A 30-Year Journey Built on Teamwork and Servant Leadership

Three Contractors, One Practical Idea

When Brett Murrell looks back on 30 years of SmartSafety Software, he doesn’t describe a grand business plan or a carefully mapped path to success. Instead, he remembers three independent contractors who recognized an opportunity to help one another.

The story began in 1995, with the company officially getting started in 1996. Brett, Jim Obenchain, and Steve Carlson were each managing their own contract work. Brett was developing international business management software for a health supplements company, while Jim and Steve were working on projects for the Idaho Transportation Department.

Contract work came with a familiar challenge: workloads could swing from one extreme to the other. One project might demand more hands than a contractor could provide, while the next period could be much quieter.

By joining forces, the three could share their expertise and help one another when workloads shifted. It was a practical solution to an everyday problem, and it laid the groundwork for what SmartSafety would become.

There was another difference among the original group, too. Brett was an English major working alongside colleagues with backgrounds in math and science.

Looking back, he sees a little irony in how things turned out. With the rise of artificial intelligence, he jokes that English has become “the universal programming language.”

It’s a fitting observation from someone whose career has been shaped by the ability to understand problems, communicate clearly, and find workable solutions.

Finding Opportunities by Doing the Work

In the early years, the company was small, and each founder had a primary customer. Brett worked on Idaho’s vehicle accident system and trained police officers throughout the state. Jim’s work with diagramming helped establish a foundation for products that would continue to evolve over time.

The team didn’t begin with an extensive network of government contacts or a deep background in business development. Instead, opportunities often came through word of mouth, as organizations heard about the work they had done and reached out with challenges of their own.

Brett remembers the team’s informal approach to these opportunities with a memorable phrase: “We wait for the big boys to fail.”

The idea wasn’t simply to compete with larger organizations. It was to step in when a project needed a different approach.

In one example, a federal project related to bombing prevention had consumed most of its budget without delivering the needed results. The team was asked whether it could produce something useful with the remaining 10% of the budget and a four-month deadline.

They accepted the challenge and delivered by relying on practical methods.

That experience helped open doors to additional federal work. Other projects followed a similar pattern: solve a problem, build trust, and let the results speak for themselves.

For Brett, the growth that followed still feels remarkable. The team had started with modest resources and limited business experience, yet its work eventually reached major organizations that might once have seemed far beyond its reach.

As he reflects on that journey, his response is characteristically humble: “Thank you, Jesus.”

The People Behind the Progress

Technical ability matters in software development, but Brett believes the people behind the work matter just as much.

When the company began bringing additional people onto the team, the founders looked for more than technical expertise. They valued people who were willing to help, follow through, and make life easier for those around them.

Brett recalls Mike Wernsing baking bagels before joining the company. What stood out was not simply the gesture itself, but the character behind it: someone who cared about others and took the initiative to get things done.

That same principle became part of the company's working culture. Knowledge was meant to be shared, not guarded. When someone needed help, colleagues stepped in. When a team member learned something new, that knowledge could benefit everyone.

Brett still approaches his own work with that philosophy in mind. Helping another person understand a problem or take on a task is not separate from getting work done. It expands what the team can accomplish together.

“I still consider that more important than the work I actually do,” he explains, “because I'm expanding the work I actually do through helping the people be able to handle their stuff.”

For Brett, there is a name for that approach: servant leadership.

“Servant leadership is an absolute thing. That is the bottom line.”

It is also one of the things he is proudest to see continuing after three corporate purchases. The company has changed hands and evolved, but the willingness to share knowledge, help colleagues, and put people first has endured.

“That method works,” he says.

Collaboration Doesn't Need to Be Complicated

Today, Brett works closely with fellow SmartSafety employees Rick and Nick. The team may be small, but collaboration is part of the everyday routine.

Rather than relying on a long list of formal meetings, they stay connected, share screens, work through problems together, and learn as they go. Brett and Nick might spend hours pair-programming while figuring out something new, making sure both understand the work and can build on what the other has learned.

Brett appreciates how much can happen through that kind of informal collaboration. Serious work gets done because people are available to one another, comfortable asking questions, and willing to explore solutions together.

He also remembers the camaraderie of working in an office, including the ping-pong games that gave colleagues a chance to step away from their screens and connect.

“They keep the stress down,” Brett says. “I mean, there are so many advantages to that enjoyable camaraderie that you get in an office setting.”

For him, those moments were never just a distraction from work. They were part of what made a team feel like a team.

A Life in Idaho, With a Few Unexpected Connections

Outside work, Brett is a native Idahoan who grew up in the country and still considers the state a favorite place to spend his time. He enjoys the outdoors and the many things there are to see and do close to home.

He also enjoys playing and designing board games, a hobby that turned out to have an unexpected connection to the company's history.

Through board gaming, Brett and his colleagues got to know Josh Evarts, who eventually joined the company to help with its business side. A personal interest had created a professional connection that proved valuable years later.

Brett describes it as a “completely sideways thing” that appeared along the way and turned out to be a good thing.

That story reflects a pattern he has seen throughout his career: not every important opportunity arrives through a formal plan. Sometimes, relationships grow naturally, a new connection leads somewhere unexpected, or a small decision opens the door to something much bigger.

Family is another important part of Brett's life. He enjoys spending time with his wife, Sherry, and their growing family, including six grandchildren and another on the way.

Looking Ahead After 30 Years

For someone who helped start the company, reaching its 30th anniversary is a moment to pause and consider just how far things have come.

Brett is excited by the work still ahead, including the team's continued development of tools for crime investigation and the evolution of products that help professionals document and understand scenes. The company's ability to adapt, learn, and explore new areas remains an important part of its future.

But when he reflects on the larger story, he returns to the people, the relationships, and the unexpected turns that brought the company here.

“Thirty years building, you know, starting something with such modest intent,” he says, “and seeing it grow into what it has become.”

Brett doesn't present the company's history as the result of one person's vision or a perfect business strategy. He sees a journey shaped by practical work, people who were willing to help one another, and opportunities that often arrived when they were least expected.

“It's incredible to me how we got where we are,” he says.

Thirty years later, that sense of gratitude remains central to Brett's story. A thnde belief that has guided him from the beginning still shapes the way he works: solve the problem in front of you, share what you know, and help the people around you succeed.

Because the human touch behind SmartSafety Software isn't just part of its history. It's part of what carries the company forward.