Casey Dierking  joined the Lean Tech team in May of 2018. In addition to his software developer role, Casey brings digital media and graphic design experience to our team. Casey likes to learn and his balance of creative and practical ideas has been a welcome addition to our team. Now that the dust has settled following a whirl wind of a start at Lean Tech (moving, having their second child, and starting at Lean Tech within a span of 6 weeks), we recently asked Casey to share a little more about himself and his new role.

1. What drew you to Lean Tech?

I was drawn to Lean Tech because I wanted to be able to contribute and make a direct impact on the company and its customers. Lean tech provides that opportunity. The team members here are also incredibly smart, encouraging, and always creating learning moments. The culture is healthy and everyone enjoys the work we get to do together. It’s a recipe for success that I wanted to be a part of.

2. You are raising a young family. How has fatherhood shaped you in the last 3 years?

There are a lot of different takes that I could talk about how fatherhood has shaped me over the last 3 years, but one that immediately comes to mind is in just one word. “Grit”. I absolutely love being a father to my two girls (3 years and 5 months) and a husband to my amazing wife. But if these last 3 years have taught me anything, it’s how to keep going even when both kids are screaming and you are running on 3 hours of sleep. It’s pushed me as a person to become better because I recognize my limits and how far I can really go. I think it’s also taught me that there is permission to fail and learn from our mistakes. I also don’t take naps for granted anymore.

3. Tell us about the entrepreneurial spirit in your household. What is your latest project outside of Lean Tech?

I think it’s important to always have passion projects outside of your normal work. In my life, it keeps me sharper and helps me not become stagnant in the day to day. I think that this carries over into my normal work and continues to make me a better employee. Coffee is a huge passion of mine and my family’s so it was only natural we’d dive into starting a roasting business. About a year ago, my wife opened up a coffee shop and ran that for a year, but after moving to a new town and beginning work at Lean tech, we were left searching for good quality coffee here in Pella. We couldn’t find any so we decided to create our own. We think life is too short to drink mediocre coffee. Seriously, we just love coffee. [Try IRIS Coffee Company here]