Living the Remote Experience With A Strong Support System

My name is Brian Trudeau and I’m a Senior Software Engineer with the Rocket Technology Master Builders team. I’m also the treasurer and a founding member of the Remote Experience Team Member Resource Network (TMRN).

A little over 7 years ago, I was hired by Rocket Mortgage^® as a full-time remote team member. Still to this day, I live and work in Newtown, Connecticut – a quiet, rural town about 90 minutes from Manhattan.

This was my first full-time remote position. Prior to coming here, I worked at a steel company with a 2-hour commute each day. It was a wonderful, family-owned American manufacturer, but their policies on remote working were not forward-thinking.

Once I signed on with Rocket Mortgage^®, I instantly noticed a big difference in how this team worked. I was grateful to find a company that was innovative, supportive and put faith in me. From my first day, I made it a priority to form connections, not just with fellow remote team members, but also with on-site folks who I work with every day. Over time, showing gratitude and being an advocate for remote team members quickly became a passion of mine.

Fast-forward 6 years to the creation of our TMRNs at the Rocket Companies^®. A few of us full-time remote workers decided to put in a bid for one of the original networks. The funny thing is, this wasn’t weeks in the making for us – we learned about the TMRN applications the day before the due date! We realized our group would be unorthodox within the context of a resource network, but we knew we could form a community, nonetheless.

As everyone in the Rocket Companies^® has found, working remotely comes with a unique way of living and working. When it comes to how we work, remotes and on-site team members have unique strengths and opportunities to use the resources around them for improvement.

The Remote Experience TMRN (we like to call it “Rex”) became just that – a resource. It’s a space where distributed team members and those who work with remote workers can exchange ideas, share knowledge and serve as a voice for the community. The recent shift to remote working during COVID-19 was an opportunity for us to step up even more and provide real help to team members who might be new to working from home.

Since the stay-at-home orders, the Remote Experience TMRN has offered more wellness events and we’ve even expanded our efforts to step in to help with technical questions specifically impacting remote workers.

Anyone working from home that wants to network with other remote team members, ask questions, share best practices, attend self-care events or just hang out, should join the Remote Experience TMRN. Even better, if you are a member of a community that you think needs a voice, seriously consider creating a TMRN, like I did. The Diversity & Inclusion team is your go-to resource for help!

Interested in joining a team with a strong support system while most of us work remotely?