July 2023 Spotlight
Family Man, Bee Keeper, Chief Operating Officer…these are a few of the qualities from our team member spotlight for the month of July! Tyler Dunbar has been on the team for a little under a year!
Tell us a bit about yourself, Tyler!
So what drew you to CST?
Tyler: The people drove me to CST. After I met with Miriam and Dustin and Josh, I really wanted to be part of that team.
What were you doing before you joined the company?
Tyler: I was based out of California managing a dental group. Prior to that, I was in the military. I lived in Hawaii and Florida and Virginia predominantly.
What has been your favorite project to work on?
Tyler: I’ve had a lot of projects that I’ve enjoyed on the CST side. The biggest project I’m most excited about is this merger, and really tying both of our organizations together because, in the past, we really worked together. But now it makes a lot more sense the way the communication flows, and I’m really excited about our ability to deliver some awesome stuff.
What have been your biggest accomplishments at CST?
Tyler: I think the biggest accomplishment for any company is coordinating international remote work. I think it sounds really cool, but there are definitely challenges associated with that, and I’m really proud of the way our team comes together and kind of puts pride and ego aside as you kind of make natural communication gaffs that you would expect, and ultimately coming back together, delivering an awesome product.
How would you describe your team?
Tyler: Amazing. I would describe them as a lot of fun to work with. Very easygoing. And very hardworking.
What’s your definition of success?
Tyler: My definition of success in my life is to create an environment that my kids want to be part of as adults.
What is it about you that most people don’t know?
Tyler: I am a serial hobbyist, and I don’t always succeed. My biggest project right now, as I’ve shared with you in the past, is Honeybee keeping. So I’ve got two honeybee hives. I’m pretty sure one of those hives is getting ready to swarm and leave and they’re probably gonna live in my attic. It’s pretty fun inside because that’s where my honeybees would go, right? They wouldn’t fly off into the woods and be natural honeybees. They would be looking for air conditioning and so they would probably choose to live in my house.
If you could choose anybody in the world to be your mentor, who would it be and why?
Tyler: Jesus, the greatest man to ever walk the earth.
What’s the best advice you can get to someone who just started a career in the tech industry?
Tyler: Be curious. Put your ego aside. Be willing to learn, and be ready to see stuff that you never knew existed.
Do you have a pet?
Tyler: I do. I’ve got lots of pets. I’ve got two dogs, three goats. 20 chickens and now two beehives. Do bees count? Do bees count pets? I feel like they should.
I would think so. So with the goats, do you make any goat cheese or goat milk?
Tyler: No, I mostly chase ’em around the yard away from the plants that my wife plants. They will not eat any of the stuff I bought them to eat, like weeds and the star thistle. They skip right past that and go straight to her garden, which is pretty hilarious.
What are their names?
Tyler: The Alpha male’s name’s Pirate. Then we have Rubble – she’s a girl. Chase is a little tiny goat. So my kids really liked Paw Patrol when we bought the goats. Ao Pirate, the Alpha male, he came as Pirate and it was just too fitting for him not to be Pirate forever. Then the other two got Paw Patrol names.
These aren’t fainting goats, are they?
Tyler: They haven’t fainted yet!
What’s your secret talent that no one knows about?
Tyler: I can flare my nostrils pretty good, and I can look at my hairs.
Do you watch any podcasts? Are there any in particular that you like to watch?
Tyler: So I don’t watch a lot of podcasts, but I will watch a Joe Rogan podcast a hundred percent of the time. Like if somebody I respect sends me a Joe Rogan podcast, I will 100% watch it and I’ve yet to not be fully entertained. If I had more time, I have three kids and a wife and all those animals I mentioned so… I don’t have a ton of personal time available that I can do that regularly, but definitely on long trips to the airport, will listen to some Joe Rogan.
What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done before?
Tyler: I think the craziest thing I’ve ever done was got married at 21 years old. Definitely highest risk, highest reward. The second craziest thing that I’ve done is probably skydiving. I was terrified of heights and in the Navy, we went skydiving on a regular basis. That was pretty crazy. I also once tried to kill a giant grouper fish. The first time I ever learned how to spearfish, I was in Africa, and thank god I didn’t hit the fish cuz I would’ve killed myself. I would’ve just like, Missed, you know, anything important and would’ve chased him to my own death.
Were you in the Navy Seals or like a special unit?
Tyler: Something similar. So we were called the Special Operations Community. So I and Josh Duntz actually were former teammates there. We were the special operations bomb squad, so we diffused the bombs, but we were divers and skydivers and everything else in between. So we did a lot of really fun, unique things that money can’t buy. I think my favorite memory from that, I was in charge of explosive security for the White House. So for one month, I was in charge of the White House in like 2015 and I was able to give like my wife and oldest son a tour of the White House personally, which was super cool.
What’s the best meal you’ve ever had?
Tyler: The best meal I’ve ever had… I don’t know, in Mexico, last week that shrimp wrapped in bacon was pretty fire. I don’t know. I think I wasn’t expecting it to be as good as it was, so it was really good and top of mind. But also summer is my favorite time of year just because you get out on the grill and you fire up those hamburgers and hotdogs, and I know it’s not like a sexy, cool meal, but for me it’s, it’s always the best.
Do you have a swimming pool there in California?
Tyler: I do. Yep. With a pirate flag in there. Most people have turtles or dolphins in tile. I’ve got a pirate flag.
What’s your favorite video game or board game and why?
Tyler: Growing up it was Monopoly. I love Monopoly. I love competition in general. Um, and Command and Conquer as I grew up was probably one of my favorite games to play. Age of Empires, specifically everyone who’s old enough to remember that game, was for sure my favorite. But I also love a good Madden, or Mario Kart on 64, if anybody played that.
Pineapple pizza, yay or nay?
Tyler: Definitely, a hundred percent.
Although living in Hawaii, right? Like you call it a Hawaiian pizza?
Tyler: Fun fact. Don’t do that in Hawaii. They look at you like you’re an idiot. And they’re like, you mean ham and pineapple? I’m like, yeah, a Hawaiian pizza. Everybody knows that.
Who was your favorite band from 10 years ago?
Tyler: Backstreet Boys. No, I’m just kidding. I don’t know, man. I listened to all kinds of music. Like I, I just love music from rock to old school hip hop, R&B, and Country. Probably 10 years ago I was on a pretty big country kick. Maybe like Zach Brown. I don’t know, was that like right when he came out?
How would you spend a million dollars in 24 hours?
Tyler: Ooh, Chuck E. Cheese… I got three kids, they would like that and it would be an epic experience, right? Like if you had a million dollars in Chuck E. Cheese, could you imagine? I don’t know. I’m pretty nerdy about personal finance. I love personal finance and I’m all about setting up passive income streams. I invest a lot in real estate and in the stock market. So, It would probably be super boring. I would just buy more assets that gave me passive income for the rest of my life. And Chuck E. Cheese.
What’s the coolest thing you’re working on right now?
Tyler: Man, I don’t know. I think probably learning how to be a beekeeper is the coolest thing. Also spending a lot of time with this merger and making sure that everything kind of gets off on the right foot.
If you could get a new skill in 10 minutes, what would it be?
Tyler: I think learning a second language is probably up there. I think the trip to Mexico has freshened my mind. I’m always disappointed in myself for not spending more time learning a second language. I really want to take my family traveling and expose them to different cultures and regions in the world. And I know the language barrier is always kind of the first hurdle, so probably learn another language.
What skill do you think everyone should learn?
Tyler: Relationship management. I think relationships are the most valuable thing in the world. People who know that and excel in that typically are always successful. People who don’t believe that, typically struggle.
Anything else you wanted to add?
Tyler: I would like to ask you a question. I feel like it’s only fair. Give us the history of your mustache.
I didn’t realize I can actually grow a mustache quite well until I went to Scottsdale a couple months ago and we did a guys trip. And it was cowboy themed. I grew it out. I did the curl, shaved the beard off, and then everyone at work, when I returned back, was like, “what in the world? You got a mustache?” And then people loved it. I started to love it. And my wife, she told me, cut it off. But it’s back.
Tyler: Yeah. I heard there was a Reddit thread called Ricky’s Mustache. I don’t know if that’s true. It’s just what I heard. You never know with the internet. Once it’s out there, it’s antibodies.
I wouldn’t be surprised. But yeah, I have that little emoji that Joseph created of me and I was just fooling around with my cowboy hat and then they kind of turned me into a little emoji, so. That’s amazing. Good times around here.
Thank you for your time, Tyler! We’re happy to have you on the team side and experiencing the culture that we have. We’re super excited to have you!
