EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT
Carl Fischer
Chief Financial Officer
Meet Carl – our chief numbers guy and an all-around spectacular leader on our c-staff! Carl has spent the last 6 years of his career at FastTrack, where he designates his time and talent to spearheading the company’s financial goals, while also supporting various HR and operational needs. When he’s not crunching numbers or leading key meetings, you can find Carl on the tee box, out on the water in his kayak, or simply spending quality time with his family.
What is your current position with FastTrack?
I’m the company’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO). I’ve been in this role since I was hired in December of 2017.
What is your typical workweek like?
Varying amounts of time spent on financial, accounting, HR, & operational matters. The job is interesting and satisfying, touching all aspects of the business. There is lot going on in this place all the time; that’s good.
How has FastTrack helped your personal and professional development?
It’s been a continuation of the same career path since the late 80’s (been working as a small company CFO/VP of Finance for 30+ years with seven stops along the way).
Every company has provided additional personal and professional growth experiences. This one is no different, very much in a good way. 🌟
What is something you love about working for FastTrack?
This has been a great experience given the quality & character of the people throughout the organization, the company culture, and the ownership. It’s a rare case to hit on all three components.
The people are always the differentiator. 💯
What is your favorite book, movie, or show?
TV is much more interesting to me than movies these days.
Homeland has been my favorite show for some time due to several factors such as plot, acting, settings, etc.; such an excellent drama. I do like a lot of legal, drama, and crime series. The genre can change beyond these three but as long as the show is interesting and has good characters and plot twists & turns, it will get my attention (e.g. Game of Thrones).
Do you have any pets?
Two dogs: Casey, a 16 year old lab/corgi mix who is a great little dog and hanging in there and Luna, a 6 year old fox red lab who is the most food motivated dog ever.
Do you have any hobbies or special interests?
Golf is my number one 🤩. I’ve been playing since I was 16, but seem to have leveled off in ability around the time of the Reagan administration. Outside of playing, I’m an avid fan for most major sports. My favorite individual teams are the Mets, Jets, and Seton Hall basketball (some success but lots of misery and heartache with these teams, it’s too late to switch now! 😆).
My wife and I have been avid wine collectors 🍷 (and consumers) for many years. We often plan dinners and trips around this fun hobby. Between the people, the food and the wine, it all blends together well and is quite energizing.
I also love Kayaking, mostly with family and friends. It’s great to be outdoors and on the water. And lastly, I enjoy music of all types plus reading both fiction and non-fiction equally.
What type of activities are you most likely to be up to on the weekends?
Dinners with family and friends at the house, doing stuff with my wife, sporting activities as noted above, going out (concerts, breweries, restaurants, visiting the nearby cities, etc.), or working on the property.
What is your favorite vacation destination?
I’m a big fan of traveling 🗺 in general. My favorite in the last ten years has been Mexico, but prior to that it was ski trips out west. Both were always with family and/or friends.
I think a long extended trip ✈️ to Europe would be great; hit all the great architectural and cultural wonders in the countries, play golf in Scotland & Ireland, go to French wine country, see the Alps, stay in Tuscany, etc. I better get started soon!
What person would you most like to switch places with for a day?
Warren Buffet. Maybe I could learn something. 🤯
What’s the first thing you would do if you won the lottery?
Spend the first $50k frivolously, watch my wife spend the next $50k frivolously, take care of/have fun with family and friends, create a way to consistently donate to charity, and then invest the rest conservatively.
I am counting on a big payout.
What is your favorite 21st century innovation?
Not to be too cliché, but it has to be the smart phone. It’s really changed our lives in countless ways, mostly for the better.
What’s something you loved doing as a kid? Do you still do it now?
Playing and watching sports. And yes I still do it!
Who is one of your personal heroes?
Bill Bradley. To excel at an elite world class level in two completely different walks of life (basketball and politics/governance) is incredibly rare. 💫
Have you ever had an encounter with anyone famous?
The closest was this: Some friends and I picked up a musician hitchhiking in 1974 coming home from NYC after attending a concert (was at a train station, the guy looked normal and needed a ride). We were talking about music and who we liked. He said he was a professional organist. Finally, I asked him who he played with and his response was an instant classic: “I currently play with a guy named Bruce Springsteen but am going to quit the band because it’s not going anywhere”.
His name was Danny Federici, who did stop playing with Springsteen for awhile in the mid 70’s but rejoined the band and played with him for the next 30 years until he passed away in 2008.
What is your motto for life?
Always try to find the positive in any situation. Life is way too short to overly dwell on the negative or things beyond our control. Oh, and don’t take yourself too seriously. 👍
What’s a surprising fact about yourself?
I was born in Brooklyn.
If there was a movie about your life made, who would you want the narrator to be?
Morgan Freeman.
Do you have any nicknames?
Fish – been that way my whole life, don’t know why… 😜
Connect with Carl on LinkedIn
