From Grocery Clerk to Technology Leader
Raised in a farm town of 601 where vocational agriculture was a graduation requirement, I learned the value of hard work early on. From stocking shelves in my father’s one-register grocery store and saving for college, I developed a resilience and resourcefulness that would shape my unconventional career path. What started as a passion for theater evolved into a self-taught journey through technology, culminating in leadership roles where I’ve helped SaaS and IaaS companies serve millions and made it my mission to lower barriers to entry in tech.
From Theater to Technology: A Self-Taught Journey
My college years were a blend of curiosity and grit.
I pursued a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theater—not because I had a clear career path in mind,
but because I wanted to explore something I loved while building the academic foundation
I lacked in other areas. Between summers, nights, and weekends, I worked tirelessly to supplement
the savings I’d built from my teenage years working in my father’s grocery store.
At 19, I landed my first paid acting gig,
an 11-week summer contract that gave me a taste of professional performance.
After college, I dove headfirst into acting, touring the US, performing in resident and stock theater, TV commercials, and minor film work.
I took a year to hone my craft at the National Theatre Conservatory after being chosen as 1 of 12 from over 600 applicants.
But life as an artist often requires side hustles, and one of mine — building PCs — sparked an
unexpected interest. I didn't know how to operate the PCs I assembled at first, but I was determined to learn.
Discovering Technology: The First Breakthrough
During a summer stock run, I had the time and curiosity to teach myself several business applications. Temp jobs as a clerk/typist followed, where I worked during the day while acting and waiting tables by night.One assignment with a government contractor became a pivotal moment: I automated a 90-hour-per-week process into a 4-hour task using recently delivered PCs that nobody in my office knew how to operate. It was my first taste of programming, and I was hooked. Temp jobs turned into freelance gigs, where I helped small businesses automate processes. This hands-on experience laid the foundation for my first professional services company, which grew to a team of 12. During this time, I married, started a family, and left acting behind, channeling my creativity into solving technological challenges.
Scaling Up: From Consulting to Corporate Leadership
As my skills grew, so did the opportunities. I transitioned from running my own consulting business to working IT contracts with larger firms, architecting and optimizing databases and applications across industries like FinTech, MedTech, Healthcare, and manufacturing. The explosion of internet-enabled applications and the rapid evolution of PC capabilities accelerated my learning curve.
A Mission to Make Technology Accessible
Over the years, I’ve held management and executive roles in startups and Fortune 50 companies, presenting technical content to user groups and mentoring others through volunteer positions. My background in theater gave me the confidence to communicate effectively, whether addressing a room of thousands or leading a small team.