Team members Lauren Van Blarcum and Brandon Nettles ensure clients start off right with Nordis and business proceeds without a hitch.
Lauren Van Blarcum, Solutions Specialist
Lauren Van Blarcum is all about goals.
As a solutions specialist, Lauren works with new and existing clients to detail their business goals and desired outcomes regarding customer communications. She then creates an in-depth program requirements document for their Expresso® customer communications management (CCM) platform implementation.
“We start with clients’ current state of communications and what their data looks like. We leverage best practices to create a customized Expresso solution they can utilize every day, but if a programming change is needed, it can happen fairly easily,” Lauren says. “It’s analyzing what clients do and how they do it, and then making things better and more scalable for them.”
Lauren works with client teams from different corporate functions including finance, marketing, compliance and regulatory areas. She’ll meet with a client team several times a week if doing pre-work for an implementation, then provide quality assurance checks during testing. She monitors the project until implementation is complete, serving as a resource for both the client and Nordis’ client success and implementation teams.
With degrees in accounting and business management, Lauren also draws on her experience in customer service, accounts receivable and operations in the financial services and property management industries to support clients.
“We work with both business users and very technical teams, so speaking to their different points of view helps everyone understand how and why Expresso works. It’s always a cool shared moment to see things go from spreadsheet data to a complete, beautiful billing statement,” Lauren says.
When she’s not at work or home, Lauren’s probably at the gym working on her fitness goals. She boxes, kickboxes and lifts weights five days a week. She’s also a certified Rock Steady boxing coach. Rock Steady is non-contact, boxing-inspired exercise that helps those affected by Parkinson’s disease reach their goals of living more independently with greater strength, balance, and confidence. Lauren coaches people with Parkinson’s every Saturday and Sunday and welcomes the chance to talk about the program.
Lauren has two sons, 20 and 18, who work and attend college. Her oldest is studying cybersecurity, and her younger son plans to enter the medical field, likely dentistry.
People ask Lauren how she fits everything into a day or a weekend. She says she’s just very focused and determined. She put herself through college while working and raising kids. A determined, single parent, Lauren says she can do a lot with little time. When asked about her superpower, she thinks it’s more about wanting to be a super mom than having a superpower.
Brandon Nettles, Procurement Manager
When a Nordis team member says, “Boy, that coffee smells good,” or a press operator loads a roll of paper for printing, they’re not thinking about how the coffee or the paper showed up. But Brandon Nettles is. As procurement manager, he is responsible for planning, sourcing and purchasing everything needed for the daily operation of the business.
“You can’t wait to order items until a month before you need them if delivery takes two months. Shipping containers are in short supply, and there are all kinds of transportation delays, from ports to railroads to trucking. You have to be 10 steps ahead of everything else,” Brandon says.
That’s where his strong vendor relationships come in. “Especially in our field, but you can’t do anything alone. Our entire business is service. We have all these clients nationwide who depend on us, and their millions of customers rely on them. We honor our commitments and expect the same from those we do business with,” he says.
Brandon recently added facilities management to his responsibilities, keeping the properties and operations in Florida and Nevada running smoothly. This, too, requires vendor partners, including HVAC, electrical and building maintenance. He oversees auditors and OSHA inspectors as well.
He brought a background in transportation, safety and operations when he joined Nordis in 2022. Brandon keeps everything in check by creating and documenting procedures. He manages from quality and financial perspectives: How to assure availability and uptime, trim turnaround times, and keep costs down.
He’s always buzzing — analyzing data, calling or texting suppliers, walking the facility or the roof. Brandon’s unique role gives him insights into each department. Whether collaborating face to face or behind the scenes, his work affects everyone, every day.
Brandon grew up in New Jersey, graduated from Morehouse College in Georgia, and now lives in South Florida with his wife Jackie. They have an 8-year-old son, Ace, known as “little Brandon with glasses,” for his sometimes serious, sometimes silly and always curious nature, similar to his dad’s.
Brandon bowls in two leagues, and he’s also a writer, something he’s done since he was 13. He writes a little of everything: book ideas, movie concepts, and sometimes lyrics to a piece of instrumental music he’s heard. “Throughout life, I’ve discovered this is another way my brain works. It’s an outlet for me. It makes me happy, so I just let it flow.”
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