During the last month, I found myself approached to write a nomination. Jaime Zawmon reached out to see if I would be interested in nominating our CEO Chris McAree for their Titan 100 competition. Now, when I first heard the name I thought it was some kind of iron man competition, like a barrel throw or truck pull and I thought, “Yeah Chris would definitely do that!” 

In reality, Jaime’s company holds a competition to showcase the top 100 C-level executives in Colorado. While meeting Chris at a marketing event Jamie was won over by Chris’ Canadian charm, and thought to invite LeafTech to compete for the award. Jamie reached out to me, and I wrote a nomination for Chris. Based on the impressive growth of our company, and the vision it was founded on, I believe that Chris and all of the team here should be recognized for the fantastic leadership.

During the nomination submission process I was asked to tell the entrepreneurial story of LeafTech’s beginnings – and here is how I described it:

Chris McAree always had a vision of the place he wanted to work. It is my belief that when founding LeafTech Consulting Chris’ goal was to build the work environment that met his standards and ideals. When the story of this company began, Chris was working out of his basement on IT side projects while holding down a full time job doing the same kind of work for a very large company. It really is through all of his efforts and integrity back in the dark ages, that this company exists in the form that it does today. LeafTech is based off of Chris’ desire to deliver the superior customer service that his day job prevented him from executing in that understaffed corporate IT department. 

When founding the company, Chris’ closest confidant came aboard as well and has stuck with LeafTech through thick and thin. Rick Brooke was a long time friend of Chris, and expert in Telecommunications. Rick first worked with Chris through his capacity with other companies Rick supported as a contractor. If you know both of them, it seems like an unlikely friendship but at its core their relationship was based on mutual respect for the other’s work ethic and ideals. When Chris shared his dream of an IT company that could give clients the service they deserve, Rick threw himself into the company and became a founding partner with Chris and now works as LeafTech’s CCO. The two founders brought on a contractor to do some of the things that they could not, and began building their client base by striving to fulfill their vision of Character, Communication, and Teamwork.

As word spread about the LeafTech experience, it has been a steep climb toward growth. A steady increase in demand matched the speed at which our fearless leaders could find technicians and customer service representatives who shared their ideals to join the team. Even now, we do not actively market to new customers, but word of mouth alone brings in more clients curious about the quality of experience with LeafTech. At the end of the day, we all are a part of this compassionate, quirky, daring IT company because Chris wanted more for the people he was helping. Now we all are able to make his dream happen!

Written by Alia Davis