Meet Daniel Linhart
This article was originally posted on Cremalab.com on November 19, 2013
Who are you?
Dan Linhart.
Do you prefer Dan or Daniel?
I don’t really have a preference. Though it typically gets shortened after a while after I meet someone. However, none of my family calls me Dan…strictly Daniel.
Hometown?
Emporia, Kansas
Why brought you to Kansas City?
I moved to Olathe right after graduating from KU in May ’05. I was engaged at the time and had just gotten a job at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City.
What did you go to KU for?
My degree is in Sports and Fitness management. In laymen’s terms, that prepares individuals who want to serve in administrative or management roles in athletics.
How did you become a part of Cremalab?
I was working at BCBS as a health and wellness consultant in 2009, and was also in the middle of my MBA program at Rockhurst. Through that program and assessing my goals and what I wanted to do with my career, I knew I wanted to move into a management position. One day George and I were talking over coffee, and George’s business was growing rapidly and needed someone to start managing it. This presented the opportunity to partner with him and grow Cremalab.
What do you do for Cremalab?
My responsibilities at Cremalab include company operations, business strategy and planning, and organizational development.
Okay, what does that all mean?
Really I see myself as overseeing functions that provide support and infrastructure for our production team. Financials, day to day management, sales forecasting, operations, and strategic planning. Internally, looking at how we structure ourselves and define our organization, and how that supports our goals and culture.
What’s your favorite thing about working at Cremalab?
Providing an environment where our team can grow in their skills and professional goals. That’s my favorite thing. I really enjoy working with our staff from a coaching standpoint, helping them understand and develop their strengths as professionals. It’s a great day for me when I see our team members make strides in their professions, and how that ultimately ties into the bigger picture of Cremalab and making our team better.
What tools do you use on a daily basis in your workflow?
I use Asana, Microsoft Word & Excel, Pages, Google Docs, Wunderlist, Quickbooks, and Slack. I’m trying out a new software called TribeHR for organizational development. I haven’t gotten too far in it yet, but it looks pretty cool.
If you didn’t do this, what would you like to do instead?
I think I would probably be in the fitness or athletics industry, either in personal training or working with athletes on improving their sports performance.
What skills would you like to learn or improve upon?
It would be a goal of mine to facilitate and consult either our team internally or clients in strategic planning. In other words, helping us in our long term business planning and how that ties back into short term operational objectives. I’ve been learning a lot about that lately, and we’ve found that very helpful here at Cremalab in the last few months and I think it would be helpful with our clients. It’s an area I enjoy and would love to get much more proficient at it.
Personally, I used to play guitar a long time ago and would really like to pick it up again. And I’ve always really wanted to try martials arts, but have never been able to make it happen. So, I would love to pick one that I enjoy and get really good at it. Just something I’ve always wanted to do.
Favorite thing about Kansas City?
It is close to all of my family. Overall, I just really love it as it has the feel of a small big town. There’s a lot of stuff to do like a big city, but it has definite pockets with a small town feel that provides a great place to raise a family.
Favorite BBQ place?
Oklahoma Joe’s.
Least favorite thing about KC?
I’m going to be boring here, but I don’t think I have one.
What place would you most like to visit?
I would have to say New Zealand. I don’t know much about it at all, but the people that I know that have been there and the pictures that I have seen, it just looks like a really amazing place to visit. It looks like a place with a lot of activity, as well as a beautiful and picturesque place. I would also love to go to the Mediterranean and visit places such as Greece and Italy. And castles! I really like castles! So, that would mean places like the UK, Ireland, and Scotland.
How long do you spend brushing your teeth?
I know it’s almost precisely between 1:40–2 minutes because I have one of those Sonic Care toothbrushes that turns off at 2 minutes. But, I get bored pretty easily so I shut it off sooner.
Current favorite restaurant? Item at it?
Garozzo’s. The chicken spedini..it’s so good. And if it’s your birthday, you get it for free. Good deal.
How do you like your coffee?
Black.
What’s the dumbest thing you ever done?
We were on a hiking trip in Colorado when I was in college, and we thought we were pretty cool and brave, so we decided to go off trail and ended up having to rappel down the side of a mountain. We were inexperienced and I ended up getting hit in the head with a rock which nearly cut my ear off. Key Learning = stay on the trail.
What’s the last movie you watched with the kids?
We actually just had a movie night, and watched Monster’s University.
What’s book are you currently reading?
Leading Change. I’m also reading The Divine Conspiracy.
If it was your last day on earth, what would your last meal be?
The shrimp and black bean couscous that my wife makes. It’s absolutely fantastic.
Which way does the toilet paper fall?
Over. Always.
What or who, are you a closet fan of?
At work, with this tough crowd, I have to be a closet fan of country music. I also watch the Bachelorette with my wife…and I actually don’t mind it.
Do you have any strange phobias?
Strange? I have a phobia of snakes, but I’m not sure that is strange. I’m just really not a fan of them…at all.
Soapbox?
When someone refuses to be teachable, or displays an unwillingness to learn. It gives off a sense of “I know it all”, when they really don’t. Even if you are the most experienced person in the room, you don’t know it all and can definitely learn something. It’s the cumulative effect of multiple perspectives that truly creates great things.
How do you, personally, balance work and family?
I would say that instead of trying to balance work and life, I try to be who I am everywhere I go. One of my personal values is integrity, and integrity essentially means being the same person on the outside, that you are on the inside. There’s a sense of wholeness and completeness with integrity. So instead of balancing work and life, my goal is to order those priorities and give them importance in an order that reflects my values.
Or, less philosophically, I have a lot of hobbies :). Fitness, I really enjoy competitions like mud runs. I also love date nights, as well as activities with my kids: t-ball, movie nights, etc.
You’re actively into health and fitness, how do you stay disciplined? Or do you have any advice for someone who wants to develop a better habit in that?
I think it’s half how I’m wired, and half process. I’m a morning person, and so I get up at 5:30 to workout and really enjoy it. I’ve always been in athletics for as long as I can remember and it was always something I enjoyed doing. From a discipline standpoint, it’s just a matter of committing to something and then rewarding yourself. The power of habit: cue, routine, reward. So, if I listen to my alarm in the morning (cue), and go to the gym (routine), then I feel better throughout my day (reward).
What’s your favorite thing about these crazy obstacle course mud runs you do?
I like it because it incorporates all levels of fitness: endurance (long distance running), strength training (climbing up over a wall or monkey bars), and speed training (sprinting). Doing it with a team is a lot of fun and there is a lot of camaraderie there. You’re cheering each other on and pulling each other through, it’s an all around good time.
Finish this sentence: “If I could meet one person in history, it would be ____________. Why?
Abraham Lincoln. The reason being I would want to ask him how he successfully led our nation and navigated us through one of our darkest times in history. He’s always been portrayed as a master leader and had the ability to lead people of all different belief systems in a common direction. One, it appeals to me. But two, I think it’s really needed in our world. I think we could use a little more of that today: bringing people of all different opinions together towards one common goal.
If you could have any super power, what would it be? Why?
Well, my favorite character is the Hulk. So I’d say super human senses: strength, speed, resilience against harm, sight, hearing, etc. All of those sound really appealing. Picking up a tank and being able to throw it really far just sounds awesome.
Three things on your life bucket list?
- Travel to New Zealand.
- If jetpacks become available in my lifetime, I definitely want to try them.
- Raising my three kids to where I don’t screw them up too much. Though if that happens, that will really be my wife’s success. She’s pretty great!
