Meet Chris Watts

Hero, boy wonder, local celebrity, and the comeback kid are all terms that have been used to describe Chris. But to us here at Drake Cooper, he is known simply as Hero, boy wonder, local celebrity, and the comeback kid. Chris is the king of random and the chief priest of I can do that. We think he is amazing, and you should too.

Q: Chris, you just back from Mexico. How would you be killed off on a telenovela (Spanish soap opera)? And more importantly, how would you come back?

A: I like to think that my telenovela character’s main goal is to go into space. But right before it happens my stepbrother, who’s actually my father, who’s actually my mother’s sister’s twin stabs me in the chest. I fall into the space capsule. It launches. I end up in space. Nobody knows I am dead. The capsule comes back to Earth because of the autopilot. My sister-aunt-mother-father-brother in-law is sure that they’re going to find the body. But when he/she opens the door, I am nowhere to be found.

Q: Describe the color yellow to someone who is blind.

A: You know that warm and tingly feeling at 10:30 in the morning in early June. Not too brisk, not too hot. Just right in that mid-morning zone. That’s yellow.

Q: Many centuries from now what would you want the tall tale of Chris to be?

A: I want to be more like John Henry, the man who beat the unbeatable machine. I want to do a feat that’s so grand and selfless that people can’t believe that it ever happened. Tall tales, just like most stories passed down through generations, are really about inspiring people just to be better.  Live better. Work better. Love better. John Henry got a bad beat with the whole “heart exploding” thing, but if I’d have to die to make the tale inspiring and worth telling, I could accept that.

Q: Why do you love what you do?

A: It’s fun to be able to put on a show. Be creative and put yourself out there. Before this job, I’d say to myself, “I wish there were a job called creative-brainstorm-idea guy. Just come up with ideas or have other people share their amazing ideas with me and be able to help make those ideas iron-clad, executable, and ultimately go all Doc Frankenstein and bring them to life.”  About a year after working here I was called into the office, and they said, “Chris, how would you feel about being a creative-brainstorm-idea guy?”  To which I said, “That sounds pretty good!” I also just love to learn, so having the opportunities to learn new and unexpected stuff every day is tremendous for me.

Q: What is one lesson you have learned by working at Drake Cooper?

A: No man’s an island. I have never been in a scenario here at DC where I felt like I couldn’t ask for help. Someone is always willing to help you get better and get stuff done.  That’s not true for a lot of places.

Q: You write fiction in your free time. Who would you pick out of this group to be the villain?

A: You both would be the villains, but you wouldn’t seem like a villain St. John. Tyler, you would be the one hunting me for sure. But you, St. John would be the false cheese at the end of the maze.

Q: What keeps you motivated?

A: I just don’t stop. My engine’s always running. I just want to keep making cool stuff and always continue to learn. Even on my most boring, tedious day there’s always something to learn, a goal to accomplish or a puzzle to solve.

Q: Your most random talent?

A: I can juggle with one hand, so that’s a thing. I’m also randomly good at math.

Q: Advice to anyone who wants to get into fantasy football?

A: My quote of the month is, “I am a great believer in luck. I find that the harder I work, the more I have of it.” – Thomas Jefferson. Check the stats, put a little time into it and trust your gut.

Q: On a scale of 1 to 10, how intolerable do you find baby pictures on Facebook?

A: How ugly is the baby? I’m kidding.  Um… 5. Facebook is the highlight reel for our lives. So when people have a big life event, they want to post about it. I think that’s beautiful and amazing, and I really appreciate that we have the ability to even do that. I mean, if you went back in time and handed George Washington a smartphone with Facebook running, his mind would probably liquify. That said, it’s the quantity that can get out of hand for some people. Like they unleash a baby photo flood on us.

Q: What were you like in high school?

A: I got lucky. My high school was fairly clique-free, which allowed me to get to know a lot of different people. I am sort of a social butterfly.  I guess I was one of the cool kids, for whatever that’s worth now.

Q: You’ve had a chance to interview a lot of people lately. What have you learned?

A: In the beginning I was so nervous to interview people. I was scared that it would all go horribly wrong, so I’d drive myself to the brink of insanity prepping for the interview. I’ve learned to prepare a lot less. Not only because the information that gets drawn out is a lot more authentic and organic, but also because I want to be surprised by what they’re saying. I want to be able to follow those conversational rabbit holes and not be shackled by the ten questions I have to get through.