a simple man.
Do you like to cook? What’s your favorite recipe?
Louis: I do like to cook! I cook quite a bit actually. I just got done making some pulled pork in my Instapot. I do love cooking steak, though! It’s probably my favorite thing to cook. It’s simple. It’s easy. It’s delicious.
Pineapple on pizza? Yay or nay?
Louis: I’m definitely a nay, but I respect it. I’m not gonna dog other people’s flavors.
Who was your favorite band from 10 years ago?
Louis: It’s actually still the same today. It’s Muse! They never stay the same. I love the album eras they have.
How would you spend $1 million dollars in 24 hours?
Louis: I think I would just buy a big house. I’m looking for a house right now, and the housing market in Nashville is so bad. So I would probably just buy one big awesome house.
What’s the best advice you can give to someone who just started their career in software?
Louis: It’s okay to say “I don’t know.” It’s okay to ask questions and learn. We’re all learning and nobody just has all the answers.
What skill do you think everyone should learn?
Louis: I don’t know if it’s necessarily a skill. It’s something that I am constantly trying to get better at. I think it’s being able to self evaluate – being able to look at your strengths and your weaknesses.
If you could get a new skill in ten minutes what would it be?
Louis: I would love to learn spanish! Sometimes I wish I took it back in high school, but I took french instead. I did get to go to Paris, though!
