Meet Brendan Murphy, Senior Director of Customer Engagement at Populi. Super Dad and unapologetic Kesha fan, Brendan plays a vital role in understanding customers’ experience with the platform and ensuring that their needs are met by communicating with the product and engineering teams.
Q: What’s your role at Populi, and what does an average day look like for you?
A: I lead our Customer Engagement team here at Populi and focus on delivering value to our customers. Every day, I’m in contact with one or more customers at the user level, executive level and everywhere in between. My team also serves as the internal voice of the customer, which allows me to work directly with our product and engineering teams to improve our offerings. From an operations perspective, I work cross-functionally to develop and enhance our processes to improve efficiency and scalability.
Q: What do you think customers value the most about their experience with Populi?
A: Populi brings a really unique value proposition to the market. Our products are sophisticated but also very easy to use, which allows customers to quickly get real answers to business questions. I’m most proud of the speed with which we deliver value. The day a customer signs with Populi, they receive a welcome email from my team that includes immediate access to our products. There’s no weeks- or months-long setup or implementation. Our painless onboarding process, coupled with our subject matter expertise in healthcare analytics, is a powerful combination.
Q: What’s your favorite thing about working for Populi?
A: Hands down, it’s the people. On a professional level, we’ve assembled the most talented group I’ve ever worked with. The depth of experience is incredible and everyone brings a unique perspective to the table. On a personal level, we’ve been able to cultivate a really strong culture that prioritizes connection between team members. That’s difficult to do, especially in a remote world. It makes working so much more fun, and I think it also leads to increased productivity.
Q: Why should someone join your team at Populi?
A: Of course, I’m biased, but we have the coolest roles at Populi. We live at the intersection of product, engineering and the customer. We’re exposed to, and can influence, so much across three distinct areas. This offers a special opportunity to learn new things every day, positively impact our company in multiple ways, and work directly with a wide cross section of awesome people.
Q: How do you like to spend your free time?
A: My wife, Andrea, and I have two boys, ages 3 and 5. Our life revolves around them in the best way possible. We like to travel locally and get outside together. This summer was filled with the beach, hikes and our first overnight camping trip. (We all survived!) I try to exercise and move around every day. I train in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu 3–4 days a week and work out at the gym or cycle on my days off. I actually met our CEO Bill Moschella through Brazilian Jiu Jitsu more than ten years ago. We have a surprising number of martial artists on staff.
Q: What’s the best part about being a dad?
A: Can I say “everything” is the best part? I’m a lot of things, but I’m first and foremost a dad and a husband. Being a parent is such a wild experience. The love that we put out to the boys and the love we get back in return is impossible to describe. As they get older and are on their own a bit more through school and activities, it’s so cool to see them put good vibes out into the world. Being a dad can also be really challenging. Parenting forces you to confront so much about yourself and can offer amazing opportunities for introspection and growth if you’re up for putting in the work.
Q: What’s your “dance like nobody’s watching” song?
A: “Timber” by Pitbull featuring Kesha. It’s goin’ down…
Q: If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
A: Variety is the spice of life, and I’d be bummed if I had to eat the same thing forever, but I would say a Super Beef, 3-way (cheese, BBQ sauce, mayo) on an onion roll from Nick’s Roast Beef in Beverly, MA, where I grew up. The North Shore of Massachusetts is king for the hot roast beef sandwich. I haven’t had one in years and am now contemplating the two hour drive to go get one!
