By day, Hayley Sargent leads Red Level’s Helpdesk team as they wrangle technical issues and support the IT needs Detroit area business. On nights and weekends, you’ll find her wrangling a different animal. The Office 365 and Azure expert trades her Microsoft Surface Pro and headset for a saddle and hat as she trains horses.

We sat down with Hayley for a quick Q&A on

What’s your favorite restaurant?
Believe it or not, Texas Roadhouse!

What’s your favorite pastime outside of work?
If I had to pick just one, I’d have to say training and riding horses. If I’m allowed two, don’t forget a love of video games!

Why did you choose to work in IT?
I enjoy the consistent challenge to my abilities. It’s one of the few fields that was so fast-paced and dynamic enough to provide me with a new puzzle to solve every day.

What’s your favorite sport?
I would have to say Gymnastics since I was a gymnast for most of my life.

Where is your favorite vacation spot?
Any vacation that’s an adventure. New places, new people, and new experiences are one of the best delights in life.

How about your favorite place in Detroit?
RiverWalk because when I worked downtown it was always a place to go on lunch and enjoy the outdoors.

You work with so many cool companies around Metro Detroit. Any good stories to share about working with our clients?
One of my favorite memories of helping a client was when I was working deskside support. I was helping to facilitate the technology of a large meeting. Of course, as technology always seems to do when the pressure is on, the main slide display failed. I was able to not only resolve the issue promptly, but help provide a sense of ease and calmness that we’d get through this rough spot together. The human element is the best part of tech.

What technologies get you excited?
It spans outside of the IT industry, but I would have to say organic semiconductor technology. It’s still in its infancy but provides so much room for advancement. Imagine flexible computer components that you can print from a specialized printer anywhere. When we get there, it’s going to be absolutely revolutionary.

What problems do you consistently solve for your clients?
I think the problem that I solve most often for clients is usually related to their Office 365 – usually Outlook. Afterall, email is the lifeblood of most of our client’s jobs.

What type of client do you work with the most?
In my current role, I currently work mostly with small business across many different industries, as well as non-profits. I enjoy the variety!

What are the best skills that you bring to Red Level and our clients?
I believe the best skills I bring to the table are not technical, but instead soft skills. I feel that I have strong communication and interpersonal skills which have immense value internally as well as with clients. That and an endless source of positivity and perseverance.

What was your first job?
My first job was actually very far from what I do today. I worked at a rodeo, where I would prep all the cattle for the events – from rounding them up from the fields to their health care and beyond – as well as working the chutes for various events. It gave me an opportunity to ride my young horses and get them exposure and make money, and teenage me couldn’t turn that down.

Do you have a personal motto?
It’s a quote from my favorite Physicist, Richard Feynman, “No problem is too small or too trivial if we can really do something about it.”

Thanks for taking the time to chat with us, Hayley, and thanks for all you do to help Red Level and our clients!