I've spent 20+ years in IT and cybersecurity. I've designed enterprise networks, led compliance initiatives, and operated production infrastructure for teams that couldn't afford downtime. But what actually drives me is building things that solve real problems — not just maintaining what exists.
That mindset pushed me beyond pure infrastructure work. When the organization I was at needed an ITSM platform and commercial options were quoted at $30K–$152K per year, I built one from scratch. When I had a product idea — a recipe app that actually handles the execution complexity of cooking for a crowd — I designed the data model, wrote the scheduler algorithm, built the full stack, and shipped it to production as a live SaaS.
I approach every project the same way: "What's the right way to build this?" — and security is always part of that answer. It's not a checkbox at the end of the process. It shapes the architecture from the first design decision.
The Founder Side
In 2020 I co-founded Mad Monkey Creative LLC with Rick Kelly — a Chicago-area creative tech umbrella company. We now have 7 live brands across apparel, software, music, and education. I handle everything technical: server infrastructure, deployment pipelines, domain management, and the software products (including Time To Plate) that live under the LLC umbrella.
Running a multi-brand company on self-hosted infrastructure forces a kind of discipline you don't get when someone else manages your cloud bills. Every outage is yours to fix. Every cost is real. Every decision has to be the right one.
On AI
I build AI-integrated systems — but I'm not an AI author. I use AI as a tool in my development workflow and as an integrated component in the products I build (like the autonomous remediation agent in my ITSM platform, or the optional AI assistance in Time To Plate). The judgment calls, architecture decisions, and product direction are mine. I'm not interested in using AI to make something that looks technical — I'm interested in using it to make systems that work better.
What I'm Looking For
I'm open to senior engineering roles, fractional CTO engagements, and infrastructure consulting. The right opportunity looks like this: hard technical problems, a team that values doing things right, and the kind of ownership that lets me build — not just maintain.