Tell us a little bit about yourself and your career journey, to date.
Throughout my time at GoDaddy, I've held a variety of positions. As the company has grown, my roles have grown with it. I started out as a PHP Developer on our legacy in-house Webmail system and gradually expanded my skills. This growth enabled me to serve as both a Senior Developer and a Manager. Currently, I've returned to being an individual contributor within the organization.
What initially attracted you to GoDaddy, and what has kept you here for nearly two decades?
What has kept me committed over the years is the people. A surprising number of us have been with the company for more than a decade.
The value of institutional knowledge is undeniable, and these long-standing relationships prove invaluable every day when it comes to getting things done.
How have you seen the software development landscape change during your time at GoDaddy?
There's the push and pull of moving code and logic from the frontend to the backend and back, so while I'm not working in PHP anymore, the Javascript world continues to evolve and deliver interesting experiences. Of course, the introduction of AI means I can now approach these problems on a more abstract and conceptual level... it's less about writing lines of code and more about delivering well designed features. That said, it's still essential to understand what the code is actually doing.
What has been your most significant learning experience within the past year?
This job has a way of keeping you humble. Sure, there are times when you feel on top of the world—like you're the smartest developer out there—but in my experience, those moments don’t last long. After about a month of experimenting with a particular JavaScript MicroFrontEnd technology (remote React components loaded from a CDN) I discovered some serious performance issues with the strategy and had to pivot and start again with a new approach.
Is wisdom simply the result of making mistakes and learning not to repeat them? Sometimes, you don’t even realize what you don’t know, until you’ve learned it. But now that you do, you’re able to make better, more informed decisions moving forward.
What's the best career advice you've ever received, and how has it influenced your journey?
When I was 21, I found myself at a bar in Tucson, Arizona with a well known alternative comic creator, back when that was a thing (The 90s)! He told me: "Find something niche that you like doing and no one else is doing well. Do that and people will give you money for it."
Now, after spending 30 years in the tech industry—a wild thought—I’m still searching for ways to be helpful, identify gaps, and pursue work that excites me.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
I'm a trail runner. When I'm not at work, I like to leave all the electronics behind, get out into the mountains, explore, and run free. We've got a great community of athletes here in Arizona and while my competitive days are mostly behind me, I don't think I'll ever stop loving the camaraderie and adventure.
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