2018 40 Under 40: Kevin Waterland, 31

SBJ photo by Wes Hamilton

Sheer grit has driven Kevin Waterland to accomplish more in the last 12 years than most ever will. Life circumstances propelled Waterland straight out of high school into the workforce. Within two years, he was working the front desk for the company formerly known as Service World Computer Center, and later TSI, where he has remained in graduated capacities ever since. Waterland partnered with his employer Doug Pitt to start and later sell a cloud-based company called Nexus. The two have now launched their second venture together, SyndeoSolutions LLC, providing internet services to over 3,000 apartments in Southwest Missouri. Most recently, Waterland and Pitt bought out previous partners in TSI to form Pitt Technology Group LLC, which serves as the parent company for three distinct, but related, companies.

What was your professional aha moment? Your company’s services are not always the best fit for a customer and it’s OK to say that.

What about your job would shock clients? One of the largest expenses in the IT service industry is training. Skill sets and certifications that are valuable now, will be obsolete in five years.

What did you learn the hard way? Perfection can be a long-term goal. Business practices that do not directly affect customers can be done in a timely manner and perfected over time.

How many times do you hit the snooze button in the morning? Until my brain accepts that it has become an emergency.