Meet the Team Q&A: VP of Operations, Adam Alderson

I’m so excited to introduce you to my (baby) brother, Adam Alderson. Adam has been a member of the NDI team since 2007. What a joy it has been to work along side of him these past (almost) 10 years and watch him develop into a great leader. He juggles A LOT each day and he does it with confidence and a sense of humor which keeps us all laughing.

I think I have the best job in the world and to be able to work with my little brother is one of the reasons why.

Friends, meet Adam…

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Tell us about yourself! Your background, your family, where you live.

I’m a Northern VA native who grew up in Burke/Fairfax Station. After high school (Go Rams!), I went to Virginia Tech (Go Hokies!) where I earned a degree in History, of all things. After graduation I spent four glorious years in Blacksburg, working at a local bar where I would end up working with my future wife, Amanda. In 2006 we decided it was time to leave our little college town, and she and I moved down to Charleston, SC for about 10 months. We loved it down there, but we were very ho-hum about our jobs. In January of 2007, an opportunity arose to start working with Dad and Jennifer at NDI so we made the decision to come back home (Amanda is from Burke, too). Almost 10 years later we live in an NDI home in Falls Church with our 4-year-old son, Ryan, and daughter Caroline, who will be 2-years-old in November.

Tell us about your role at NDI.

I came here in 2007 to get our Site Management program off the ground. I did that exclusively for about three years until I started a transition to the home construction side of the company. For a while I balanced Site Management and Construction Superintendent, building mainly NDI spec houses. In 2011, I became the Construction Operations Manager, overseeing the construction activities in the field. Then in the 2013 I made another transition into the office full time as the Director of Construction Operations. Trading in the dashboard of a truck (and the truck!) for an office window was a bit of an adjustment, but I love what I’m doing now. I love being able to meet every single family we work with, and I love working with them during construction. Update 6.7.17: Adam has been promoted to VP of Operations!

So. You’re Jen’s brother. What’s it like to work with your sister?

You know, I field this question a lot and it’s always been hard for me to answer because it doesn’t occur to me that it’s so unusual. After I got past my annoying toddler/tween years, Jen and I have always been close. Once I moved back to NOVA to work with NDI, we got closer. We hang out a lot on weekends, we go to lunch together almost every day (or we used to, now we’re healthy and bring our lunch), sometimes it’s more like friends than brother and sister. We tend to work well together, despite having very different personalities. She tends to get my heartrate up and I tend to lower hers, so it’s a good balance. I’ve spent my whole life looking up to her and relying on her, so it’s a really natural thing for us to work together.

What’s your favorite part of your job?

For me, it doesn’t get much better than being with a family the day that we’re able to hand them the keys to their new home. It can be a long road for some families, so standing there with them on that final day and seeing smiles on their faces is truly a great feeling.

Building a house is a big undertaking. What’s something you’d like to tell clients about the process?

The process isn’t always perfect. I live in an NDI home that was built for my family back in 2010, so I’ve been on the homeowner side of things. Building a home can be overwhelming at times. Have patience. Take deep breaths. Remember that the end will justify the means!

When you’re not working, what do you like to do?

I love being with my family! Saturday and Sunday mornings with a cup of coffee with my wife while the kids play and watch cartoons simply doesn’t get any better for me. Usually by 11 a.m., I’m ready for a babysitter! Beyond spending time with family, I love baseball and the Washington Nationals. Between April and October, you can pretty much assume what’s on TV starting around 7:05 p.m. every night. Thankfully I have a wife who tolerates the obsession. I’m also very much into running and exercising. I’ve run two marathons, but with two kids in tow now, those days are probably over. Three-to-four mile runs are perfect for me these days, anyway. I consider myself a bit of a wordsmith. I really enjoy crosswords and word games. If I could ever focus for more than 30 mins on any one thing, I’d love to write the next great novel.

What’s something the NDI team might not know about you?

My wife and I are advocates for parents who have experienced the loss of a child (prenatal and infant loss). In 2011 we unexpectedly lost our first son Evan shortly after he was born, and since then we’ve worked with other parents to help them through their loss. Since 2011 we’ve raised over $10,000 towards March of Dimes and Children’s National Hospital, we’ve met with and counseled (to the best of our ability) other loss parents and we also have spoken at events for child loss. Most recently we sat in on a panel discussion with about 20 NICU nurses at Virginia Hospital Center to educate them on how to handle a situation when their patients experience an unexpected loss. Currently we are trying to set up a bereavement group at Virginia Hospital Center to give parents another outlet for healing.

Thank you, Adam!