I have had an interest in computers since I was a young lad growing up in Independence
Missouri. I never really pursued anything professionally until my AT&T
career began. My work history goes a little like this:
I worked all the way through high school at a restaurant in the Independence Shopping
Center. It was a fun little place named S&S Grill. I still remain
close to friends that I made at that job. After completing high school at
Blue Springs High School in 1993, I tried my hand at college. Let's say this
little experience was less than successful. I learned a lot about life, but
not a lot about the classes in which I was enrolled. This was probably the
period in my life where I experienced the most personal growth. I went to
CMSU to complete their aviation program, but found through "other endeavors" in
Warrensburg that communication was probably the way to go for me. I never
completed my Private Pilot license, but still maintain an interest in Aviation.
I moved back to Blue Springs after my less than successful foray into higher education.
I worked a multitude of jobs while completing my Associates Degree in Communication
at Blue River Community College. I worked at S&S Grill, (again), Ramada
Limited as a front desk employee, an overnight supervisor, and finally a Sales Manager.
After a few bad decisions, I started as a telemarketer for a siding and window company
in Kansas City. After mustering a few good decisions together, I went to work
at a print shop. There, I started in the press room feeding a Heidelberg 2
color press. I worked my way into scheduling, and finally customer service.
After deciding that I needed some stability in my life, and meeting my wife, I decided
to apply to a company that could provide me a career, not just a paycheck.
I got the job with AT&T and worked as a beloved customer service representative.
After six months, the powers that be decided that I could sit with other associates
and help them with customer service skills. A few months later I began training
new hires and conducting continuation training. In July of 2001, I married
my lovely bride, Heather. I continued at AT&T writing and conducting training
for them. Soon, they asked me to begin writing reference material for associates
to use while answering customer questions. I was now back into the technology
world, utilizing Microsoft web publishing tools to write reference material.
This was probably my favorite job with AT&T, but alas, it was not meant to last.
After several job cuts, I was moved to a junior product manager for a service called
CallVantage, a VoIP product. I wrote training and reference material for this
product until funding was cut and expansion of this product was negated. I
went back to the call center area when SBC acquired AT&T in 2006. I was
on a team that answered customer inquiries via email.
In December of 2006, I interviewed for my first management position with AT&T
as a Senior Training Manager. I got the job and began training AT&T employees
in Lee's Summit and across the country. I soon tired of being away from home
and my family and made a decision to try to open my own restaurant with one of my
old cohorts from the S&S Grill days. Unfortunately, this opportunity did
not pan out and it was time again to change direction. I attended Centriq
training to become a .NET developer and achieved my Microsoft Certification as a
MCTS. After a few months doing contract work, I came back to Centriq and applied
as an Instructor, and have been there since.
My interests include but are not limited to:
Aviation
Golf
NASCAR
Family
Friends
.NET Development