There aren't many Ara Wades in the world. I’m glad you found me.

This particular Ara Wade’s life is easy to describe.

For work, I build things: spreadsheets, dashboards, people analytics solutions.

For fun, I build things: gardens, decks, legos.

I'm named after my great grandpa, Ara Wade, but the name itself is really old. There is a constellation in the southern hemisphere, a mountain in Armenia, and a lake in Norway all with the name.

I was born in Louisville but grew up in Kokomo. I moved to Indianapolis for college and Connecticut for graduate school. Connecticut was also where I got my first real job.

I lived in Chicago next and traveled around the country for work. I probably should’ve listed my home address as the airport.

Right now, I live in Indiana but who knows where life will take me next.

Photo: Me, studying whether I could move enough sand with a stick to connect the river to the lake

About

Ara Wade is looking at a spot between the river and the lake and thinking about how to move enough sand to connect them.
Ara Wade is looking at a spot between the river and the lake and thinking about how to move enough sand to connect them.

I love analytics. I crunch numbers for fun. I have more spreadsheets than is reasonable for anyone to have.

I've had really cool jobs, working with really smart people, on amazing projects. I’ve built entire cross-domain people analytics platforms from nothing, run multi-client implementations and operations for large enterprises, and helped companies answer complex questions from messy workforce data.

My employers have been some of the best companies around and my customers have been household names. To find out more, check out my LinkedIn.

Photo: Claudified image of my view on people analytics

My Work

This image shows how four roles in an organization use people analytics and what the key measures are.
This image shows how four roles in an organization use people analytics and what the key measures are.

Because my job is cerebral and the projects often long-lasting, I like to do physical things like digging out a plant or knocking down a wall, then stepping back to see what I’ve done.

I build Legos for the same reason: It's methodical, mechanical, and ends with a material object. I played with Legos as a kid and started again when my kids were younger. My collection is mostly space ships.

Concerts achieve that too. You go to a place, you’re surrounded by visuals, you feel the bass, and you end the night invigorated.

Photo: Queens of the Stone Age killing it at Bourbon & Beyond

My Interests

This picture is of a concert by Queens of the Stone Age.
This picture is of a concert by Queens of the Stone Age.

My family is awesome.

My wife is amazing. She’s practical and funny and keeps me in check. I’m so lucky to have her.

I have 3 kids. When I was young, I wanted to have 10 kids. Turns out that 3 is the right number. Not so many that it’s overwhelming but enough so they can form their own group. Their personalities and interests are so different that it’s like they’re not from the same gene pool.

My dog is my dog. Cute to look at. Dumb when it’s to his advantage. Always right behind me looking for a treat.

Photo: Me and the kids racing to get out of the rain.

My Family

This is a picture of Ara Wade with my kids running to a bridge to be sheltered from the rain.
This is a picture of Ara Wade with my kids running to a bridge to be sheltered from the rain.