What originally brought you to GoDaddy 23 years ago?
In 2003, I was living in Atlanta working for a startup that closed its doors during the infamous "dot-bomb" turn of the millinium. We sold our house, packed everything up and moved to Phoenix where I had some family, and less rainfall. On my second day here, after my location on monster.com was updated, a GoDaddy recruiter called me. The rest is history.
How has your role evolved as GoDaddy has grown and transformed?
I started out as an IC Engineer working on the launch of our first email marketing application. In my first few years, I also contributed to other customer applications, and moved into lead/manager roles. In 2007, I moved over to our GoDaddy.com Sales Site team where I worked for 13 years. I now am an Architect and Engineer for our Corporate Technology team, contributing to many large cross-organization efforts and helping with integrating some of our large corporate platforms.
What was a turning point in your career that significantly shaped your trajectory here?
In 2007, I took a manager role on our GoDaddy.com Sales Site team. It was not just a change of position; we opened a small office in Denver, and my family and I moved there. We also grew our Sales Site team by about 5X to support the companies growth. Because the office in Denver was just focused on Engineering, in addition to leading my team, I informally supported areas such as recruiting, HR, networking, and security. The experience challenged me to think beyond my role, collaborate across functions, and adapt quickly to new opportunities. It was an incredible learning experience that broadened my perspective and played a significant role in shaping my career journey at GoDaddy.
What's one project you're especially proud of, and why?
The project that drove our team's growth and my move to Denver was converting all our older ASP sales experience to ASP.NET so we could modernize and scale effectively for the future.
The scope of the work was massive, but it was also incredibly important, as it directly impacted our customer onboarding experience and positioned us to scale for the future. What makes me most proud isn't just the technology transformation itself, but the team that came together to make it happen.
Second to that, this platform change set us up for the next wave of growth; internationalization. We evolved from supporting a single English-language experience to serving customers across multiple languages and markets around the world.
How do you create space for experimentation within the constraints of deadlines and priorities?
I really don't think of it that way. Deadlines are the "when" we want to get things done. Experimentation is just a part of how we do that. The priorities are going to be based on what can really move the needle for the customer and the business.
Trying new things, taking risks, and innovating how we simplify technology for our customers and ourselves is how we move the needle. It's just built-in.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
One of my biggest enjoyments is traveling with my family and friends. I have been able to visit 49 out of 50 states in the United States (Alaska is top on the travel-bucket-list), and am up to around 12 countries. I like to experience the history, and enjoy the outdoors and geographical differences of all the places I visit. Of course, I also have to try the local coffee.
Are you enjoying this series and want to know more about life at GoDaddy? Check out our GoDaddy Life social pages! Follow us to meet our team, learn more about our culture (Teams, ERGs, Locations), careers, and so much more. You’re more than just your day job, so come propel your career with us.
