Professionally

Who am I?

I am a web stack generalist, from backend APIs, middleware, frontend, to internal tools and scripting, as well as test, build, infrastructure, and deployment automation and tooling. As a generalist with a broad range of skills I am by no means a deep expert in one specific area.

I've mostly worked on small teams, ranging from one (myself) to ten. Those teams owned their software from end to end; meaning I owned the design, infrastructure, development, lifecycle, deployment, operations, observability, incident response, advocacy, and community. I've worn many hats, and several at once.

I am a problem solver who who believes in his ability to get the job done in a practical manner. I am able to work alone or with others and take ownership over projects to completion.

I enjoy working in a fast paced environment with a bias towards action. I believe in "being the change".

I trust by default, which means I assume my colleagues and customers have are doing they best they can, that they will make informed decisions, will ask for help if they need it, and that they want to make things better.

I believe in shipping to learn, owning the outcomes, having a growth mindset, going the extra mile, and practicing kindness. I believe context is key and that thorough documentation is extremely valuable.

Some of my favorite "isms"/principles/takes in computing are:

• Perfect is the enemy of good
• Worse is better
• 80/20 rule
• DRY
• Egoless-ness
• Release early, release often

Who am I not?

I'm not a rockstar, unicorn, or any sort of ninja. I rely on documentation, research, and reference materials to guide me. I believe strongly in the keynote Jacob Kaplan-Moss gave at PyCon 2015 on the myth of the rockstar, ninja, 10x programmer. I could never sit down and build a system from scratch without the help of documentation, google, and help from my peers.

What do I value?

I value transparency and communication within all levels of an organization. I believe in trusting and helping each other as a team. I want to learn and grow as an engineer and person. I need to see the impact I am having. Knowing the team's north star is important.

What do I want?

I want to be a part of a team that is empowered to make their own decisions and move fast. I desire leadership that provides clear direction. Room to fail and course correct is important.

What don't I want?

I've tried people management, and I've been in product management several times, both while also being an IC (writing software). These are not my desired roles or responsibilities. I can do them, and believe in my ability to do anything, but my heart isn't in these areas. But, I like and can mentor others.

What don't I like?

I do not enjoy red tape, obtuse and opaque process, or office politics and gossip. I don't like negativity from my team mates. Teach and uplift one another, do not bring each other down. Constructive criticism is always welcomed.

What am I looking for?

I am looking for a flexible role that is results oriented with a wide variety of problems to solve. I desire having the ability to work remote flexible hours. I'd like to work with a small(er) team where I can have an impact on many individuals (e.g. Engineering Effectiveness).

Personal

I am a tinkerer. In my personal life I like to hack on problems, whether they are physical, from mechanical issues on cars, to stuffing an engine from a 2000-era vehicle into one from the 1980s, to metal fabrication, to digital/tech problems as well.

I grew up in Locust Grove, Georgia, roughly 40 miles from Atlanta. I am an only child. I spent much of his childhood playing outside with my cousins and friends, fishing, spending time outdoors, farming, and flying with my dad, travelling with my mom, and being a general mess.

Later on I discovered computers, video games, and cars which would consume most of my teens and twenties.

These days I try to spend my free time by:

• Cooking and grilling
• Hiking and urban walks
• Traveling and experiencing new food and cultures
• Weight training
• Visiting my friends and family back east (Hi Mom! Love you Pop-Pop!)
• Trying new beers (3000+ unique to date!)
• Watching football (soccer) mostly MLS; cheering for the Sounders and ATLUD, and the USMNT
• Word games: Crosswords before bed with my wife, NYT Spelling Bee, and Wordle (and Quordle) with friends
• Giving love to Einstein (sorry Uncle Joel) - and hugging any random animals that that I can.

Some infrequent and previous pastimes/interests/hobbies include: cycling, pickling/fermenting, barbequing/smoking, brewing beer (w/ friends), sailing (with Joel), shooting trap/skeet (or melons), endurance racing (Le Mans; I've been to the 12 Hours of Sebring eight times and hope to go to the 24 heures du mans someday), sitting around a good fire, fishing, photography (flowers, landscapes, animals, motorsports), chili cook offs, and video games.

I used to be an active car enthusiast. I am hands off these days, as I didn't own a vehicle from early 2018 to late 2022. It started with go-karts and four wheelers in my teens, and eventually moved into cars. I've torn down and rebuilt engines, replaced transmissions, performed engine swaps, "made a convertible", and just about everything in-between. As a result I got into metal fabrication and have modified subframes, made custom engine mounts, welded custom exhaust, created gifts/art, and made various one-off pieces for my projects.

However, I recently came to own a 1997 Toyota Land Cruiser that we used for a 15,000 mile roadtrip that my wife and I took. I'm now interested in 4x4 vehicles and off-roading. I'm a novice at this point, but as an enthusiast of all things automotive I am eager to learn more. I've done a fair bit of off-roading thus far, but nothing very technical or challenging to date.

I was introduced to computers around 1994. I built and ran several websites from 1998 to 2004 that were popular among my peers at school. I started learning software development around 2000 (C++, Java, & Python), and I have been writing software ever since.