Reading the Field: How Vericol’s Kees Humes Brings Out the Best in Every Proposal Team

Kees is one of Vericol’s longest tenured employees and has seen the company grow to where it is now. Throughout his time at Vericol, Kees has been instrumental in proposal management and product development.

When Kees isn’t working, you can catch him on the field playing high-level competitive ultimate frisbee.

Read below for Kees’s full Q&A.

What first drew you to ultimate frisbee, and what has kept you committed enough to compete at such a high level?

I started playing ultimate frisbee because my parents played – they actually met playing at a tournament up in Montreal! I started playing in middle school because I was looking for something active to do and fell in love with the game from there. There’s a couple reasons I keep playing. One is that it’s a great competitive outlet and playing is a ton of fun. The bigger reason, though, is that there’s a great community around ultimate frisbee, and being on a team with 25 teammates pushing together towards a common goal is really fulfilling.

You’ve made it to nationals multiple times with your team – what do you remember most about those experiences, and what did they mean to you personally?

Making it to “the big dance” is really special because there’s only 16 teams that make it each year. The last two times I made it with Virginia Vault were extra special because we weren’t a blue-chip team that was a shoo-in to make it. Instead we had to perform consistently across every single game, every single point of the entire regular season to maintain a high ranking to earn a bid, then we had to perform and peak at the right time during the postseason to punch our ticket to nationals. Achieving that goal felt extra rewarding because it was a testament to the hard work that the entire team had put in for years leading up to that moment.

The thing I remember most about those Nationals tournaments was the time spent together with the teams. The tournament is 4 days long with lots of downtime between games, so there’s a lot of time you’re spending at the team house, connecting with your teammates, reflecting on the season, and spending quality time together.

Ultimate frisbee is such a team-driven sport. What do you think makes a great teammate, and how has that influenced the way you collaborate as a proposal manager and consultant at Vericol?

A great teammate is someone who brings out the best in others and helps the team perform as a unit greater than the sum of its parts. There’s a lot of lessons I’ve taken from ultimate frisbee and applied to proposal management: a big one that stands out is recognizing that it’s critical to identify the “superpower” that each contributor can bring so that you can put them in a position to best utilize it. Another is recognizing that, when adversity hits, that we’re all pushing towards the same goal – winning – and the focus needs to remain on accomplishing that goal.

You were one of the first employees at Vericol and have seen our company grow significantly over the years. What is one thing that has stuck with you from day one at Vericol all the way to now, despite the increase in clients, colleagues, and challenges?

The biggest thing that’s stuck with me is the dedication to going above and beyond for our clients. Every single team member has put in weekend hours, after-hours shifts, and has burnt the midnight oil to make sure that we deliver high-quality outputs. Seeing everyone else’s commitment inspires you to do the same, and you can trust that a team member will have your back to support when you need it.