I’m the oldest of four boys, raised in a Christian home in Virginia. My parents homeschooled us, and the drive this gave me to learn new things and try them out has been a big help in my life. I’m naturally introverted, but I can present as extroverted: I love connecting with people, but quiet time to myself is how I recharge.
After college I took some time figuring out what being an adult looked like for me. In 2010 after some priceless education in communication (thanks to a Dish Network tech support job) and conflict resolution (thanks to my housemates at the time) I started my first engineering job up in Connecticut.
Straight away I met my wife Sara. We started dating and it was clear we were compatibly weird. Pretty soon we got married. We like board games, food trucks, black cats, mini golf, and scenic road trips.
One job led to another, and we moved around between Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. In 2017 I took a risk and started working remotely for a cryptocurrency company. Remote work was a big adjustment, but that unique role had lots of opportunities for travel and proved to be a good preparation for working remotely in smaller companies.
The societal metamorphosis of 2019-2021 came at a time when I was also exploring a values shift, from politics as a source-of-truth back to faith, and I started trying to learn to see the world mystically. This began a change in my orientation that is still playing out.
In my next few roles, I found that I have a taste for the laser focus and fast pace of startups. I like building exciting new things, talking to customers, owning whole sections of the product, juggling priorities, and balancing clean perfection against shipping quickly.
I don’t know what tomorrow holds, but I’m sure it’s going to be great.
Timeline
Senior Frontend Developer @ QI Path
QI Path is a startup offering a risk analysis platform. This platform helps decision makers in a variety of industries accurately assess risk, so they can make decisions with an awareness of hidden vulnerabilities and minimize quality and safety issues. This role also re-connects me with a college friend!
Founding software engineer @ Capabuild
Capabuild is a web and mobile platform for disaster recovery companies. This role was an unexpectedly great fit for some technologies I used in side projects: THREE.js and SVG. Here I worked with other experienced engineers building new things and continuously balancing speed and sustainability. Startup life is exciting! Priorities can change quickly, and in this role I could see every day how my work and execution could help our customers, and ultimately make the business a success. In this role I learned to accept and also pay down tech debt, and experienced the value of investing time into a good development environment.
Senior software engineer @ Prenda
This role was at the intersection of many interests, including learning, communication, and decentralized solutions. Here I learned to own, plan, and solve larger and less-well-defined tasks. Prenda has an excellent and intentional culture that fosters humility and recognizes others’ humanity.
Senior software engineer @ HubSpot
Back in the corporate world, using my experience to develop React projects in an agile environment. I began building my mentoring and team management abilities, as well as sharpening my JavaScript and React skills.
Software developer @ Dash Core Group
After some successful freelance work, I became a full time contractor, working remotely. I was fortunate to sometimes travel to interesting places to represent Dash or to meet up worldwide with other developers. My focus here was on web development, React Native app development, and JavaScript API testing and documentation.
Application engineer @ XPO Logistics
Microsoft environment, Agile methodology. This fully front-end focused role highlighted the value of investing in myself and building a skillset focused around my strengths and interests.
Outside of work, I began deeply researching cryptocurrencies and economics and using open source web development tools for personal projects.
Junior software engineer @ Oakleaf / Waste Management
This Microsoft based company was a good first step into corporate development. I was exposed to a variety of development roles, and began building a personal specialization in front-end development.
Also, shortly after moving for this job, I met my wife!
Exploring
This includes about a year of small-business home computer repair, as well as some valuable time improving my communication skills at a satellite TV tech support center.
Part time teacher / E-learning Technician
After a couple semesters as a part time math instructor at my old community college, I switched to a role supporting instructors with remote learning, software assistance, and classroom technology.
This is also when my love of board games really exploded. Local friends had an extensive game collection and we used to play until late at night.
RPI - Bachelor’s in Math & Computer Science
My first time living away from home. Aside from the education, I connected with a lot of people who have remained important in my life.
PVCC - Associate’s in science
Highlights include a public speaking class and an excellent Java programming class, my introduction to object-oriented programming. I have such fond memories of the teachers here and their dedicated enthusiasm.
First community college course
“Calculus with Analytic Geometry I”. I showed my teacher a Newton’s method root-finder program I made for my TI-83 calculator, and at the end of class she surprised me by having me demonstrate it to the class. When I asked why she hadn’t given me any warning, she asked, “Would that have made you less nervous?”
Homeschooled
Reading, field trips, spelling bees. Developing interest in math, art, and computers. As long as I stayed ahead of the baseline public school standards, I could explore whatever interested me. What a great beginning.
Big thanks to my parents for nurturing my appetite for learning. Thanks also to my brothers for teaching me patience and conflict resolution!