Faith Journey
Taken from The Faith Work Forum interviews: Derrick Rumenapp
Derrick is a fellow GE colleague out of the Schenectady, New York, GE site, who I’ve had the pleasure to get to know. He’s passionate about Jesus, nature, his family, and helping others as a life coach. He writes for GE’s “SmartBits” service of BrilliantYou and on his own website, highlighting stories of wisdom and serving others. Let’s hear more from Derrick about his career, faith journey, and how he combines the two!
Tell us a bit about you and your years at GE:
I was born and raised along with my sister in a small farm town in upstate NY called Milford. We had one stop light and my graduating High School class was only 35. I attended Siena, a small Roman Catholic liberal arts college just outside of Albany, NY where I obtained a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Finance. After college, I worked for a start-up finance company as Director of Operations for 8 years before joining GE in 2000. I have worked in many IT functions including Quality, Identity Management, Global IT Operations, Finance, Cyber Security and Enterprise Architecture at GE Corporate, GE Digital, and GE Power. I have been married to an amazing woman since 1996, have 2 incredible kids and love writing, cooking, photography and the outdoors. I am actively engaged in our church as a Lector and Knights of Columbus Officer as well as a strong supporter of the Epilepsy Foundation and Operation Smile. I have been a witness to God’s miracles and the recipient of His never ending love, patience and forgiveness.
What are some highlights during your career?
When I graduated from college, I got to experience what it was like to help grow a start-up company. This gave me insight not only into the struggles (and opportunities) of starting something from nothing, but the importance of how we treat people, both those you hire and the customers you serve. Here, I was privileged to work for an owner that taught me about servant leadership, empathy for others and that people make the difference. This job formed the foundation of the leader and person I am today.
At GE, I was fortunate to be part of many large, strategic IT initiatives that changed how IT was done at GE including Single Sign On, Identity Management and most recently IT Portfolio Management. These initiatives simplified how we login to applications across GE; how we manage the IT access of our contractors and employees; and how we can improve user experience and save millions of dollars by removing complexity and redundancy through portfolio management. These experiences led to speaking opportunities at external IT Conferences where I shared best practices and learnings from these global and large scale implementations.
Next, with my son’s diagnosis of epilepsy in 2009 when he was 2, I was able to turn that challenge and pain into greater awareness, support and compassion across GE for those afflicted with epilepsy. Through GE’s generous support of my Epilepsy Fundraisers, GE achieved “Top Fundraising Company” status 4 times in 9 years, raising more than $30K since we started back in 2010. 1 in 26 will be diagnosed with epilepsy.
Most recently, I have seen firsthand the amazing impact the practice of coaching and the power of “mindfulness” can have in becoming the best version of ourselves both personally and professionally. Over the last year with all of the change at GE, not only did I lean on my faith for guidance, but I also began studying the power of “mindset”, the techniques of “coaching” and the importance of being authentic. This has led to the launch of my own website (rumenapp.com), the development of a life planning process, the creation of a GE BrilliantYou podcast on Coaching and the publication of numerous “articles” on my personal blog and internally on GE’s BrilliantYou SmartBits platform. I have been chosen to lead “Coaching” pilots at Power, be a coach for MDC attendees at Crotonville and present my personal journey on the importance of “Mindfulness” at an upcoming Employee Learning Week. All work that God has called me to do and work that feels most congruent with who I am and who I strive to be.
How would you describe your faith journey?
Although I made my first communion as a child and always felt God’s presence, attending church on Sundays was inconsistent for me and my family. With my parents being divorced, I always sensed sadness from my mom whenever we went to church. Therefore, we usually went at Christmas and Easter only. It wasn’t until my late 30’s when my journey really began. You see, my teenage nephew was making his confirmation (we are Catholic) and needed a sponsor. When I told him I couldn’t do it since I wasn’t confirmed myself, he said “well, get confirmed!”
I’ll admit, making my own confirmation had been on my “to do” list for many years, especially once I had kids but I had never taken the next step. I thought “here is my chance.” The very next day I called the church and coincidentally they were starting a RCIA class just down the road from my home the following week. And so the journey began…every week, for the next 6 months, I attended class, meeting others who too had decided to begin their journey later in life. This group became my bedrock of support and a strength that I could have never anticipated. As Easter arrived in April that year, both my nephew and I were confirmed… him with me as his sponsor. It is one of the most special and meaningful times in my life and created an unbreakable bond between the 2 of us and with God. Later, this achievement would be credited for my strength, faith and ability to cope with what was about to happen.
Only two short months later in June of 2009, my son Matthew began falling to the ground unexpectedly and shaking violently. He began having a ~100 seizures a day. We saw doctors at 3 hospitals with no known cause or cure. We were told he would always “be like this” and there was nothing else they could do. We were discharged with 5 medications…no answers and no hope. His diagnosis was Doose Syndrome, a rare and difficult to treat form of epilepsy. My faith was being tested as we tried to navigate the fear, uncertainty and anger that accompanies the illness of a child but now serves as my testimony of miracles. That’s when I turned to God and asked for his help, direction and intervention. To make a long story short, God miraculously got us into a special program at Boston Children’s Hospital using the Ketogenic diet. Within 3 months, Matthew was no longer having seizures! This result was a wonderful surprise and not typical with modern medicine and his diagnosis. It’s been 9 years this past February since his last seizure. All I can say is: “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible!” Matthew 19:26
What are ways you have sought to live out your faith at work?
It wasn’t until recently that I began to share my faith at work openly. Previously, I would share my blog articles about my faith with a small group of close colleagues and that I was part of the Knights of Columbus, but it wasn’t until a year ago that I decided to share my journey more broadly at GE using my blog and the miracles God had performed in my life. Next, I began to comment on the beauty of outwards signs from others like crosses on necklaces, showing them the cross I wear also at the same time. This opened the door for a deeper connection and a faith conversation that wouldn’t have happened otherwise at work. Modeling my faith through my words, actions and writing at home and at work has helped me show others the same love, patience, forgiveness and hope God has for each of us.
Any other thoughts to share with the Faith Work Forum?
You are special and unique. You are enough, but must do your part each day. You have been blessed with your own “gifts” from God. Get up early each day and take time to pray, to listen, to reflect and to discern His plan for you. Turn to Him first. Strive to get closer to God each day. Build healthy relationships and never forget where your true value comes from…Him.