
Forge Member Spotlight: Derrick Magnotta
Meet Forge Member, Derrick Magnotta!
Derrick is the COO of Quality Counts, Inc. – an employment screening company – they do background checks, drug testing, and medical exams for employers around the country. We love having Derrick as part of the Forge community!
What is your favorite part about your job?
“Problem solving, hands down. Every customer brings a unique set of challenges, and I love digging into those—figuring out their processes, pain points, and goals. Then I get to match that with our capabilities and experience to craft something tailored and effective. It’s like building a custom solution every time—and that never gets old.”
What made you decide to join Forge?
“I had been working from home a few days a week, but wanted to manage better work/life balance. When my office was at home, I could always work. Going to a clean, neutral third space helped improve my focus at work and improve my enjoyment of life at home.”
What is your favorite thing about Forge?
“It is bright, clean, and there’s always freshly brewed Domestique coffee. What else can you ask for?”
What is your favorite spot/place to work at Forge?
“I like to sit overlooking the window onto the street. It’s amazing how many people don’t know how to drive in a city.”
What are your favorite tech tools to get your job done or keep your life organized?
“The best tech tool for me is one that reinforces my daily rituals and keeps me focused. I use a personal Google Site as my home base—it’s where I link all my core systems, applications, and dashboards. Each day starts with a review of our performance dashboard from the previous business day—order volumes, error rates, fulfillment rates—so I can immediately get a pulse on operations. Having everything centralized in one place makes my workflow feel streamlined and intentional. It’s the first page I open every morning and the top item on my bookmarks bar. Other applications include our proprietary systems, Google Sheets for analytics and dashboards, ChatGPT (including a custom trained bot on my company’s SOPs), and Any.do for task tracking and scheduling.”
Is there a product you cannot live without?
“Endel! It generates sound based on mood to help me focus, gain energy, or decompress after the day.”
What is the last show you binge-watched?
“Veep (for at least the fourth or fifth time)”
What is your ideal weekend in Birmingham?