About Me

Where my curiosity started

As a kid, I frequently took electronics and other devices apart. I wanted to know what was inside, how the pieces connected, why the device worked, and how one component could affect another.

From the outside, that could look destructive or like a kid getting into trouble. For me, it was curiosity without much direction yet. Sometimes a child taking things apart may be looking for a productive place to put that curiosity. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, or STEM, can be one of those places. It gave me language for questions I was already asking.

From hardware to software

Taking devices apart led to more questions about components, electronics, circuitry, microchips, and complete systems. Eventually I started wondering, what is telling all of this hardware what to do?

That question became a bridge. Physical systems made me curious about software systems, and the same desire to understand how the pieces worked together followed me into each new kind of problem.

Military troubleshooting

I served in the United States Navy from August 2012 through February 2016. My technical experience included component-level electronics troubleshooting, hands-on problem solving, understanding how systems connect, and working through faults methodically.

I later served in the United States Air Force Reserve from July 2017 through May 2025. Military service is one part of my story, not the whole story, but it strengthened the habit of staying with a problem and working through it carefully.

Keeping the hands-on connection at Boeing

I later worked as a Boeing technician. That continued the physical, hands-on side of my technical life. The important connection for me was not a particular title or program. It was learning that a complicated system becomes more approachable when I slow down, follow what is connected, and keep narrowing the problem.

Learning software one stuck point at a time

My move into software did not happen overnight. It took countless hours, hard work, dedication, practice, getting stuck, asking questions, and continuing anyway.

I kept learning until something that once felt unfamiliar became another kind of system I could understand and work with. Instead of tracing only components and signals, I learned to trace code, data, dependencies, services, user actions, and failures.

Growing into software engineering at Microsoft

At Microsoft, my experience has included software engineering, cybersecurity, full stack engineering, distributed and cloud systems, automation, AI, and augmented AI engineering.

The personal change mattered more than a list of technologies. I moved from troubleshooting physical systems to designing, building, and troubleshooting software systems. I still approach both kinds of work with curiosity, patience, and a willingness to learn what the problem requires.

Real estate became another system to learn

Real estate entered my life because I wanted to own property. That simple goal led me into another complicated system that I wanted to understand well enough to use in real life.

I bought property, used a VA loan once, house hacked, managed rentals, worked with short-term rentals and Airbnb, learned about real estate investing, and eventually became a licensed real estate professional in Washington. Real estate also gave me more experience with entrepreneurship, operations, people, and decisions where the numbers and everyday life both matter.

My Airbnb and short-term rental operations are independent from KW West Sound and are not services provided through my Washington real estate license.

Why I teach and mentor

I learned many things through trial and error, research, persistence, mistakes, questions, and figuring things out the hard way. I do not know everything, but I am willing to share what I have learned.

Helping someone avoid learning every lesson in the hardest possible way is meaningful to me. That is why veteran mentorship, technology guidance, real estate education, community work, and teaching all feel connected rather than separate.