The 2019 Rising Stars of the Profession: Kevin Byrnes

Age: 30

Kevin Byrnes, a Managing Director with AARete has had quite a bit of personal success thus far in his career, but he says he's most proud of the accomplishments AArete has had as a firm. Byrnes says AArete continues to retain and hire great people, identify and implement creative solutions with clients, and grow the business.

"The challenges are new each year, and we continue to exceed the expectation as a team, Byrnes says.  "It's a lot of fun working together to accomplish big goals."

And both Byrnes and AArete have achieved some pretty big goals. How? Byrnes says the biggest factor to his success has been the mentors and coaches who were honest in their feedback and helped him grow every day.

"We have a culture at AArete of caring more about your co-workers goals than your own," he says. "That had a big impact in my success, and I continue to pass down the same to future Managing Directors of AArete."

When it comes to the work both he and AArete are doing for clients, Byrnes says he's most excited about what lies ahead with data and digital transformation in all industries. For example, in the Healthcare Industry, he says, "we built a Data Engine which analyzes claims data to identify drug interactions negatively impacting a member's health. It's exciting to see the power of data translating to high-impact results."

Ask him about the best advice he's ever heard and he'll quote his own father quoting one of the founding fathers, Ben Franklin. "Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise."

As far as being named one of the Rising Stars of the Profession, Byrnes says "it's humbling and an honor to represent AArete."