A message from Jeff Tamburino, Co-founder and CEO
Well-supported people, support people well. This tagline of Tamman, which Jeff crafted and honed, succinctly sums up Jeff’s philosophy. Simply stated–people matter to Jeff Tamburino.
Jeff started his IT career at GE Aerospace, staying with them through the transition to Martin Marietta and, later, Lockheed Martin. His formative years inside a Fortune 100 company provided the foundation for serving large corporate environments. Launching out on his own as an IT consultant, he spent a decade helping creative agencies inside and outside of enterprise environments to integrate the Macintosh platform into their creative workflows. During these formative years of running a service-oriented consultancy, he not only honed his broad technical skills but also developed the highly personal, customer-centered ethic that has become the cornerstone of Tamman’s business approach.
It was an easy decision to start Tamman in 2007 with his former partner, Mike Mangos. Jeff saw opportunities for a nimble agency like theirs to provide a valuable service to the companies they served. Setting up shop in his basement (like so many promising start-ups), the company quickly bloomed. Tamman has seen consistent success despite up-and-down economies and has long-outgrown Jeff’s basement. Jeff quickly identified that their success was primarily due to their shared core values. Build a company that focuses on the employees and encourages a culture of appreciation, and the clients will be well served. Then, do that consistently. Over the intervening years, Tamman has branched out beyond its IT roots to move into custom software development, digital accessibility, and team extension services.
Over the years, Jeff has developed an expert understanding of designing and deploying successful projects. His ability to navigate and negotiate across teams and systems, coupled with his deep knowledge of requirements, quirks, and common pitfalls in large enterprises, has been integral to developing Tamman’s long record of excellent projects and, more importantly, fruitful partnerships.
Personally, Jeff attributes the success of his work not just to industry expertise but also to trusted, long-term relationships. To him, “business is putting people first.” Even though Tamman’s clients include both the tech-savvy and the tech-averse, sometimes these lines are crossed when managers and directors are handed mission-critical technical projects. This can be stressful and often confusing, but this is where Jeff’s personal consultative touch and boots-on-the-ground experience come into play. Whether he is working directly with a client or, more often these days, mentoring Tamman employees, his priority is to help people understand what’s involved, how a project can work, and what will or won’t work in a given situation. He tries to anticipate issues and problems before they ever even surface. Most of all, he wants his team and clients to feel supported and confident in their work. He says, “I love to be the guy who enables people to be successful in their job!” This ethos is felt throughout Tamman. Success has to be a collaborative effort.
When asked how he has honed his people skills, Jeff offers up an unexpected answer: “Over twenty years playing tournament poker. It’s a highly interpersonal game,” he notes, “to succeed, you have to study people, read the room, and notice subtleties.” Jeff feels that it’s the same in business; you learn a lot just by paying attention. While Jeff likes to say that he “always has an ace up his sleeve,” for his clients, it’s usually true. It comes in his empathic ability to read a situation, understand what people need, and provide quick strategic support for those who need a tuned-in player on their side.
Jeff plans to continue building Tamman’s digital accessibility and team extension services for larger agencies and corporate spaces that need digital support and expertise. As Tamman continues to grow, he invests his time in creating a great, supportive work environment in which employees can establish fulfilling careers.
Eventually, Jeff will get back to playing poker but for now, he’s betting on a strong company culture and relationships to take to the bank.
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Podcasts
Episode 12: Individuality and Accessibility (Part 1)
