About

It’s hard to write about yourself without sounding like a psycopath. Let’s start with the basics. I was born four decades ago in Texas and moved around a lot in my youth. I joined the military after failing out of college and served overseas in a combat zone or two. After living outside of the US for a decade I randomly decided to move to Austin, TX where I’ve lived for over a decade. I have one wife, one daughter, and three cats (two of which are extremely fat).

Professionally I’m a systems engineer with a focus on cloud and automation. I build my first computer (as a job) in 1996 in the back of a Radio Shack and have been smitten with them ever since. I’ve supported and built systems from hardened server racks in military vehicles to global infrastructure in the cloud. Job titles are mostly fiction, used to drive up salaries, so I try to avoid anything too trendy. My depth is in automating processes and building systems that scale, mostly on AWS but I have dabbled in other clouds.

In my professionally-adjacent life I’m also an organizer for two conferences: DevOpsDays Austin and ServerlessDays Austin. The DevOps community in Austin was critical to the career growth that I’ve had and I enjoy giving back to those that are just starting their journey. COVID-19 has put a pause on this part of my life but I plan on getting back into it virtually with my own conference.

Outiside of that, I enjoy being outdoors. Working in the back yard is something I’ve done as a child and kept up with all these years. I also dabble in woodworking and like to tinker around the house. I used to be an avid gamer but those days are mostly passed. I do enjoy reading and have been working on getting back into the habit. Finally, I am an aspiring beer connoisseur and always make time to visit breweries when I’m travelling.

I currently work for Liatrio as a Technical Principal. I help enterprises implement DevOps fundamentals and make the art of creating software more delightful. It’s challenging but deeply rewarding work.