In 2023, when we marked our tenth anniversary at SkyWater Search Partners, we wanted to do more than celebrate our company’s success. We wanted to recognize the extraordinary team members who have been with us since the very beginning with a very special 10-Year Anniversary Thank You:
Introducing the SkyWater Search Partners 10 For 10 Award: A $10,000 vacation to any place of each winner’s choosing
Now that our first three 10-year employees have completed their trips, we’re featuring each of their stories. Here, Brady Olson, Director, Accounting & Finance, who joined SkyWater just a few months after the company was formed, describes how he created his trip of a lifetime. (You can also read about our employee 10 for 10 trips here) As more SkyWater employees reach their own ten-year anniversaries, we look forward to sharing their stories as well.
“Wait a second… this is real!”
“When Adam first announced this award, my first thought was how cool it was of the company to do something like this,” says Brady. “But then I thought, wait a second, mine is coming right up. This is real. I’m going on a 10 for 10 trip!”
A Sunny Getaway with Good Friends
Brady considered a few destinations before deciding on a Miami-and-Mexico get-together with close friends. “I’m a huge fan of tennis, and I invited some buddies to join me at the Miami Open Tennis tournament. We spent nearly a week there, got amazing seats, and just being able to see Daniil Medvedev, Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zvere,v and others so up close and personal was really something.”
But that was only the beginning. From Miami, Brady flew directly to Mexico, where he had rented a house on the Gulf of California. “It’s an area where I’ve stayed before, but I’ve never stayed in a house like this one,” explains Brady. “It’s a huge three-story house with ocean views on three sides. It was perfect because my friend and his wife joined me there and we stayed for a month. We biked. We swam. We played tennis. I worked out. We cooked meals together. And sometimes, we just hung out on the rooftop deck.” For Brady, the real treat was spending all of that time together while everyone was completely unplugged from screens. “It was more important than I’d realized it would be, just to immerse myself in that slower pace, soak up the warm weather and sunshine with my friends.”
A Reflection and a Few Words of Advice for Future Winners
“The Miami tournament is a fantastic memory,” Brady says now. “But we were just go-go-go the whole time.” Turns out that downtime in Mexico turned out to be the memory he cherishes most. “I knew it would give me a chance to reconnect with some very dear friends. But, once I was there, it also allowed me to reflect on my own life, kind of recharge. That’s priceless.” Because of that, he encourages future 10 for 10 winners to take their time in planning their trip. “Figure out your priorities. For me, it was important to get away in March, after a long Minnesota winter and getting some serious, sunny downtime.”
Brady says he’s still in awe of the entire experience. “When I first came to SkyWater a decade ago, I was especially looking for an employer with a great culture, where I could grow,” he says. “That’s exactly what I’ve found here. This is a real team where people support each other in building everyone’s success. Everyone appreciates how hard we all work here, and SkyWater knows how to show that appreciation. This award is just one huge example of that,” he says.
