It’s the last spotlight of the season! This past month we’ve spent some time introducing all the wonderful people who make up the Peachtree team. If you missed last week, we heard from Nicki Carmack, our Creative Director.

Today we have Matt Gray in the spotlight. He is our IT and Operations Manager as well as a consistent life saver.

Tell us about your history with Peachtree.

I started at Peachtree ten and a half years ago as a marketing intern.  About a month into my internship, one of the ladies that worked at the front desk at the time left the company to move back home to be closer to her family.  I was asked to pull double duty: at first by working part time answering phones while spending the rest of my time continuing my internship, and then after my internship ended, I was asked to spend that time helping the sales department with stuff like order entry, invoicing, and trade shows.  Before too long I was moved over to the sales department full time.  Since I had graduated from an engineering school and know my way around computers, I started to be involved in technical projects; at the same time, my work with trade shows got me more and more involved with logistics.  That led me to a bunch of different roles over the years, ranging at times from being an information specialist to a project manager, and even running the warehouse for a bit before ending up in my current role as the IT and Operations Manager.

What are your top three favorite books, any genre?

I’m so glad you asked for three.  I couldn’t pick just two, and four would have been a nightmare, but in no particular order:

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
The Stand by Stephen King
Shogun by James Clavell

If you could be a literary character for a day, who would you be?

It might be a bit of a cop out answer, but Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next.  She’s able to move in and out of any story or book ever written at will, so I could visit all of my favorite books and characters that I wanted.

Who is your hero or role model and why?

I’d have to say my parents.  I’m extremely lucky to have them in my life providing the example and guidance that they have.

What is your favorite thing about working at Peachtree?

I’ve loved reading since as far back as I can remember, and it’s an amazing feeling getting to help bring something you loved so deeply as a kid to today’s children.

In your position, what do you consider to be your secret weapon?

Does restarting a computer count?  😉

Do you have any big interests or hobbies that you focus on outside of work?

Reading is and always will be the main one, but lately I’ve been trying to improve more hands-on skills like home improvement and cooking.

If, in an alternate reality, you were to have gone a completely different career route, what would you have done?

Believe it or not, I was actually this close to majoring in physics in college.

Feel free to write any questions or comments for Matt below!