I grew up a Denver Broncos fan; north of Denver on the front range of Colorado. I grew up like most near-mountain kids in Colorado. I skied in the winter and explored the mountains in the summer.
As a freshman in high school, I set a goal to finish high school in under four years. I finished in three. In Boulder, I attended a school that allowed for independent, learn at your own pace work. This experience strengthened my understanding that if I set goals, worked hard, communicated effectively, and pushed through adversity, I could achieve my goals. With this, I completed three years in two years and transferred to a Christian school to finish the last year.
I attended Walla Walla University, where I met my wife, Andrea, and graduated with an engineering degree in 2007. Shortly thereafter, I moved to Austin to start my Asset Integrity career at Lloyd’s Register as an Equipment Specialist. After starting with LR, I had multiple opportunities to learn from others and grow in the field of integrity. I quickly moved into a project management leadership role and in 2010, I was offered the opportunity to start the Canadian integrity business in Calgary, Alberta Canada.
Although I worked in Canada, I didn’t always live there. About a month after I started the office, my beautiful wife, Andrea, and I married. As she pursued her post-doctoral career, she lived in Seattle and Chicago; so therefore, so did I as I commuted to Canada. While building and growing the integrity team, I was offered the opportunity to move into the operations manager role for the entire Calgary office.
After having our first son, Andrea and I moved to Seattle to be closer to family. I continued to work and grow the Canadian business while commuting and was offered the top role to lead the Americas integrity business for LR. Unfortunately, this was not a remote role, and reluctantly, we moved from Seattle to Houston. It was while working as the head of the Americas business, my technical and sales acumen was sharpened, my leadership skills were honed, and my broad shoulders and short-term memory were strengthened. This time with LR was invaluable and it built life tools that I continue to utilize on my professional toolbelt.
At the end of 2018, I was offered the opportunity to join Cognascents. It was the leadership at Cognascents that drew me in, as well as the desire to return to a small business atmosphere. I desired an organization that focused on teamwork, where I could focus on providing technical solutions for customers, as well as grow a great team of employees and contractors to further strengthen Cognascents commitment to clients with the best solutions in the integrity industry.