Hi, I’m Kim Brunner. As Director of Operations at Acumium, I remove obstacles for all our teams so they can do their best work. Where there is a business challenge, I break it down into components to identify what needs to be changed to keep everything moving forward.
BA: Before Acumium
I joined Acumium in 2019 after almost 21 years at Fleetworthy, in the transportation industry. What a transformative time that was! I participated in ushering this complex, regulation-driven industry from manual paper and process-heavy services to digitally enabled, secure, and accessible products and services. I experienced first-hand the process of identifying and adopting useful technology that helps you achieve your business goals, and how important understanding peoples’ needs are to that process. Now I greatly appreciate the object-oriented user experience (OOUX) design methodology Acumium uses.
In those years, I gained knowledge and experience in general management, operations, regulatory compliance, and customer KPIs. I grew from a representative, to manager, to company leader in professional services, compliance, and operations. From co-workers to fleet management executives to state administrators and auditors to colleagues throughout the industry, I was lucky to work with, learn from, and get to know a very diverse group of people. From this space, I grew the skills needed to understand the full picture of what a challenge (process or output) requires and how to best meet the expectations and needs of each user.
A passion project…
It’s hard to pinpoint a specific passion project, but I am truly passionate about my contribution to our team. I believe that as a company leader my job is to help others do theirs, and I can do that best in two ways. One is to help unravel complex problems by fully understanding the bigger picture and the intended outcome, before trying to change or improve a service, process, or product. The second is by always working to improve myself. If I am performing at my best, it helps others be their best. So, I ask myself how can I be better today than I was yesterday?
A few of my favorite things…
Here are the things that most touch my heart: my son, my husband, our 3 rescue dogs, Aurora, Ben, and Cooper, lovingly known as the ABC gang. I love traveling and learning about other cultures, fighting injustice and I believe in leaving things better than I found them. Oh, and Neil Young. Who doesn’t love Neil Young?
The Operations ethos…
If you look up a job summary of a Director of Operations, you’ll likely find something along the lines of, “to oversee the day-to-day activities of the company, ensuring that the organization is managed and performing efficiently and effectively” or “to maximize efficiency while producing goods and services that effectively fulfill customer needs.” And while these are true, the job, for me, is more nuanced. The most important responsibility that I have is to the people I work with. How does the saying go? Take care of your employees and they’ll take care of your customers? This is 100% true.
What motivates me the most in my career is helping people and making a difference. I bring my whole self to work. I love working for an organization that helps you to be your best self. It’s awesome to be able to both experience it and contribute to it. I appreciate leaders that understand they work for people and not the other way around. I like to think that I embody that kind of leadership.
Our work…
Acumium’s prowess…
Our creative problem solvers have worked with some of the best B2B and B2C brands to deliver extraordinary, customer-focused digital solutions. We’ve grown our service offerings throughout the years to ensure that we bring you a comprehensive digital solution through design, development, technologies, and strategic marketing. And it’s not just our services. We continue to add expert talent, so we provide best-in-class customer experiences.