IT and Computers

One of my strongest passions in life is computers. It started back in my middle school days when I got my first Commodore 64 computer. I remember working all weekend to create my first game. A skiing game where you controlled an 'H' and you had to navigate around flags designated as a '<' or '>'. It was so rudimentary and basic but at the end of the day it was something that I had created. I loved it!

This moved me into a career where I started providing basic customer support for end users on PCs and later McAfee software. I found I was good at performing this role, better than some other because I tried to help the customer through education. I have found that there are so many in the business that looks down on the end user for not knowing as much as us professionals. I prefer to try and share my passion by educating the end user. The more people learn to embrace and love technology the more jobs there are for all of us in the end.

No matter if I am helping an end user or trying to write a small application to solve a problem or free up time I have always had a passion for everything IT related.

Leadership

I make a very large distinction between management and leadership. We have all worked for a difficult boss from time to time. Over my professional career I have found the difficult to work with bosses has been the former and not the latter. When I am put in charge of a team I do not dictate. I find that you can get more out of a team by using education and mentorship. This has worked for me well over the years from people as young as 18 to 68 that I have lead. At the end of the day we are all adults and should be treated as such.

For me the needs of the team out weigh the needs of the individual but by providing guidance to the individual the team typically soars. No matter my role whether it be a junior position or a senior management role I try to provide detailed instructions and documentation on any issue or skill set I create or discover.

In short I believe in education, respect, and mentorship above all else.

My Personal Life

Video games - biking - bass guitar

I would consider myself an avid gamer and love collecting games that are unique in some fashion. I can drop several hours into the latest first person shooter as well as a simulator like Farming Simulator or American Trucking Simulator. Playing games to me allow me to get in touch with the creator of that game. I love indie games as well because most of them you can feel the love and passion that goes into making them. One day once I get my programming skills up to par I plan on making a few myself. If I never make a cent but one person says, "Hey nice game!" I will consider it time well spent.

My get away from all things tech related is biking. No matter if it is on my Giant Sedona mountain bike or my 2002 Yamaha VStar motorcycle we call "Helga" I love hopping on and hitting the road. I have gone in a few bike rallies with the former and a couple of years even did a 32 mile rally. Took me forever but I didn't quit!

I also recently have picked up playing the bass guitar. I used to play drums however I have found a bass guitar and decent sized amp takes up a lot less room and I can play it at midnight if I want using headphones. I currently use a 2004 Fender Squire P-Bass 4 string along with a Fender 100w Rumble amp.