What’s your work-life philosophy?
I think work life philosophy has shifted a bit for everyone with the pandemic. We have quickly acknowledged that there is no dress rehearsal for life – we must enjoy every minute of what we have, when we have it! You must have time to care for yourself, your family and loved ones, as well as friends. If you are not able to do that because of work, what is the point to working? That’s why I am grateful for the opportunity to work for an organization that recognizes the importance of that reality and fosters an environment that allows the freedom and flexibility to take care of what is important, when it is important.
What do you like best about working at UDT?
Our flexibility and eagerness to learn how to better position ourselves with current industry trends and requirements. Our ability to execute rapid change, adaptation, and acceleration of technologies at UDT far exceeds that of most other organizations.
What does a typical day as a Principal Solutions Architect look like?
It would be easy to assume that leading the customer technical strategy with our sales team may be a predictable day, however, it rarely is. A typical day as a Solutions Architect can involve reviewing customer technology solutions, developing new solutions or strategies for a customer, leading vendor meetings, or spending the day with a nose in the books to keep current with always evolving industry standards and new technologies. No two days are the same!
What technology solutions do you use in your role?
As a solutions architect, I touch virtually all technology solutions as a part of our customer engagement process. However, my day-to-day grind relies heavily on collaboration technologies such as Microsoft Teams and WebEx Teams
What is the best professional advice you would give?
Don’t be afraid to change and mix it up because failure is ok if a lesson is learned.
People would be surprised if they knew you…
I have two – use which every one is more surprising 😊
- I can play over 11 different musical instruments proficiently and am currently practicing adding the piano as the 12th.
- I grew up on a farm in a small town in Ky with a population of less than 2,000 people and didn’t consider technology as career until my 3rd year of college. I was pre-med until I switched to Computer Science because I found technology fascinating.
What do you enjoy doing in your time off?
I have an (almost) 4-year-old son and an amazing wife that I enjoy spending my downtime with. On most weekends you can find us on an adventure close to home and on vacation we like to explore areas that offer unique experiences such as new beaches, waterfalls, or the mountains. Living in Nashville, we are less than an 8-hour drive from everywhere (Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Louisville, Atlanta, Memphis, most of the panhandle of Florida, New Orleans, and Charleston – all less than 8 hours away), so we are constantly looking for the next exciting discovery.
