Grew up south of Seattle

I learned I had a passion for acting in grade school and I explored that passion at the University of Washington, Seattle. After starring in my first real college play, I started dabbling around with more public speaking and some interesting attempts in stand up comedy. This gave me the confidence that I could start to find success using my passions and energy, but I did get a Economics degree in case the future required more math (spoiler alert - it did).

Post college

My passion for technology and being the center of attention led me to do contract work as an evangelist for Apple products with my college, and training mobile phone professionals on how to sell the Windows Phone. While, I did not give up on acting, the one direct-to-YouTube Xbox commercial didn’t send the Hollywood agents scrambling to meet me. I was hungry for the next steps professionally, and fortunately Amazon recruited me for their new Kindle retail program, as the first employee to help evangelize their devices at retailers across the PNW.

Traveling

After finally working closely with a team on the inside, I received the opportunity to travel, mentor, train, and build new programs and processes. This really forced me to step out of my comfort zone, and especially when working on “secret” projects at Amazon and traveling the world (aka using my passport for the first time). During this time I met the most important mentors, leaders, and friends who shaped my career and led me to my ….

meredith

After moving around at Amazon and wearing all the hats, my new close friends introduced me to Meredith. We started out long distance, traveled around the US meeting each other in random cities, and then she made the jump to move to Seattle. Our life changed (along with everyone else) when our 1 bd 800 sqft apartment became 2 WFH offices, a Peloton gym, and everything in between. However, during 2020, we learned we can handle any difficult situation and excitedly took the next step in our lives together.

Next steps

After moving around more in Amazon and learning to be a expert husband, I have started focusing deeper on my passions, career, and life. I am still learning what that means, and what passions deserve time vs what are flavors of the week (maybe my golf swing will come naturally one day). As I continue to learn and explore, I will keep my north star the same - create contagious positive energy for those around me.