ABOUT ME

I hail from the great Bluegrass state of Kentucky, born 34 years ago, raised between my home state and Georgia. I'm a high school graduate currently attending classes to get my degree. I'm a husband, a brother, an uncle, a mentor, a leader, and a follower.. I am whatever I need to be. My path to the world of IT is anything but traditional, but still a familiar one to some. Despite no formal education in the field, I'm an enthusiastic and driven student of the IT field, sponging information about anything and everything I can.

I started my working life in the restaurant at the age of sixteen. My parents owned a sports bar and grill in Georgetown, KY and asked me to come be a cook for them, which I eagerly agreed to as it came with not only spending money, but an opportunity to get my license and a car! From there I found I had a knack for it, and even a... hunger, if you pardon the pun. I continued to grow as a cook and a person, progressing myself through a handful of jobs, always accruing more experience, more respect, and more responsibility. I grew from a normal line cook, to a morning prep cook/opener, to a shift leader, to a kitchen manager. I was sure this was what I wanted to do... kind of. I was good at it, sure, and it was incredibly fun. But something always kept tugging at me.. holding me back. Throughout this time I was the designated restaurant technical expert. If it dealt with 1s and 0s they called me to deal with it, whether actually fixing the problem or dealing with the support line. I spoke the language, I knew what was being talked about and what needed done.

I should also take this moment to talk about my computers background. Less computers - it's hard to play around with computers on a cook's wage - and more my history with the World Wide Web. I'd been involved with the web from a young age, originally getting into it with my friend in a very old game called Active Worlds. He and I used to hang out, chat, play games, but then we started building and creating things.. scripting bots and streaming music. I played with programs like LimeWire, BearShare, and Winamp. This was cool stuff. From there I moved into less exciting (to most people) things like message boards and multi-user dungeons (MUDs) - complete text-based games for super nerds like me! Then I fell into 'realism gaming' - essentially a gaming clan organized like a real military.. and things really started to take off. I began learning administration of systems, dealing with international people, and people management. It wasn't until I fell into another game and unit that I took a deep dive into my true love of IT: helping people with their computer issues, learning to administrate Windows servers, administrating management systems and forums. I also began to learn true development, plunging myself into the world of HTML and CSS just to fix things, and then later JS and PHP just to see what I could do.

Back in the real world I met the love of my life and moved to Michigan to be with her. I was still a cook at this time, and in central Michigan steady work was hard to find and for the entire year I was there I worked two cook jobs at the same time. We eventually returned to Kentucky and I took back my job as a kitchen manager, soon after being moved to another store and taking over as the general manager. But I was no longer satisfied. I wanted out of the restaurant into what I had found as my true passion. Every man needs an advocate, and my wife is no different as she finally pestered and asked around enough to find a place that would be willing to interview me, despite no professional experience. By this time I had been administrating websites and adjusting and playing with HTML/CSS and had something to show for it, as well as had created an Android application. I got my shot. I was in the world of IT as a Support Specialist, boots on the ground helping people with their computer issues and questions, administrating their computers, servers, emails, and anything they need.

Now I'm here to stay. I continue to play and learn every day with new things. I know how to speak to customers and technicians alike, to figure out what everyone needs and make it happen for them. I'm the first phone call for many people for even simple questions. Your customers are your lifeline. Without them we don't get to learn new and fun things like I do every day. I'm a support specialist and a web tinkerer

Since that first IT job I've continued to expand. I worked as a Junior Infrastructure Engineer for a local bank, maintaining different systems as well as the organization's Active Directory infrastructure. From there I joined the Lexington Legends and was deeply involved in working the changeovers for the rebrand (and back) from a visual and technical level, and have striven every day to make the organization not only look and function professionally, but to give every fan through the gate the best experience they can have. These can be seen any time you visit a game or watch our broadcast - it's all been done and redone to give everyone who sees it everything they could need or want as best we can do.