Experiencing Fidelity Sites Across the Country

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:32:17 Farrah Qureshi Welcome to Side of the Desk podcast hosted by Fidelity Jobs in the Fidelity Women's Leadership Group. We're here today to have deep discussions on the authentic experience of being a working professional in today's ever changing workforce. 00:00:32:17 - 00:00:54:14 Farrah Qureshi Thank you all so much for joining us on today's episode of Side of the Desk. Today, we're here to talk about benefits across fidelity sites. We have locations across the country, including Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Texas, and even more. Each of our sites has specific benefits that make the experience and culture really unique. 00:00:54:16 - 00:01:10:25 Farrah Qureshi Today, we're joined by several associates from different sites who are sharing some of their favorite things they love about working on site. First, let's go to our friend Patrick, who's based out of our North Carolina site. Patrick, do you mind sharing just a little bit about what you do at Fidelity as we 00:01:10:25 - 00:01:13:00 Farrah Qureshi go ahead and get started with this conversation? 00:01:13:00 - 00:01:16:20 Patrick Nevius Sure thing. I'm a solutions architect for PI. Social media. 00:01:16:20 - 00:01:19:29 Farrah Qureshi Perfect. Can you tell us a little bit more about what that is? 00:01:19:29 - 00:01:32:20 Patrick Nevius architecture usually comes in to help figure out if we have existing tools to provide solutions for a business need or if we need to purchase a new tool or design a build out of a new solution altogether. 00:01:32:20 - 00:01:34:07 Farrah Qureshi Excellent. Thank you so much. And 00:01:34:07 - 00:01:37:01 Farrah Qureshi How long have you been working in the North Carolina office now? 00:01:37:01 - 00:01:39:09 Patrick Nevius I've been working here for 11 years. 00:01:39:09 - 00:01:46:18 Farrah Qureshi Wow. So you must be an expert. What are some of your favorite things that you love about working in the North Carolina office? 00:01:46:18 - 00:01:47:01 Patrick Nevius Sure. 00:01:47:01 - 00:02:12:07 Patrick Nevius we're really lucky that they have recently remodeled all of the campus in North Carolina. So it's got a lot of really nice spots. One of my favorites is the LEAP Office. So Leap was started in North Carolina. As I understand it, they have a really nice new shiny office, but connected to it is a really great seating area with awesome desks, with really nice big curved monitors and like a really slick area to sit down and work when you can get a spot there. 00:02:12:07 - 00:02:13:18 Patrick Nevius It's clearly popular. 00:02:14:01 - 00:02:16:18 Farrah Qureshi you mind explaining a little bit about what LEAP is? 00:02:16:18 - 00:02:24:13 Patrick Nevius Yes Leap is an onboarding program for new full time associates in the field. 00:02:24:13 - 00:02:37:24 Patrick Nevius It's designed to get people that come right out of college. So you graduate, you get a job with fidelity, but you start out and it's usually about a six month training program that that culminates in putting them in a business unit ready to start working on projects. 00:02:37:29 - 00:02:41:27 Patrick Nevius That's a really great way to go from being a student into the professional world, 00:02:41:27 - 00:02:44:23 Patrick Nevius and that was actually how I joined the company. So was great. 00:02:46:04 - 00:02:48:28 Farrah Qureshi So you love going into that Leap Café. Do you see 00:02:48:28 - 00:02:53:13 Farrah Qureshi a lot of LEAP associates when you go into the café? 00:02:53:13 - 00:02:54:01 Patrick Nevius Yeah, 00:02:54:01 - 00:03:18:25 Patrick Nevius elite program rotates. They don't always have new, new people going through the program right there, and oftentimes they'll be attending sessions and lectures and things in other parts of the building. But in terms of it being like their central hub, it's just a really nice spot, great places to set up to, to work in a couple of different ways, whether you're collaborating or in person, doing things over Zoom or just trying to find a quiet desk where you can do your own thing. 00:03:18:25 - 00:03:21:14 Farrah Qureshi you have any other secret spots 00:03:21:14 - 00:03:25:04 Farrah Qureshi or places that you love? In the North Carolina office 00:03:25:04 - 00:03:46:08 Patrick Nevius Yeah, the Creekside Commons has this really nice section of booths kind of in the back of the room, and it's a great spot to go and like relax a little bit more. Especially like first thing in the morning you can grab a little snack or coffee from the cafe and then find these really cool booths to hang out and like check up on your emails or figure out what meetings you have to do for the day. 00:03:46:11 - 00:04:04:02 Patrick Nevius They again very recently remodeled, so it has very nice comfortable booths. So it's LED lighting around it. But you get to look into the Creekside Common venue, which is like a two stories tall room that has like one walls, all glass. So you just get to look out in the woods and tons of light and just nice place to start your day. 00:04:04:02 - 00:04:21:06 Patrick Nevius Other than that, the central part of like the main hub of the whole campus is like it's like a donut, so it's empty in the middle and they re redid all of the greenery out there. So it's like this pretty little garden with one bench where you can kind of hang out and sit there and enjoy the view for a minute. 00:04:21:06 - 00:04:25:06 Patrick Nevius Just don't forget your badge because it'll lock you out. 00:04:25:06 - 00:04:30:13 Farrah Qureshi sounds like there's a lot of wildlife and nature over within the North Carolina campus. 00:04:30:13 - 00:04:36:02 Farrah Qureshi That sounds like a really cool experience. Lots of lots of green fidelity, green There. 00:04:36:02 - 00:04:49:25 Patrick Nevius Exactly. The the landscaping of the whole campus is really pretty. It's like I didn't think about it much when they were doing it. But now that it's done and it's grown and really well, it makes for a really pretty campus to take a walk around or just enjoy from the windows. 00:04:49:25 - 00:05:01:24 Patrick Nevius If need to take a break from your computer for a little bit. The scenery is very nice there. Even the bridge walking over from the parking deck is just makes for a nice kind of opening to getting into the office. 00:05:01:24 - 00:05:06:19 Farrah Qureshi Perfect. And do you have any tips for any new associates that would be starting at your site? 00:05:06:19 - 00:05:15:22 Patrick Nevius Definitely don't be afraid to ask for directions. The building, the whole campus is kind of labyrinthine. It can be kind of hard to figure out your way around it first. 00:05:15:22 - 00:05:31:22 Patrick Nevius So as people are happy to point you in the right direction, Security Group is really happy to help you find a specific conference room or something like that. And if you have to get to a conference room for an in-person meeting, give yourself a couple of extra minutes to find it. It's always a little tricky. 00:05:31:25 - 00:05:48:08 Alicia Edwards I feel like I'm still looking at maps for where is this land, where is this meeting going to be? But thankfully, Fidelity has some pretty good finder room resources on Fidelity Central so that you can map out where you're going and make sure that you're not late for a meeting, even if you give yourself a few extra minutes. 00:05:48:14 - 00:06:01:16 Alicia Edwards Thanks so much for sharing about that, Patrick. I can't wait to visit the North Carolina office. I have yet to go there. I also have yet to go to our Colorado office. So let's switch over to our friend. Phil. Can you share a little bit about what you do for Fidelity? Phil 00:06:01:16 - 00:06:14:25 Phil Stewart Yeah, absolutely. So, like Patrick, I also work in the social media product area, but I am not tech literate. This is more I'm more on the customer service side of things. Recently actually moved into an analyst role supporting the 00:06:14:25 - 00:06:16:00 Phil Stewart social care team. So the 00:06:16:00 - 00:06:19:22 Phil Stewart customer service side of fidelity, social media presence. 00:06:19:24 - 00:06:37:17 Phil Stewart So as an analyst handling some escalated items, you know, things that come through that we might need to maybe consider more carefully how we're going to respond publicly to. And then we're also looking at the processes that we have for being more efficient and having kind of a better speed to response out there in the social media channels. 00:06:37:17 - 00:06:40:13 Alicia Edwards That's awesome. And how long have you been at the Denver office? 00:06:40:13 - 00:06:40:25 Phil Stewart Yeah. 00:06:40:25 - 00:06:56:22 Phil Stewart I am lucky enough to have had Fidelity tenure at two different sites. I've been in Denver for two years and started my Fidelity career in Westlake, Texas, at the biggest regional center site down there. So two and a half years in Westlake and now two years in Denver. And I love it. 00:06:56:22 - 00:06:58:06 Alicia Edwards Is was like the biggest one. 00:06:58:06 - 00:07:22:23 Alicia Edwards okay. All right. With population, I think I think New Hampshire probably gives you a run for your money. It New Hampshire is huge. So it's my gosh, that's awesome. 00:07:22:23 - 00:07:39:28 Alicia Edwards switching back away from Texas, we know everything's bigger in Texas, but going back to Colorado, what are some of your favorite things about working out of the Colorado office? 00:08:37:09 - 00:08:38:28 Alicia Edwards Not so awesome and far 00:08:38:28 - 00:08:43:15 Alicia Edwards you've been located at more than one site as well. You're actually from the Colorado area, correct. 00:08:43:15 - 00:08:49:23 Farrah Qureshi I am. I did start back in the day in Colorado, so always a special place in my heart. 00:08:49:23 - 00:08:50:16 Farrah Qureshi love 00:08:50:16 - 00:09:03:29 Farrah Qureshi all the quirkiness of Denver and I would agree with you. Feel like there's so much coolness with all the shops and then just being able to go to the mountains, being able to hike, ski, being outdoors, 00:09:03:29 - 00:09:08:02 Farrah Qureshi great transit network as well, especially really close to the site. 00:09:08:02 - 00:09:09:22 Farrah Qureshi So really love it. 00:09:09:22 - 00:09:16:08 Alicia Edwards awesome. Are there any other than just like Denver being Denver, what about perks on site that you can share about the office? Either one of you? 00:09:16:08 - 00:09:34:15 Phil Stewart Yeah, I was going to riff on what Forest said right there, because we we really are literally right there on Interstate 25. That is also the E line station. So Arapaho Village Center station is a hundred yards from the front door of the office maybe maybe that far. 00:09:34:18 - 00:09:52:27 Phil Stewart And I am a huge nerd for public transportation. I think it's going to save the world. I am a huge advocate for it. So to come from Texas, which is not exactly renowned for its train system to being here in Denver, where you can just take the airline down, hop off and walk into the office is really great. 00:09:52:27 - 00:10:14:03 Phil Stewart So that's definitely a huge plus. One of the things I actually learned when far reached out to me about being on this, I talked to our site, GM, Josh Deacon, who a great guy and I learned that the Denver Regional Center was actually the test for a lot of the other regional center redesigns as they were remodeling and modernizing things through the last probably five years or so. 00:10:14:06 - 00:10:36:26 Phil Stewart So like our third floor has several different layouts as you go from like one end to the other because they were using it as sort of like a test launch. So that was really cool. Denver, I think is one of the newer regional center sites. And so yeah, it's, it's cool that you get to see kind of like the looking down the pike on what might be going on with regional center architecture and décor and stuff like that as well. 00:10:36:26 - 00:11:01:24 Phil Stewart So and then one of the other things that I do appreciate about being here, I was describing Westlake, and I just want to do this by comparison. Westlake, self-contained, it's 80 acres. It's on its own. You've got to drive through these kind of winding paths to get there to the detached parking garage. And that's cool. But here in the Denver site, you roll right up the parking garage is right next to the door, and then you can have a different experience on each floor. 00:11:01:24 - 00:11:18:16 Phil Stewart There's no like I was thinking about Patrick talking about getting lost. Not possible here. It's a straight building. It's east and West Wings, Right. You know, if you get turned around, maybe just turn around, go back the way you can. You'll find the elevator again and you'll be set right. But there's a very different experience at each floor. 00:11:18:16 - 00:11:32:19 Phil Stewart And when I first came over here, I started out on the fourth floor, which is a more phone based, more customer service is kind of a lot going on. And it's a really great sort of camaraderie. As I moved into a job that required a little bit more focus, 00:11:32:19 - 00:11:36:04 Phil Stewart I moved up to the sixth floor and the sixth floor is more quiet. 00:11:36:04 - 00:11:52:27 Phil Stewart It is still an open floor plan, but it's a lot of people who were looking for a place to sort of get away from the bustle that you get kind of in those phone team communities that you have in the third and fourth floor. But those communities are really important for like, let's say, new, higher classes, of which we have a lot at Denver. 00:11:53:00 - 00:11:58:00 Phil Stewart They lean on each other. You know, you can learn a lot. I remember being a phone associate starting at Fidelity, 00:11:58:00 - 00:12:10:00 Phil Stewart put somebody on mute and leaned over to your buddy, Hey, you know what this is? Or who can I ask about this? Right. It's a really important part of that, that stage in your development. But up here, it's a little bit more kind of that formal sort of setting. 00:12:10:00 - 00:12:11:12 Phil Stewart And so you get both. 00:12:11:12 - 00:12:26:04 Alicia Edwards That's awesome. So the environment what I'm hearing is the environment one can look a little different based on some of the testing and do it could feel a little bit different depending on your role or your community and what kind of you need from the environment that kind of lets itself dictate. 00:12:26:04 - 00:12:28:02 Alicia Edwards So that's great. Any 00:12:28:02 - 00:12:34:05 Alicia Edwards any urges, employee resource groups or anything else that you've been able to join or partake in? 00:12:34:05 - 00:12:34:27 Phil Stewart Yeah, 00:12:34:27 - 00:12:49:03 Phil Stewart I laughed a lot when I started Fidelity and went through the licensing process. I felt that it was very much akin to orientation at college. You know, you're kind of with your new higher cohort and moving through and you're doing all the rush activities and things and air just felt 00:12:49:03 - 00:12:51:26 Phil Stewart just like the social clubs that I would have done in college. 00:12:51:29 - 00:12:57:13 Phil Stewart So I signed up for a couple of them, but the only one that I really maintain 00:12:57:13 - 00:13:05:05 Phil Stewart communications with or that I read passably the communications is is fidelity. Pride shot out it is by visibility week. So hello 00:13:05:05 - 00:13:07:20 Phil Stewart so you know I get the communications from them 00:13:07:20 - 00:13:13:29 Phil Stewart haven't been too active in reaching out to the team but I do keep an eye on it and they're very active here. 00:13:14:00 - 00:13:17:01 Phil Stewart they put on a run recently, like a 10-K run 00:13:17:01 - 00:13:31:17 Phil Stewart here in the area and they do a lot of events. And then there's another one that I'm I've seen on Yammer and I'm looking for maybe to see how that develops and grow. Is this the Native American community? And so I'm keeping tabs on that and want to hope for its success and, 00:13:31:17 - 00:13:36:20 Phil Stewart might consider reaching out to see if I can be of assistance to them because that's a really cool thing to have. 00:13:36:20 - 00:13:43:19 Phil Stewart And then, you know, not an air, but something that the site did do is just a couple of weeks ago for all of us here at the at the site, 00:13:43:19 - 00:13:52:25 Phil Stewart we actually rented out Coors Field, which is where the Colorado Rockies play. It wasn't a game night, but they actually reserved the stadium for us and had food in the day. 00:13:52:27 - 00:14:06:15 Phil Stewart And they let us go down to the dugout and just, you know, it was us and a plus one. And then you got a couple of drink tickets and, you know, the full buffet and everything like that. So that was a really cool thing that was here, you know, for the Denver side or for Colorado Associates to go and enjoy. 00:14:06:15 - 00:14:07:27 Phil Stewart Just a couple of weeks ago. 00:14:07:27 - 00:14:11:00 Alicia Edwards my gosh, that sounds so fun and so awesome. So 00:14:11:00 - 00:14:20:00 Alicia Edwards I'm so glad that you got to partake in that. That's so great. So wrapping up in Colorado, what what tips, though, would you have for somebody looking to join the Colorado site? 00:14:20:00 - 00:14:30:07 Phil Stewart live north or south, because both of those arteries we were talking about that convenient transportation of I-25 and the line, they do run very, very north south. 00:14:30:07 - 00:14:34:15 Phil Stewart If you go further east or west, it does get a little bit trickier to come through the traffic. 00:14:34:15 - 00:14:36:10 Phil Stewart If you are not used to cold weather. 00:14:36:10 - 00:14:48:06 Phil Stewart Right. Make sure you invest in a windshield scraper. Make sure you invest in a good defrost in your car and good winter tires, but also sunglasses. And then here on site, 00:14:48:06 - 00:14:55:27 Phil Stewart know, if somebody were to come out and if I had it to do over again, I think just jump in. The people that I've met here have been very welcoming. 00:14:55:27 - 00:15:17:03 Phil Stewart Right. It's a it's definitely a different culture than Texas, but that's to the good, right. Diversity is the spice of life. And everybody I've met here, you know, we talked about Denver being quirky and I just feel like people are happy to be themselves here. And that's been a really fun part of being in this office here is that you just kind of meet people very authentically here and it's been very appreciated. 00:15:17:06 - 00:15:24:00 Farrah Qureshi Taking a little bit of a turn from Denver. Alisha, you're based out of our New Hampshire site. 00:15:24:00 - 00:15:30:15 Farrah Qureshi You've been in New Hampshire, I think, for a while, and you've had a chance to be at a few different sites. 00:15:30:15 - 00:15:31:25 Farrah Qureshi Alicia, do you mind just 00:15:31:25 - 00:15:34:11 Farrah Qureshi sharing a little bit about what you do now? 00:15:34:11 - 00:15:35:15 Alicia Edwards Yeah, absolutely. 00:15:35:15 - 00:15:41:12 Alicia Edwards I'm in the personal investing side. I work for distribution deployment team. So my team acts 00:15:41:12 - 00:16:00:01 Alicia Edwards internally with other business partners to help determine how and when we can disseminate different initiatives into the field so that the associates aren't getting constantly bombarded. Leaders feel appropriately supported so that they can read the information, absorb it, retain it, and then get back to helping our clients. 00:16:00:01 - 00:16:01:16 Farrah Qureshi Awesome. Thank you so much. And 00:16:01:16 - 00:16:07:20 Farrah Qureshi you've been both at the Boston and New Hampshire site for a while, but it 00:16:07:20 - 00:16:10:12 Farrah Qureshi How long have you been in New Hampshire at this point? 00:16:10:12 - 00:16:14:29 Alicia Edwards Yeah, good question. So I started with Fidelity seven and a half years ago. 00:16:14:29 - 00:16:20:13 Alicia Edwards I started in New Hampshire. I worked in New Hampshire for two, two and a half years. I 00:16:20:13 - 00:16:34:16 Alicia Edwards actually went out to the branches. I worked in our Tennessee branch for about two years, and then I came back to New England, but was based out of the Boston office for a little bit and then relocated again back up to New Hampshire. 00:16:34:16 - 00:16:40:12 Alicia Edwards So there's not all that much space between New Hampshire and Boston. It's only about an hour's drive, 00:16:40:12 - 00:16:44:21 Alicia Edwards the cultures are definitely a little bit different. I would say that the New Hampshire site 00:16:44:21 - 00:16:50:09 Alicia Edwards is much more of an experience. They have this theme of stay, work and play. 00:16:50:09 - 00:16:55:27 Alicia Edwards So in addition to having a lot more space than you do in downtown Boston, 00:16:55:27 - 00:16:58:08 Alicia Edwards there's also just a lot more associates. 00:16:58:10 - 00:17:08:12 Alicia Edwards There's over 7600 people that work in the New Hampshire site, which is the state's largest employer, which is really great. And I love to tout that fact all the time. 00:17:08:12 - 00:17:29:05 Alicia Edwards And it's just really awesome to be able to go there and have such an expansive network and New Hampshire is, to no one's surprise, a very small state. And so a lot of times you're seeing people that you've met or at other times in your life, whether you went to high school together or maybe you went to college together, or maybe you grew up in the same town or something like that, it's 00:17:29:05 - 00:17:33:03 Alicia Edwards it's a really cool and tight knit community where a lot of people 00:17:33:03 - 00:17:35:06 Alicia Edwards are intermingled in different ways. 00:17:35:06 - 00:17:36:07 Farrah Qureshi That's awesome. 00:17:36:07 - 00:17:39:17 Farrah Qureshi Great to hear about the community. And when we think about 00:17:39:17 - 00:17:47:00 Farrah Qureshi New Hampshire as a site, what are some of your favorite things about the site? Are your favorite hiding spots or favorite places to go? 00:17:47:00 - 00:17:53:06 Alicia Edwards of my favorite things to do right now is actually a new feature that I think just got implemented this year. 00:17:53:06 - 00:18:00:16 Alicia Edwards There are bikes that they put on campus. I think that's across a couple of different campuses, but I've only used the ones in New Hampshire. So 00:18:00:16 - 00:18:03:13 Alicia Edwards you can download an app and rent a bike 00:18:03:13 - 00:18:06:03 Alicia Edwards and just go for a little bike ride around campus. 00:18:06:05 - 00:18:13:28 Alicia Edwards New Hampshire's campus has over seven and a half miles of trails, too. So if you're into walking, if you're into biking, if you like to run, 00:18:13:28 - 00:18:15:16 Alicia Edwards you can go for a very scenic 00:18:15:16 - 00:18:17:19 Alicia Edwards little whatever you're doing and 00:18:17:19 - 00:18:24:12 Alicia Edwards and go around campus. So it's really, really beautiful. There are ponds, there's a lot of woods, there's some really nice views 00:18:24:12 - 00:18:27:16 Alicia Edwards and it just feels very relaxed and open and fresh. 00:18:27:16 - 00:18:32:02 Alicia Edwards And I really love to rent the bikes and bop around campus. 00:18:32:02 - 00:18:39:07 Farrah Qureshi They also implemented those in Rhode Island. So I have yet to go on the bikes because I don't want to embarrass myself. 00:18:40:14 - 00:18:43:20 Farrah Qureshi super fun and I've heard only the best things about them. 00:18:43:21 - 00:18:49:08 Alicia Edwards They do have helmets if you want to use those. So 00:18:49:08 - 00:19:00:00 Farrah Qureshi a little birdie told me that you also recently tried some new lessons that were on the New Hampshire site. Can you talk a little bit about some of the 00:19:00:00 - 00:19:02:01 Farrah Qureshi other athletic amenities that 00:19:02:01 - 00:19:04:05 Farrah Qureshi maybe new to New Hampshire 00:19:04:05 - 00:19:08:10 Alicia Edwards yeah, absolutely. So existing on campus, we've always had 00:19:08:10 - 00:19:09:27 Alicia Edwards basketball courts. 00:19:09:27 - 00:19:13:22 Alicia Edwards There's a baseball field, soccer field, volleyball courts, 00:19:13:22 - 00:19:22:26 Alicia Edwards and most recently the fitness center implemented pickleball courts on the tennis courts. So within the tennis courts, there's also pickleball lines. 00:19:22:28 - 00:19:30:23 Alicia Edwards And the fitness center is also kind enough to have an instructor come in twice a week. And so you can sign up for a lesson. For me, 00:19:30:23 - 00:19:41:07 Alicia Edwards I'm fairly athletic, but I had no idea what the rules are for pickleball. And in my opinion, there's a lot of rules. So it's many more rules than tennis, but it's much easier. 00:19:41:09 - 00:19:50:02 Alicia Edwards Also, again, just my opinion of easier to play and easier to get pick up on. So I took a pickleball lesson and it was super fun 00:19:50:02 - 00:20:06:23 Alicia Edwards and it was really convenient just to be able to step outside the cafeteria, walk like a couple of minutes, get to the tennis courts and then have like a real licensed professional be able to teach me how to play this game that I had been dying to try, but I had no way other than going to the mall and buying a 00:20:06:23 - 00:20:10:29 Alicia Edwards paddle, if that's what they're called in the fall and then trying to find a court. 00:20:10:29 - 00:20:20:29 Alicia Edwards It just like seemed like a lot. So finally made it really easy for just being able to walk outside. And then there is somebody right there to teach me everything I needed to know. So it was really, really fun. 00:20:20:29 - 00:20:27:17 Craig Thomas yeah, the only rule, the only rule I know is stay out of the kitchen. Well, that's the only way I know about pickleball. So you're 00:20:27:17 - 00:20:33:28 Alicia Edwards I don't even know if that's a rule or if it's just like you, like people don't do it like, that's why it's confusing 00:20:33:28 - 00:20:38:03 Craig Thomas Right. So I realize I need a lesson. So hopefully they come to the COVID test site as well 00:20:40:05 - 00:20:43:07 Farrah Qureshi it sounds like we'll have two new undisputed champions. 00:20:43:07 - 00:20:45:09 Craig Thomas Absolutely. 00:20:50:25 - 00:20:54:07 Alicia Edwards I know there are different types of champions across campus, too. 00:20:54:07 - 00:20:57:17 Alicia Edwards I know that we also have ping pong amenities in New Hampshire, 00:20:57:17 - 00:21:02:23 Alicia Edwards but we also and maybe you all have this as well, we also held a mario Kart tournament this year. 00:21:02:23 - 00:21:15:22 Alicia Edwards I did not partake because my mode of Mario Kart of choice is the Nintendo 64, but this one was on the week and there was just a tournament where you could sign up for it and go and do your race and compete in the heat. 00:21:15:22 - 00:21:20:23 Alicia Edwards And then there was a champion and I don't know what they won, but maybe other than bragging rights. But 00:21:20:23 - 00:21:37:10 Alicia Edwards it was really cool. And they have that we just in one of the rooms so if you have a break, if you and a couple of your friends have the same break or you want to play on a team bonding activity, you can schedule time in the room just to decompress, relax and play a couple of games, which is, I think, really cool. 00:21:39:06 - 00:21:44:10 Farrah Qureshi Have you joined any clubs over in the New Hampshire region at all, 00:21:44:10 - 00:21:45:02 Alicia Edwards Yeah. 00:21:45:02 - 00:21:46:08 Alicia Edwards In addition to 00:21:46:08 - 00:21:56:07 Alicia Edwards some of the clubs that we've already talked about in this episode, I've actually been able to volunteer a lot of time within the New Hampshire community because Fidelity has a partnership 00:21:56:07 - 00:21:59:04 Alicia Edwards in the New Hampshire site with the New Hampshire Food Bank. 00:21:59:04 - 00:22:06:10 Alicia Edwards So there's a lot of ongoing opportunities to give back to the community and set up volunteer spaces to be able to do 00:22:06:10 - 00:22:07:04 Alicia Edwards some of that 00:22:07:04 - 00:22:09:16 Alicia Edwards volunteer work within the food bank. And then 00:22:09:16 - 00:22:12:11 Alicia Edwards with some of your fellow Fidelity associates as well. 00:22:12:11 - 00:22:24:27 Farrah Qureshi That's awesome. That sounds like a great partnership, especially as we think about the season of giving and we think about ways to contribute back over to the community. So what a cool partnership to highlight. 00:22:24:27 - 00:22:37:19 Farrah Qureshi you have any tips for people who are either starting at the New Hampshire site or perhaps are moving from a smaller satellite location like 00:22:37:19 - 00:22:41:28 Farrah Qureshi branch and are moving into one of these bigger campus locations? 00:22:41:28 - 00:22:42:13 Alicia Edwards Yeah, 00:22:42:13 - 00:22:43:20 Alicia Edwards that's a great question. I think, 00:22:43:20 - 00:22:46:21 Alicia Edwards know our different guests from our different sites this week, 00:22:46:21 - 00:22:51:29 Alicia Edwards this episode have really hit the nail on the head. It's basically get involved, 00:22:51:29 - 00:23:02:05 Alicia Edwards put yourself out there, attend events, look on the different resources internally that show you when things are happening and who's hosting things. And don't be afraid to try different things. 00:23:02:05 - 00:23:02:16 Alicia Edwards Like 00:23:02:16 - 00:23:19:00 Alicia Edwards I've been based in New Hampshire for five of my seven years with Fidelity, and even I'm still finding new things to try. And I think Fidelity's always evolving and adding new things like the Pickleball court didn't exist when I first started in the New Hampshire site and now it does. 00:23:19:00 - 00:23:20:24 Alicia Edwards And that's a cool thing to try. And 00:23:20:24 - 00:23:22:28 Alicia Edwards something else that I recently tried was 00:23:22:28 - 00:23:29:20 Alicia Edwards the New Hampshire site and maybe all of the sites have a corporate art tour. So you get a 00:23:29:20 - 00:23:39:00 Alicia Edwards associate who is based in that site to lead you around and show you some of the history of the artwork. And when it was added to the collection and why it's displayed here. 00:23:39:08 - 00:23:49:04 Alicia Edwards And that was really cool. And then somebody who doesn't love museums, I thought it was just really insightful and a really cool way to spend 30 minutes of my day 00:23:49:04 - 00:24:00:29 Alicia Edwards seeing how deep Fidelity's interest in community and art. And it just extends so far beyond the day to day of everyone's job responsibilities. I think it's really all encompassing and it's really awesome. 00:24:01:03 - 00:24:05:10 Farrah Qureshi Did I ever tell you, Alicia, that I used to be one of the corporate our ambassadors, 00:24:05:19 - 00:24:07:05 Alicia Edwards No way. 00:24:12:26 - 00:24:14:11 Alicia Edwards my God. 00:24:14:11 - 00:24:21:26 Farrah Qureshi to 10 weeks learning about art history throughout the different ages. And I was able to connect with people in different sites. 00:24:21:26 - 00:24:39:08 Farrah Qureshi I believe our CEO also has a huge passion and may have majored in art history, so it was really cool to see how Fidelity was able to start teaching associates a little bit about art history and 00:24:39:08 - 00:24:45:05 Farrah Qureshi was able to help us build communication skills around art and facilitating conversations around art. 00:24:45:06 - 00:24:48:08 Farrah Qureshi So really cool to hear that you really enjoyed that experience because that's 00:24:48:16 - 00:24:55:03 Alicia Edwards That is so awesome. And honestly, it does not surprise me. I think you'd be so good at that. 00:24:55:03 - 00:25:02:11 Alicia Edwards Moving on, let's connect with Craig, one of our associates out of Kentucky. Craig, can you share a little bit about what you do for Fidelity? 00:25:02:11 - 00:25:26:27 Craig Thomas Yeah, absolutely. So my current role as a managing director, so that's within workplace investing specifically relationship management. And so my role consists of managing, educating and basically just meeting the needs of plan sponsors. And you've never heard the term plan sponsor. It essentially means an employer that utilizes Fidelity's platform. So within my role, we are the main point of contact for these employers. 00:25:27:00 - 00:25:37:17 Craig Thomas So we are essentially the face of fidelity. And so the goal is to exceed their expectations from a service level and execute any plan level changes in a timely manner 00:25:37:17 - 00:25:43:00 Alicia Edwards That's awesome. And what are some of your favorite things about working in the Kentucky office? 00:25:43:00 - 00:25:54:29 Craig Thomas Yeah, absolutely. So the outdoor areas of the campus are truly gorgeous. There are six different channels that range over multiple miles throughout the campus. There's outdoor seating at each building with some having balconies there. 00:25:55:00 - 00:26:14:26 Craig Thomas There's actually a botanical garden that Fidelity is currently building and is supplying to the local zoo. And there's an overlook with a great view of the rolling hills of Kentucky, and there's deer all around campus, and they're definitely not afraid of humans. So they will literally just walk up to you while you're eating lunch and just stare at you waiting for you to toss off some food or something. 00:26:14:26 - 00:26:16:25 Craig Thomas It's definitely a different experience. 00:26:16:25 - 00:26:29:19 Alicia Edwards That's wild. I was hoping that you were going to bring up the zoo because when I read about that in preparation for this episode, I thought it was so cool and I loved visits is so I just thought that that was like another great point in the Fidelity call. 00:26:29:21 - 00:26:31:04 Alicia Edwards So. 00:26:31:04 - 00:26:43:19 Craig Thomas Cincinnati Zoo is incredible. So the sights of Kentucky, but it's right next to Cincinnati. So right across the bridge, there's the city of Cincinnati. And like you, like I mentioned, the zoo is ranked top of the nation every year. And it's a beautiful place. 00:26:43:24 - 00:26:53:15 Alicia Edwards That's so awesome. Are there any clubs that you've been able to join? Maybe get a zoo frequent flier miles? 00:26:53:15 - 00:27:18:27 Craig Thomas two or three groups that I really am very active in. So the first one is Fidelity Young Professionals Network. So although it is listed as young professionals, I'm now in my thirties and some people might not think of that as very young, but there's opportunities for everyone of any age and there's mentorship opportunities and I've had multiple different leadership roles within that group and it's been very helpful within my career path. 00:27:18:27 - 00:27:44:12 Craig Thomas another group that I'm also involved with is Enable. So what enable is, is it is a group that is the goal is to create a positive, inclusive environment for anyone that has a disability, whether it's seen or unseen. And so they do all kinds of activities throughout the community and within the employer. So you get not only within Fidelity's network, but you can also branch out to other organizations. 00:27:44:12 - 00:27:45:21 Craig Thomas It's a really cool experience. 00:27:45:24 - 00:27:49:24 Alicia Edwards That's really awesome. I love that Fidelity has so many different groups that 00:27:49:24 - 00:28:05:16 Alicia Edwards attract different types of members to be in them, whether they are just supporting an in allyship or are actually either have a disability seen or unseen or whatever other type of group they might identify with. I just think it's really important to have that widespread representation. 00:28:05:23 - 00:28:18:00 Alicia Edwards And then it's also really interesting to join those groups and get to know a vast array of different types of people and and help to increase your network and, and meet a lot of really cool like minded people for you. So 00:28:18:00 - 00:28:22:01 Alicia Edwards I've also joined the Young Professionals Group and I love we have 00:28:22:01 - 00:28:37:18 Alicia Edwards what's called casual collision. So you get paired with a random person within the group and you get to connect with them for 30 minutes and talk about what they do and I think it's really cool to, one, get to know different people within the Across Fidelity, no matter what site you're at and to. 00:28:37:18 - 00:28:41:23 Alicia Edwards I think it's really cool to see all the different types of jobs that's really has to offer. 00:28:41:23 - 00:28:47:01 Alicia Edwards So other than being approached by deer at your lunch hour, Craig, what's the environment like at the Kentucky site? 00:28:47:01 - 00:29:04:28 Craig Thomas I'd say it's very welcoming, so I've never felt like I couldn't walk up and talk to someone. And it's not only welcoming, but also I would say encouraging. So they have a lot of different activities throughout the site. Like, for example, there was a just an open ping pong tournament throughout that was considered throughout all three buildings. 00:29:04:28 - 00:29:29:04 Craig Thomas And there was over 100 people that ended up entering. Now, I didn't personally win that tournament. However, I still consider myself the undisputed champ on my floor, so some other coworkers might disagree, but that's how I stand now. But hopefully I'll come back and win the next one. But that was just a really cool experience. And like you mentioned, it's there's just so many different opportunities and fidelity and it's just nice to meet people from all different types of roles. 00:29:32:04 - 00:29:36:08 Craig Thomas So yeah, I 00:29:36:08 - 00:29:40:05 Alicia Edwards That's awesome. Thanks so much for sharing, Craig 00:29:40:05 - 00:29:42:27 Farrah Qureshi Thank you all so much for joining us today. 00:29:42:27 - 00:29:59:14 Farrah Qureshi Patrick, Phil, Alicia Craig, your insights on all of your experience at Fidelity as well as some of the cool things that you like at your site was so valuable today. And to our listeners, thank you so much for tuning in and listening to this episode of Side of the Desk 00:29:59:14 - 00:30:05:15 Patrick Nevius Thanks for having me today. It was really great getting to talk about the North Carolina campus and all the cool stuff it has to offer. 00:30:05:15 - 00:30:09:16 Phil Stewart thanks for Alicia. Thank you guys so much for having me today. Really appreciate being here. 00:30:09:16 - 00:30:10:24 Phil Stewart And that's from the heart. 00:30:11:02 - 00:30:13:18 Craig Thomas Alicia Faye, I really want to thank you for the time. And 00:30:13:18 - 00:30:17:09 Craig Thomas I look forward to hearing this live on on the air. 00:32:12:28 - 00:32:15:17 Farrah Qureshi and to our Creative Solutions team for 00:32:15:17 - 00:32:17:00 Farrah Qureshi producing and for 00:32:17:00 - 00:32:17:19 Farrah Qureshi always 00:32:17:19 - 00:32:18:12 Farrah Qureshi creating 00:32:18:12 - 00:32:19:18 Farrah Qureshi great content for us. 00:32:19:18 - 00:32:20:20 Farrah Qureshi Thank you so much. 00:32:20:20 - 00:32:22:07 Farrah Qureshi We couldn't do it without you. 00:32:22:07 - 00:32:30:08 Farrah Qureshi You can follow us on all Major platforms at Fidelity Jobs. Thank you again so much. And tune in next time for our next episode of Side of the Desk. 00:36:59:20 - 00:37:20:14 Farrah Qureshi Thank you so much, Alicia, for that. That was really helpful and informative. And I know our listeners are really going to get a lot of value out of that. And thank you all so much to Patrick, Phil and Craig for joining us on the episode today. Really appreciate your time and to our listeners, thank you for joining us on this episode. 00:37:20:14 - 00:37:30:18 Farrah Qureshi A side of the desk. Please follow us at Fidelity Jobs on Instagram as well as our other social media channels. Thank you so much. 00:37:30:18 - 00:37:35:29 Alicia Edwards And thank you to our Creative Solutions team who always makes the best episodes happen 00:37:35:29 - 00:37:42:10 Farrah Qureshi thank you so much, Alicia. I really appreciate the time today and of all of the insights about the New Hampshire site. 00:37:42:10 - 00:37:42:26 Farrah Qureshi Next, 00:37:42:26 - 00:37:44:10 Farrah Qureshi let's connect with Craig, 00:37:44:10 - 00:37:47:05 Farrah Qureshi one of our associates based out of our Kentucky site.