About Us

Rachel Anschicks

Associate Project Manager

If I could travel anywhere on a moment's notice, I'd go to...?

New Zealand. They have some of the best hiking trails (or as they're called there, tracks) in the world! My absolute favorite hike is the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. If you've ever seen Lord of the Rings, then you'd recognize Mt. Doom as part of the hike.

Allison Arthur

Director of Sales & Marketing

What is your favorite book and why?

A tie between Fahrenheit 451 and Brave New World, because the worst kind of world would either ban books completely or feature a society uninterested in reading them.

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Allison joined Soliant Consulting as Director of Marketing in 2017. She lives with her husband and two children in Charlotte, NC.

Sheila Baniak

Controller

What is your favorite cookie and why?

Coconut Macaroons…I think it all started with my dad cracking open a coconut to eat when I was young. But now it is Adrienne (our official baker at the office) providing me with a little treat at work, a plate of Coconut Macaroons during the year. They’re healthy, right?

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Sheila comes to Soliant after years of running her own boutique accounting and tax practice. She was the first woman President of the Enrolled Agents for the State of Illinois, and is a frequent speaker for professional organizations and colleges, sharing her expertise in accounting, finance, collections, HR, insurance benefits and taxation. Sheila graduated from North Park University with a Masters in Business Administration and teaches business classes in her spare time at The City Colleges of Chicago.

Danica Barnitz

Associate Application Developer

What is your favorite song of all time?

My favorite song of all time is In My Life by the Beatles.

Norm Bartlett

Senior Technical Project Lead

If you could have an endless supply of any food, what would you get and why?

Oh, this is easy: Beef Wellington. If man cannot live by bread alone… then surely filet mignon wrapped in a puff pastry should do the trick! Mmmmm.

Mark Baum

Technical Project Lead

What is your favorite cookie and why?

My Opa was a baker from Germany who came to the United States in 1929 as an indentured servant. Many years later he and my Oma ran a thriving bakery in Highland Park, Illinois. My favorite cookie is his hazelnut macaroon, which my father continues to bake every year during the holidays. It’s followed closely by my father’s spitzkuchen, springerle, and my own speculaas.

July Belber

Senior Business Analyst

What's your hidden talent?

My hidden talent isn’t very hidden, as you will likely hear about it if you know me for any length of time. In 1999 I took my first swing dance lesson, and I just never stopped dancing Lindy Hop and Balboa. My husband and I have friends all over the world that we’ve met social dancing, and we teach Balboa and organize dances and workshops locally in Boston. If you want to learn, I can point you to someone teaching in your area… it’s good fun, it’s good exercise, it’s good for your brain, and it’s a great antidote to the digital age.

Beth Bennett

Senior Lead Application Developer

What’s the strangest family tradition your family has and why?

It’s more the method than the tradition itself. We draw names for Christmas gifts because we are a large family. However, instead of drawing from a hat, my brother wrote a Python script to randomize the matchups and ensure there were no repeats from the previous 3 years.

Steve Bennett

CNA Practice Lead

What’s your favorite album and why?

Clarity by Jimmy Eat World. A masterpiece that flows seamlessly from start to finish. Clarity was the second studio album by Jimmy Eat World released in 1999 before the bands mainstream success of the platinum album Bleed American. Often thought of as a one hit wonder, Jimmy Eat World has been producing music for over 20 years with 9 studio albums and their latest “Integrity Blues” released in 2016.

Bob Bowers

Chief Executive Officer

What was your first record, tape, or CD that you ever owned?

Styx – The Grand Illusion. The words to every song will be stuck in my head forever.

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Bob is widely known for his expertise in the field of software development. He is a recipient of the FileMaker Excellence Award and has co-authored seven books on database development. In 2008 he was inducted into the Chicago Area Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame. After graduating summa cum laude in Music and English at Wabash College, Bob earned a masters in Musicology from the University of Chicago.

Krystian Charubin

Lead Technical Architect

What common saying or phrase describes you?

"Quiet people have the loudest minds." — Stephen Hawking

Nick Claywell

Senior Lead Application Developer

What's your favorite book and why?

Ready Player One because it’s jam-packed with 80s pop culture references!

Wim Decorte

Director, Claris Practice

What’s your favorite movie and why?

“The Big Lebowski” – my kind of humor, and when I grow up I want to have Sam Elliott’s voice.

Renate Doerry

Application Developer

What's the strangest family tradition your family has?

In wintertime, my family always embraced its Nordic heritage by sitting down together for cozy afternoon coffee and cake, often with oranges, and of course with candles. My two older brothers and I had an irresistible game of squeezing orange peels into the flames, so the oils would shoot a little blast of fire at the person across the table (sometimes not-so-little, if your technique was good). A result of growing up with big brothers, I suppose, but my daughters now gleefully carry on this tradition, which I promise is perfectly safe…

Anastasiia Dosiak

Senior Application Developer

What's the strangest family tradition your family has?

Every year on our wedding anniversary we try making a desert that somehow describes how we spent that day.

Mike Duncan

Cloud Architect

What would you do if you had a million dollars and why?

We wouldn’t have to eat Kraft dinner, but we would eat Kraft dinner. Of course we would, we’d just eat more. And get all the fanciest ketchups with it…Dijon ketchup! If I had a million dollars…I’d be rich.

Brian Engert

Senior DevOps Engineer

What was your first record, tape, or CD that you ever owned?

Pearl Jam – Ten. When I was younger I spent a lot of time listening to q101(WKQX) in Chicago and when I got my first boom box my first cd was Ten by Perl Jam as it was one of the few albums where I liked almost every song on the disk.

Michelle Evans

Technical Project Lead

What's your favorite movie and why?

Superstar – I love a good underdog movie and I have an affinity for a character who flits and floats in front of the mirror, uses movie quotes to express feelings and is a lover of trees.

Mikia Franklin

Associate Project Manager

What fictional character do you wish you could be?

The fictional character I wish I could be is Elle Woods from Legally Blonde. She’s sophisticated, smart, fashionable and determined. Elle’s character exhibited a great representation of pushing through challenges, maintaining self-motivation, and not feeling pressured to “fit in.” I have definitely tapped into my inner ‘Elle Woods’ throughout my life. (P.S. All the pink fashion and accessories just tops it off!)

Gillian Gentry

Vice President

Gillian has been mitigating risk since her first career as a rock climbing instructor. As the Vice President of Operations for a trading firm, she directed the company’s growth from 8 to over 50 employees, before joining Soliant Consulting as their Managing Director. Gillian earned her English degree with Distinction and perfect marks from Stanford University.

Shawn Gillis

Application Developer

What was your first record, tape or CD that your ever owned?

The first tape (cassette) I ever owned would be “The Unforgettable Fire” by U2. Of course by ‘owning’ I would have to say it was ‘borrowed’ so many times from my older brother that he finally gave in and just told me to keep it. While I didn’t have to put any money down for this one, U2 and many other bands received plenty (and still do) from me over the years that followed.

Josie Graham

Senior Project Manager

If you could travel anywhere on a moment’s notice, where would you go to and why?

India. Because it’s less about sightseeing (although there is plenty of that) and more about experiencing a totally different culture. There is no place like it and I always come away feeling changed in some way. Controlled chaos. Surrender yourself to India, you won’t be sorry!

Uriel Gutierrez

Lead Application Developer

If you could choose one hobby that now seems out of your reach either financially or time-wise, what hobby would you take up and why?

Learning how to fly a plane and helicopter. Not only because it's challenging, but also because that's a view you can't beat!

Caspar Harmer

Lead Application Developer

If you could travel anywhere on a moment’s notice, where would you go to and why?

I would probably head down to the Fjiordland area of New Zealand – it’s amazing there and I haven’t been in a while. It’s full of clear lakes, crazy mountains and equally nutty people – perfect!

Ore Hassan

Associate Project Manager

What's your hidden talent?

I am a creative at heart and I enjoy playing around with design tools like figma and sketch.

Michael Havis

Technical Project Lead

What fictional character do you wish you could be?

T’challa. Superpowered warrior, genius level intellect, king and protector of the most technologically advanced nation on earth, and he wears an indestructible costume. Where do I sign up?

Dawn Heady

Senior Technical Solution Architect

What's your favorite cookie and why?

I love the traditional Hungarian cookie called Kifflies. They are yummy and so delicate, stuffed with walnut paste, apricot, or prune fillings, and dusted with white sugar. They remind me of my mother, grandmother, and great grandmother.

Lauren Heidecke

Associate Project Manager

What fictional character do you wish you could be?

I would choose either David or Alexis Rose (From Schitt's Creek). They are unapologetically themselves with the perfect amount of sass, sarcasm and charm. Ew, David!

Bill Heizer

Director, AWS Practice

David Hillis

Business Solution Architect

If you could travel anywhere on a moment’s notice, where would you go to and why?

Pichilemu, Chile, for surfing and black sand beaches.

Matt Hintz

Senior Application Developer

What’s your favorite song of all time and why?

Sweet Thing by Van Morrison, because it has the most amazing flute solo of all time!

George Jabbour

Application Developer

What common saying or phrase describes you?

If you're not in, you can't win.

Rachel Jaicks

Client Services Specialist

What's your favorite movie and why?

My favorite movie of all time is The Birdcage. It’s sweet, hilarious, and endlessly quotable.

Myles Johnson

Business Development Manager

If I could travel anywhere on a moment's notice, I'd go to...

I’d go back in time to 1969 and go to Bethel, NY to attend the first ever Woodstock Rock Festival. From there, I’d load up my Volkswagen Bus with a couple buddies and follow around a bunch of 60’s bands.

Ross Johnson

Technical Project Lead

What fictional character do you wish you could be and why?

If I were a fictional character, I think I would like to be a hybrid between Robin Hood and Pippi Longstocking. I admire Robin Hood’s courage in standing up for the little guy and Pippi Longstocking’s superhuman strength, independence, and irreverence for the conventional.

Karl Jreijiri

Senior Lead Application Developer

If I could travel anywhere on a moment's notice, I'd go to...

Definitely Côte d'Azur, France!

Jan Jung

Senior Designer

What's your favorite food and why?

Aside from my well-known love of coffee, home made garlic mash potatoes with dollops of Kerrygold Irish butter is my favorite food because potatoes + butter = happy tummy.

Liz Kladder

Application Developer

If I could travel anywhere on a moment's notice, i'd go to...

The moon! I've always thought it would be amazing to become an astronaut. I can only imagine how incredible it would be to float in space or walk on the moon but I'm not sure I would make it through the fighter jet training.

Mislav Kos

Senior Technical Solutions Architect

What was your first record, tape, or CD that you ever owned?

The first album I owned was U2’s Joshua Tree.

JohnAustin Lamprecht

Lead Application Developer

What was your first record, tape, or CD that you ever owned?

The first CD I ever owned is Speakerboxxx/Love Below.

Steve Lane

President & CTO

What superhero do you channel and why?

Batman: no actual superpowers, just skill, knowledge and hard work.

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Steve has been working in the areas of databases and software development for over twenty years. From a background in academics and higher education, he moved into the technology industry and has been leading software teams for the last dozen years or so, working with hundreds of clients of all sizes. He is a recipient of the FileMaker Excellence award and has co-authored six books on database development. After graduating magna cum laude from Yale College, Steve earned a master’s degree and Ph.D. in history from the University of Chicago, as well as an M.S. in Computer Science from the same university.

Jesse LaVere

Application Architect

What would you do if you had a million dollars and why?

With a million bucks I’d try building an aquaponics farm to help promote sustainable farming and good eating practices.

Anna McCall

Solution Engineer

What's your favorite food?

Any Mexican or Southwest food - an absolute yum!

Alycia McGuire

Senior Application Developer

What's your favorite song of all time and why?

I love music, and I have a lot of favorite songs. But there is one song that really resonates with me and that’s Tool’s “Lateralus”. There’s so much more to this song than music and lyrics. Parts of the song are themed around the Fibonacci Sequence. The time signature of some of the guitar riffs are Fibonacci numbers. The numerical values of the lyrics of the verses follow the Fibonacci Sequence. You can get into a real spiral yourself when you really start digging into the song even more. The lyrics are pretty deep too, referencing spirals, pushing boundaries, and over thinking (I’ll let you determine your own meaning) with the final lyrics being, “Spiral out. Keep going.”

Anders Monsen

Lead Application Developer

Patrick O'Rourke

Vice President

If you could travel anywhere on a moment's notice, where would you go and why?

In the winter I’d go to Steamboat Springs or Vale, because a long ski weekend would be the perfect get-away were it easy to do on a moment’s notice. In the summer it’d be Bozeman, where a friend of mine is always ready to be the local fishing guide.

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Patrick leads the client services team for Soliant’s Chicago office. He has over 20 years of experience in project management, process improvement, and software development methodologies. His areas of expertise include Agile techniques and organizational change through Scrum adoption. Prior to Soliant, Patrick worked at Accenture and in other consulting roles on large-scale systems within the energy industry. He is a Project Management Professional (PMP), Professional Scrum Master (PSM) and holds a BS from The College of William and Mary and an MA from DePaul University.

Marin Page

Business Analyst

What’s your hidden talent?

I had a brief and undistinguished career as a balloon artist in college. I can still produce a modest array of animals, hats, and inflatable weaponry.

Adrienne Paraczky

Project Manager

What's your favorite album?

Osker – Idle Will Kill. Great at 14 years old and still great today.

Marcelo Piñeyro

Technical Solution Architect

If you could travel anywhere on a moment’s notice, where would you go to and why?

If I could travel anywhere I would return to the Greek Islands and to Athens. Greece is beautiful, Greek people were very friendly, and I feel somewhat of a fascination with respect to Greek history.

Mary Pitzen

Senior Application Developer

What's your favorite book and why?

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. I read it for the first time in a hammock surrounded by nature and it gave me a sense of peace and tranquility. It continues to do so each time I reread it.

Jamie Poole

Solution Architect

What would you do if you had a million dollars and why?

Contribute towards establishing more full-day early childhood education programs in Chicago Public Schools. The importance of early-childhood education is invaluable — particularly for families of lower socioeconomic status. In previous employment experience, I’ve seen first hand how difficult it can be for working parents to enroll their children in a half-day preschool program. Unfortunately, many families often wait until Kindergarten to enroll their children in school, which puts them at an unfair disadvantage. Accordingly, establishing a greater number of full-day preschool programs is extremely critical.

Emilio Ramirez

Senior Application Developer

If I could travel anywhere on a moment’s notice, I’d go to…

Take a road/mountaineering trip from Denali to Aconcagua. There’s an agreeable symmetry to traveling from the tallest point in North America to the tallest point in South America that I’d love to check off one day.

Sean Rios

IT Manager

Adam Russ

Associate Cloud Practice Lead

Sara Severson

Business Solution Architect

What’s your favorite food and why?

For as long as I’ve had birthdays, my birthday dinner request has been tacos. I probably love other foods more, but 40 years of celebratory taco dinners makes for a lot of nostalgia, so they’ve become the food of my heart.

The year that cemented it: When I was in 6th grade, my family lived in Jamaica for a year (sabbatical). Shortly after we arrived, the island was hit by Hurricane Gilbert, which knocked out power and water for a few weeks. My birthday came in the middle of that stretch. Somehow my mom made it work: she accio’ed Birthday Tacos made of pita bread, some kind of shelf-stable faux meat stuff, and cabbage. Best tacos ever.

Amanda Slattery

Business Analyst

What's your favorite song of all time?

Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd

Jeremiah Small

Principal Technology Strategist

What fictional character do you wish you could be and why?

If I could be any fictional character, it might be fun to go with Tony Stark. He’s like the more happy, outgoing Bruce Wayne. Plus who doesn’t want to be a genius billionaire, who also happens to be Iron Man?

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Jeremiah has been with Soliant since 2006. In his spare time, he is a volunteer member of Altadena Mountain Rescue Team. Jeremiah got undergrad and masters degrees from NYU, TSOA, specializing in set design for theater and film. The film/theater and ride/show fabrication industries led him to a career in software consulting where his creative training and general problem-solving talents have served him well.

Doug Stojak

Senior Technical Project Lead

What's your hidden talent?

It’s not a completely hidden talent but not very many people know that I can play the guitar.

Michelle Subart

Business Analyst

What’s your favorite movie?

My favorite movie is 'The Princess Bride'. It is a classic and never fails to make me laugh! I'm pretty sure every single line is quotable.

Annie Tobiasiewicz

Senior Project Manager

What's your favorite movie and why?

Pirates of the Caribbean because it’s a classic live action Disney movie that’s still entertaining to watch.

Akpene Torku Sims

Human Resources Manager

If you could choose one hobby that now seems out of your reach either financially or time-wise, what hobby would you take up and why?

I’ve been fascinated with sword-fighting. I would love to take lessons, but it’s not your run of the mill hobby. I like sharp pointy things (I have done archery and ax throwing), so why not give my husband something else to worry about?

Derek Vanderby

Business Development Manager

What common saying or phrase describes you and why?

“We’re here to put a dent in the universe. Otherwise why else even be here?” —Steve Jobs

This quote speaks volumes for how I try to live my life both personally (husband, Dad, son, friend) and professionally.

Adrienne Vasquez

Senior Business Administrator

What's your favorite movie and why?

Strictly Ballroom – it’s a love story, it’s a comedy, it’s about overcoming your fears and going after what you want even though everyone else is trying to stop you, it’s about accepting people for who they are, it has great music, it has great costumes…I mean, what’s not to like?! I’ve seen it more than a dozen times, I can quote bits of it by heart, I laugh at all the same places every time, and I cry at the end. EVERY. TIME!

Sierra Vejvoda

Project Manager

What’s the strangest family tradition your family has?

My dad’s side of the family is Czechoslovakian and during our big family gatherings my dad and uncles will make jaternice. It’s a traditional sausage that starts by boiling a pig head and mixing it up with a cow heart and liver. We usually eat it with eggs and rye bread. It tastes pretty good, if you don’t ask what’s in it!

Dean Weisman

Senior Technical Project Lead

What would you do if you had a million dollars and why?

If I had a million dollars, I would buy a sailboat and spend my days on the ocean and my nights at the tiki bars having beer and shrimp.

Phil Yaffe

Senior Technical Project Lead

What’s the strangest family tradition your family has and why?

My family had a strange tradition around Christmas that involved a tall aluminum pole, feats of strength and airing of grievances. It’s hard to explain.

Graham Young

Product Manager

What’s the strangest family tradition your family has?

Rumpsch – It’s a super obscure card game only played in a small area of Pennsylvania where my grandparents are from…For a while, googling “Rumpsh” returned no results, which is hard to do. However, after I set up Rumpsch.com, I’m now the first result…also hard to do.