The Humans of smrtPhone
Our “smrtie of the Month” is an eclectic, nature-loving, exploring car enthusiast who keeps smrtPhone lively and fun!
Name
Alex Parasca
Title / Role in the Company
We are in uncharted territory. I have slipped into a newly established niche. I handle all life aspects related to my manager. In alternative speak, I’m the right-hand man to the CTO. Some people might call it being the Executive Assistant, but it’s much bigger than that.
How long have you worked for smrtPhone?
20th of April 2023. And two years before that I started working with REIvolution as a junior developer.
What’s your background?
I grew up in the 90s in Romania. We lived at the foothill of Tampa Mountain, literally the first house at the base of the mountain. This is an important detail because I developed what some may say is an unhealthy relationship and obsession with nature. Foxes, bears, cats, dogs… but the bears are the most important. The media would always come to record it, the bears coming up and going down.
I’ve even touched bears. I’ve run from a bear. I met up with a bear in a block of apartment buildings. I was 15 years old and working as a barback. At 2am, I got home, and I could tell the smell was off. When I turned in and started climbing the stairs, I saw him. He was scared and I was scared. By this point most of the smell was coming from me. But this was a bad situation because he was trapped up there – he could only go up or come down to where I was. So I ran. And he ran. I was so scared. I thought he was chasing me, but he was just trying to get away.
Anyway, I developed a huge affection for animals. I spent a lot of time with them. There was never a time that I didn’t have a pet. Stray dogs, stray cats, stray pigeons. Sometimes all of three together – and that was better than a circus!
Now I have 2 cats.
But I also was a pedal head. I love cars and engines. I enrolled in a high school that had an automotive focus and I got my professional license by age 18 due to a loophole.
After I got my license, I drove a 20-ton truck all around. That’s how I got my first car: I went to Germany to get a BMW and I dropped it home, just like picking up groceries.
It was not legal for me (or any 19 yr old for that matter) to be driving a semi. It was 20 tons unloaded and 40 tons loaded. I grew a beard and had longer hair so people wouldn’t suspect my age. But then one day I flipped it, completely belly up. That was when my time driving a truck was over.
I started working with a company called Projects Abroad. It was aimed at ages 19 to 26, for students who had a gap year. People would go to developing nations and do service jobs like taking care of kids in orphanages or help stray animals in vet clinics. It was the most interesting job I’ve ever had. I was working on going to Peru via London for a Marine Biology project, but it didn’t work out and I was going to end up being in London, which wasn’t where I felt I belonged.
So, I started my own company, doing IT work. I’ve loved computers my whole life, but in the 90s they were scarce and expensive. I didn’t grow up wealthy. Computers were too exotic to be bought by the general population. But, my dad bought all of these computer parts. I spent one night with those parts and by morning I had a fully functional computer. Ever since then I’ve made my life around building, repairing, and maintaining them.
That’s how I met Vlad (smrtPhone CTO) and Alex (smrtPhone CFO), by fixing their computers for business or family.
What was your first job?
My first job was when I was 14, I was a barback at a pub called Formula Pub. My dad’s boss owned it. I worked there for 3 summers. I also had a part time job for 4 or 5 years as a camera man at a local TV network. I was going to work on the weekends, because we had shows with reputable artists and weekends were the prime time for the big shot artists. They needed flashy gadgets and videos and technology – and this is where I met people.
What do you like about working for smrtPhone?
I love the mindset. It’s community oriented. It’s wholesome. You can actually allow yourself to grow because it’s organic growth and you’ll eventually see it. People are patient and care, and they wait. This is unusual in corporate business which is usually unforgiving.
Describe smrtPhone in 3 words:
It’s easy: Dynamic. Available. Young.
Clear as DAY.
Is there a particular moment/project at smrtPhone that stands out and makes you feel proud?
Well, a lot! I have been involved in so many projects and side projects. For example, we have our own private Jiu Jitsu club. By no coincidence it renders as one of the biggest and most professional here in Brasov. There is a big difference between 2nd place and us. And I contributed to that.
Even though it’s not directly with smrtPhone, It kind of blends in because most of us at the club are employees of smrtPhone. It’s a closed circuit where the not-so-secret-anymore access code is wholesomeness. It’s an extension of smrtPhone and healthy sane living. We’re going from do not call lists to do not choke lists.
What do you like to do in your free time?
This is a tricky question. My free time is momentarily unavailable. I am currently renovating my apartment, so everything is in chaos, and I sleep under my boss’s roof.
I love to hike. I love walking. Walking calms me down. It makes me think better. Doesn’t matter where. Just walk.
I also love driving and I have a motorbike. I call it Roxanne… she “rocks.”
Name something that is on your “bucket list”
Skydiving from a plane.
What is a fun fact people might not know about you?
That and I adopt animals all the time. I take them with me. Some I find new homes for, and some end up staying with me.