Who’s Carl Chase?
Although Superman was not the first superhero character, he is what we define in a hero. An everyday person who rises to do unhuman-like tasks for the greater good of humanity. To anyone in Metropolis, Clark Kent was just a non-assuming journalist. But when the forces of darkness crept over their city, the red cape came on, and Superman prevailed.
At Dovico, we’re grateful to have our own Superman, but we call him Super Carl.
Carl came to Dovico 16 years ago as a junior support technician. After many years of mastering his support role, he accepted the challenge of transitioning to a product and implementation specialist.
Back in the early days of Dovico, we didn’t have the modern convenience of screen sharing to help support our clients. Our support team would often have to help over the phone using tedious trial and error. It was challenging to diagnose problems then, and frustrations would often arise.
Empathy is practiced, not learned
You can’t fake a deep sincerity to help over the phone. You either have it in you, or you don’t, and when you don’t feel you are genuinely getting help, your patience shrinks. With Carl, helping others comes naturally to him. He is empathetic to the bone, and it’s why over the years we’ve been able to retain some of our clients for well over 15 years -an unheard-of retention rate for a SAAS company.
You cannot teach someone empathy. It must be practiced and felt. It’s Carl’s authentic sense of understanding that makes him our superhero.
An advocate for mental health
On top of being a model employee at Dovico, Carl is also our brightest beacon of hope in the fight against mental illness and the stigma associated with it. By openly sharing his touching mental health story, he knows what it feels to be depressed, angry, sad, confused and on the brink of suicide.
Carl has lived a good portion of his life battling with type 1 bipolar disorder. He is not shy to speak of his stories of medications gone wrong, his manic sleep disorders and his brushes with suicide -not only his own but of his close friends as well. They say that you are only as sick as the secrets you keep; Carl leaves no secret to what he has faced and continues to face every day.
Carl’s most significant strength when it comes to his weakness is that he understands the mental triggers before they emerge and proactively takes actions to get the help he needs. His awareness of his mind allows Carl to embrace his battle with bipolar disorder rather than to fight against it. He doesn’t see himself as broken or defective. By removing the stigma of his challenges, he understands that his mind works differently.
Family matters
Carl credits his family for helping him through his most difficult times. Early on with his battle to understand his mind, Carl’s parents gave him the love and support that lead to him to get a proper diagnosis. With his loving wife Ginette and teenage son Jacob by his side, Carl has a fantastic support system that helps lead a healthy and positive life. His support system showed him early just how important it is to be surrounded by love void of the stigma that misunderstood mental illness often carries.
Carl deeply understands just how important it is to help others unconditionally. The empathy of others saved his life.
Fitness is his best tool
Carl has many hobbies that keep him busy and fit. A lifelong hockey fan, Carl can be found on many cold winter evenings playing ice hockey at a local rink. In the summer, he helps coach his son’s baseball team and goes out for a quick 5k run whenever he gets the chance. Being active is a big part of Carl’s toolbox to remain physically and mentally fit.
A helping soul
From helping our clients find value in our products, volunteering his time with his son’s sports teams or being a mental health advocate, Carl expresses his empathetic desire to help others in everything he does.
When someone needs a helping hand, Carl throws on his cape of empathy and is usually the first to offer his. We are a stronger team having Carl among us, so many of us look up to him and his story for inspiration and guidance.
Dovico is super grateful for our Super Carl.
Employee Spotlight Podcast
Listen to an interview with Carl Chase, conducted by Estelle Johnston. Carl speaks of his history with Dovico and interests close to his heart.
Come Off the Ledge
If you are struggling with mental health challenges or know someone who is -we all do. You owe it to yourself to check out Carl’s mental health podcast called: “Come Off the Ledge.” Carl and his guests share a very open conversation about mental health and suicide. You can hear and feel the emotional walls of stigma crashing down in their discussion.
Additional mental health resources
- Crisis Services Canada
- Canadian Mental Health Fast Facts on Mental Health
- Mental Health America Facts, Stats and Data
- MentalHealth.gov
- Teenage Addiction Rehab – A guide with practical techniques for both preventing and stopping teen addiction
About Dovico’s Employee Spotlight
Meaningful business is not about impersonal transactions between two faceless entities. It’s about a group of conscious people serving another group of conscious people.
Understanding and relating to who each member of the team is crucial to building longer-lasting and trusting connections between everyone.
Employee Spotlight is a series of short biographies of Dovico employees that are meant to bridge that relatability gap. Dovico would be nothing more than just another timesheet company without the fantastic people who make up the team.
Dovico is the product of who we are and not just what we do.
Read other Employee Spotlights:
- Employee Spotlight: Who’s Diane Doucet?Employee Spotlight is a series of biographies of Dovico employees that are meant to bridge that relatability gap. Dovico would be nothing more than just another timesheet company without the fantastic people who make up the team. This month we feature CoFounder and CFO, Diane Doucet. We hope you enjoy getting to know more about our Dovico team. Who’s Diane Doucet? Diane is the CoFounder and CFO of Dovico. She is “Employee #1” and co-founder of…
- Employee Spotlight: Who’s Ross Campbell?Who’s Ross Campbell? Ross is one of our Junior Developers. One of Ross’ favourite things to do outside of work is playing with his brothers Tatsuo, Heath and Landon. Ross looks to Adam Savage, the creative host of Mythbusters, as his biggest inspiration. Ross loves to bake goodies to share and satisfy the sweet tooth of those around him. At home, he has an energetic pitbull named Willow. Listen to this article now: This is…
- Employee Spotlight: Who’s Shelley Butler?Who’s Shelley Butler? In every great organization, there’s a powershifter—someone whose purpose is to transfer power from one person to another. Shelley is Dovico’s powershifter. But instead of taking power from one person and moving it to another, Shelley helps everyone she meets to see the power they have within, and she does it with nothing more than love, dignity and respect. #LoveWins What does Shelley do at Dovico? By title, Shelley is our newly…
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