The Culture Corner is the perfect vehicle to profile Marketwire employees.  We have so many talented and creative people within our organization who not only use their talents in their day-to-day work, but they also find ways to go beyond and broden their personal horizons.  

Meet Brian Willams. Brian is a Production Support Database Administrator working from our Toronto headquarters. One of his main functions is to watch Marketwire’s database and database servers to ensure that everything is running within normal parameters by using tools like Spotlight (which reminds everyone of a Star Trek terminal) on a daily basis. If something goes wrong, it’s Brian’s duty to problem-solve the issue and put things back on track with the help of his team.

Prior to working at Marketwire, Brian lived in Bermuda where he also worked as a Database Administrator for XL RE.  Brian and his wife moved back to Toronto 3 1/2 years ago to become grand parents.

Brian loves to paint. His love for painting came from watching Bob Ross on PBS TV every Saturday morning. Brian loved the way he was able to create beautiful paintings in a mere half-hour. Though Bob Ross loves to paint in oils, Brian prefers to paint in acrylics with an Impressionist style.  His works take him between 6 and 14 hours to complete, and while Brian likes to reproduce some famous painters’ works, he also loves to create original works of art.

Brian celebrated his 25th wedding anniversary last May with a trip to Paris where he visited the Louvre, Musée d’Orsay and Musée Marmortan Monet where his love for painting grew even stronger. Brian has been married for 25 years and has two lovely children and one grandson aged 3 1/2 years.

And now for some fun facts about Brian.

• What does Beyond Words to you?
  For me, at this point it’s just words – it’s what  we DO as a company that will bring meaning to them. If we go that extra mile. If get together and work as a team that is when they will become more than just words to me.
• What is your favourite movie?
  Avatar prior to that it was The Matrix.
• What is the last book you’ve read?
  Last book of The Hunger Games, Mockingjay.
• Favourite Colour?
  Colour fascinates me — hue, chroma, value. What you call colour I call hue. But to answer the question, I really do not have a favorite colour but I do not like black.
• What’s your favourite quote?
  “If I had 1 hour to save the world. I would spend the first 50 minutes defining the problem.” - Albert Einstein
• What’s your favourite day of the week?
  Definitely Friday. Afternoon is better than morning!
• Cat or Dog?
  I love all animals but I go for dogs.
• If you could meet anyone dead or live, who would that be?
  Leonardo da Vinci
• Andriod/iOS/Windows/Blackberry?
  Definetlly iOS
• If you were stranded on a desert island, what or who would you want with you?
  I would want my family.
• If you could eat any food, what would it be?
  Indian. My wife and I cook Indian food.
• If you could travel anywhere in the world where would it be?
  France, for the art and the wine!

Thanks for sharing your story with us Brian!

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Tags: Brian Williams, Employee

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