I’ve never been a fan of linear career paths. To me, a straight line usually means you’ve missed the opportunity to stress-test your logic against the real world.
My journey to becoming an Operations & Engineering Leader has taken me from the historic textile mills of Lowell to the high-flux tech scene of 1980s California, through the high-velocity operations of sub and pizza shops, and into the rigorous data-modeling world of commercial real estate appraisal.
Today, I lead global remote engineering teams while scaling Mema’s Inclination—a conservation farm, 501(c)(3) rescue, and dedicated family homestead in Burke, NY. I am a proud “late-bloomer” in tech who arrived exactly when I was supposed to: at the age of 42, with a lifetime of operational resilience under my belt.
My Core Philosophy: The Threshold Protocol
Every morning, my Sheltie, Rue, stands on our back porch and surveys the yard for a full three minutes before committing a single paw to the grass. She isn’t hesitating; she’s assessing. She checks the wind, accounts for the barn cat, and gauges if the terrain has shifted since she last looked.
I approach leadership and systems architecture with that exact same Threshold Protocol. Whether I am navigating a breaking change in a flagship product codebase or managing the critical biosecurity of a rare-breed livestock delivery, I look for the why and the how before I react to the what.
Having moved over 30 times before the age of 30, I became a professional observer by necessity. I learned how to cleanly “onboard” into entirely foreign cultures and unfamiliar institutional frameworks by testing the wind before stepping off the porch.
The Evolution of My Logic
1. High-Velocity Logistics
At 16, I began working in my father’s sub and pizza shops. This was my “Hello World” of Management. In a Friday night dinner rush, you learn very quickly that there is no Ctrl+Z on a burnt pizza. This was high-frequency production management in its purest form: real-time triage, immediate resource allocation, and peak-load balancing under pressure. It’s where I first learned that a system is only as good as its sustainable throughput.
2. Fiscal & Structural Integrity
To reclaim intentional time for my daughters, I pivoted my analytical background into Commercial Real Estate Appraisal. I spent a decade auditing the literal “bones” of physical systems—income streams, capitalization rates, and structural integrity in complex commercial properties. This era taught me the value of Integrity-Based Analysis: don’t just tell me a system is working; show me the cold, audited data that proves its long-term viability.
3. Scaling Global Teams
When I made my “Great Pivot” back to technology at 42, I didn’t just bring syntax; I brought process. At StellarWP and Modern Tribe, I advanced from a contributor to a Manager of Development by focusing heavily on the Human API. I specialized in taking fragmented, multi-tenant remote development teams and turning them into cohesive, high-output squads. I learned that scaling a digital platform is 20% syntax and 80% organizational architecture.
I view Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion through this exact engineering lens. It is not a corporate checklist; it is the vital optimization of the Human API. I deliberately build teams where diverse operational perspectives serve as the ultimate fail-safe against institutional groupthink.
4. Supply Chain & Stewardship
The heart of my journey is my wife, Ivy. Together, we have spent decades building a life centered entirely around the concept of reciprocity. When life pivoted our family toward the North Country, we didn’t just “start a farm”—we engineered a resilient, self-sustaining ecosystem.
- The Slow-Growth Model: Raising American Yak and critically endangered Meishan pigs takes years of patient, defensive planning, not months. I apply this exact same philosophy to software engineering: sustainability over shortcuts.
- Governance & Compliance: We operate a specialized 501(c)(3) Alpaca Rescue, the only one of its kind in the Northeast. Navigating non-profit regulatory frameworks requires the same rigorous compliance, auditing, and resource optimization as any high-scale tech firm.
Tactical Leadership & Systems Thinking
- Complex System Facilitation: As a lifelong tabletop Game Master (DM) and strategic world-builder, I excel at managing multi-stakeholder environments where operational variables change in real-time. I specialize in aligning completely different personalities toward a singular, shared objective.
- Operational Grit: From cross-country motorcycle journeys to navigating the brutal realities of North Country winter logistics, I bring a persistent “tinkerer’s mindset” to organizational health—accurately diagnosing points of systemic friction and engineering durable solutions.
- Inclusive Stewardship: A champion for high-trust environments. I believe organizational resilience is built on psychological safety and the belief that every “operating system”—neurodivergent or otherwise—has a place at the table.
The Vision: Systems for the Long Haul
I am moving away from the keyboard and toward the broader mission. I am looking to leverage my decade of remote people leadership, structural technical depth, and deep operational grit to help a product-driven organization build more resilient, inclusive, and scalable systems.
I don’t just manage tickets. I manage the mission.
View and Download My Professional Resume
I am currently documenting my recent transition out of the enterprise software ecosystem through a 3-part essay series on career design, engineering archaeology, and human-first leadership. Read the series below: