I was born in Texas, grew up in the swamps of Louisiana, but got back to Texas as fast as I could. I spent nearly a decade in Houston, eating plenty of BBQ and diving into WordPress. In April 2015, my wife and I (along with 2 dogs, 2 cats, and various reptiles) relocated to Scottsdale, Arizona to live in and renovate her grandparents’ former house.
Professional Journey
Way back, in an epoch long ago, I started my first real job at 18 as a phone support technician for a regional ISP. At a time when phones were still dumb and only real nerds had computers, I was thrown into the front lines of teaching the public how to access The Internet.
Since then, I’ve worn many hats, but the mission has always been the same: I’m a builder, a fixer, and a problem solver. I extract value where none previously existed and teach others along the way.
My career path has included:
- Volunteering at a small-town public library building free websites for small businesses when only Fortune-500 companies had an online presence
- Leading a team of technical support technicians covering over 25,000 dial-up and ISDN internet subscribers
- Building and supporting networked computer labs in a public school system
- Providing website troubleshooting and support for a medium-sized web hosting company
- Building infrastructure to grow a 2-person e-commerce business to a 12-person, $14.7MM operation in just 5 years
- Creating modern online presences and search marketing strategies for businesses across healthcare, e-commerce, energy, automotive, and more
- Building countless WordPress-based websites and developing plugins (both commissioned and for public use)
Most recently, from 2015 to 2025, I worked at Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com and WooCommerce.com, spending my first 5 years as a customer support engineer, helping users navigate the complexities of the web. The following 5 years, I shifted to backend development, building the systems that power millions of websites worldwide.
One skill I’ve honed throughout my career as a generalist is the ability to tackle unfamiliar problems by breaking them down into manageable components. This allows me to quickly become proficient in new areas and help clients overcome their pain points. I consider my greatest success to be empowering clients to become self-sufficient rather than dependent on my services.
Life Beyond Code
When I’m not building websites or helping businesses with their search marketing, I’m probably working on my house or car.
I also love cooking! Living in Texas for 15 years gave me a natural affinity for the grill and smoker, though I’m equally comfortable with traditional kitchen methods. While a perfectly medium-rare steak never disappoints, my favorite dishes come from my Southern and Cajun roots.
And yes, I had a beard before it became trendy. :)