Humans of Helix: Chad Tulp

Meet Chad Tulp

Senior Training Specialist

Helix University Senior Training Specialist Chad Tulp didn’t initially set out to work in corporate education. After attending Baylor University and finishing his psychology degree, he felt called to join the military. “It was right after 9/11 and when I joined, I felt like my country needed me and I was at a time of my life when I felt like I needed my country,” Chad explained. Chad scored well on military entrance exams and was fortunate to choose from a wide variety of opportunities, ultimately deciding to pursue a special operations career in the United States Army.?

Chad was stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina for the entirety of his ten-year military career. During this time, he faced a grueling rotation of six-month deployments that took him away from his growing family. The urgent pace and mobilization cycles created a feeling of competing places and priorities. “I felt like I was making a difference for my country, but I never had the satisfaction of enjoying my job and my family at the same time,” Chad said. “It was always one or the other. When I was back home, I kept thinking about the difference I could be making in the field. At the same time, I loved spending time with my family. It was an emotional rollercoaster.”

While it wasn’t always easy, his military career provided opportunities that would serve him as he grew in his career. Chad had several opportunities to instruct fellow soldiers and lead training sessions, such as a presentation on the history of his unit. In fact, the feedback from a leader helped influence his career path. A Command Sergeant Major, who had been in the Army for 27 years, told Chad, “That’s the best training I’ve ever experienced in the military.” From there, Chad made the decision to pursue teaching and look for corporate training opportunities.

When Chad left the Army, he worked for several years in corporate customer training. Then he joined Q2 to help new employee onboarding. When the opportunity came for Chad to join Q2’s Banking as a Service business - Helix, he was grateful for the opportunity to return to customer and stakeholder training. In this new role, he was tasked with creating cohesive education modules for Helix stakeholders. Chad was instrumental in helping establish Helix University, a program that took existing training modules and weaved them into an enhanced educational process designed to ensure all stakeholders can fully utilize Helix’s features and capabilities.?

Whether it’s serving his country through military service or serving his community through volunteering, Chad is passionate about making a difference and giving back. One way he accomplishes this is by building stage sets for his local community theater and working out mechanical setups to enhance the magic and theater experience for the audience. He’s also passionate about veteran outreach and volunteering for Homes for Our Troops. This commitment to community was modeled by his father, and he strives to share that spirit of commitment with his three children. “My Dad has this ‘motor’ that keeps going and he always directs that energy toward something productive, and I think that’s a valuable trait that I would like to emulate,” Chad explained.