Specialties
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Tech of All Trades is my personal business. I began this as a way to make myself some money while I went to school. I figured, hey, I know an awful lot about fixing stuff, why not get out there and make some money at it? But the story doesn't really start there...
In 1993, I had just graduated high school, and moved to Kalamazoo to attend KVCC. It didn't last long. After a year or so of Automotive Technologies classes, which were great, I found a full-time job installing car stereos in 1994 at Classic Stereo and Video in Portage. As an installer, I learned a lot, and very quickly. By the time my fourth year rolled around, I found myself the manager in charge of the installation department. It was a big step, to be sure. And with it came all of the responsibility for the highest-end custom jobs that came through. In 1999, a Jeep Grand Cherokee I built took fourth place at the IASCA world finals in its class, which inspired me to compete myself. I took on a huge challenge, using a Mazda Miata to compete. I learned a great deal along the way and apply those lessons in my car audio work. In 2001, an opportunity arose for me to move to Phoenix, Arizona, a hotbed for the car audio industry. I pulled up my Kalamazoo roots and headed out, working full time at Soundwërks. There, I learned just how passionate car audio enthusiasts can be. I did jobs ranging from simple antenna replacements, up to multiple-video-screen limousines, to very clean but incredibly loud audio/video systems in regular cars and trucks. 2002 brought me another opportunity to attend school full-time at Arizona State University where I studied Industrial Design , and continued to work at Soundwërks part time. I graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2005 with my undergraduate degree, and in June, moved back to Kalamazoo. It was during my time at ASU that I grew fond of Apple computers. The first computer I ever owned for myself was a PowerBook G4 Titanium 550MHz. A dinosaur by today's standards, but I sure loved it, and still have (most of) it. I learned a lot about servicing laptops with that machine, keeping it running for 5 years. My Windows PC experience started in college as well. I needed a PC to run a piece of design software called Rhino 3D. Some asking around netted me an ancient Pentium II IBM workstation that needed some serious help. Once I had it running it was so slow that rendering images for my final project required running the process for about 24 hours per image. A process that, today, takes my desktop about 10-15 minutes! When I returned to Michigan, I worked in the performing arts. I was the stage manager for the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra for two years, and Technical Director for the Battle Creek Symphony for 3. I attended Kalamazoo Valley Community College again from 2010-2012, attaining an Associate's degree in computer repair in the CIS department. It was a great process, filling in the gaps in my knowledge of computers, and allowing me the opportunity to intern at a local retail shop. Once there, I rapidly moved to full time employment, and took the reins as department manager in charge of customer repairs. My near-two-year tenure there proved my talents with technology and computers, leading me to expand my desire to make it a career. Late in 2012 I received a job offer from the Portage Public Schools system to take a Building Computer Technician position. I provided technology support for staff and teachers at Moorsbridge Elementary School and Portage West Middle School. I absolutely loved this job! There is a special kind of fulfillment that comes from helping teachers to do the important work of educating our kids. In 2016 I accepted a position with Western Michigan University in the Libraries as the IT department's Client Support Specialist. This was a big step in responsibility, and transitioned me to full-year work. I provided support to the Library's fleet of public and staff computers, maintained the custom software loads on all machines, pushed all updates and security patches as needed, and provided custom machines and service to users and departments as needed. I also managed the Library's internal help desk and its student employee contingent, which is arguably the most valuable experience of the position. In 2019, an opportunity to join the main campus IT unit availed itself, and I took that opportunity. I became a Systems Specialist in the Communication and Collaboration department, providing services and support for Microsoft Exchange Online, Microsoft 365, Cisco Webex, and various other collaboration platforms. It is a great amount of responsibility, but is certainly a rewarding path to be on. Ever since I have done automotive, home, and computer repairs, people naturally ask me to fix things. Computers are my biggest interest, but I also enjoy wrenching on old cars now and then, or exercising the old car stereo skills. So I take on jobs of all kinds as the Tech of All Trades on evenings and weekends. As I said at the beginning, why not make some money at it? So here I am, running my own business, calling on my years of experience. |