About Me

I’m not your typical computer nerd. In fact, growing up in the 80’s in Southern California, I was the exact opposite. All my time was spent skating and riding dirt bikes. My Dad was a factory worker and my Mom was a homemaker and with five brothers and one sister, the family budget never had a line item for family computer. My aspirations were to become a professional skateboarder. And even though we didn’t have a computer, I was always fascinated by technology and computers. After watching the movie Wargames, every time I was at a Sears department store that had computers on display, I’d try to hack the mainframe! Fortunately, Joshua never answered me back.

It wasn’t until I got my first real job that I started taking a real interest in technology. We had moved to Idaho when I was 17 and shortly after turning 19, I started working at a local Cheese Plant as an operator, working 12-hour shifts in the barrel room, where I filled barrels with 500lbs of cheese. The plant was brand new and we had a lot of contractors on site commissioning all the equipment. When I saw automation engineers plugging laptops into control panels, I didn’t know what they were doing, but I knew I wanted to learn. So when they’d leave for the night, I’d get in the control panel where they left the Allen-Bradley PLC manual and I’d start teaching myself.

That curiosity never stopped. Within a few years, I went from operating every department in the plant to building out a full HMI stack for the entire plant, from scratch, with nothing but an InTouch developer license and naiveity and passion.

2000 1 chapter

• Oregon

  Unlikely Beginnings

  From there, things moved fast. I was recruited by a systems integrator in Oregon where I privileged enough to go work alongside some really talented engineers. It was kind of a trip because I was the only one in the company without a formal education. Which made me feel that I had to prove myself. I started getting heavy into VB6 and even took an advanced VB6 course at the local community college. InTouch at the time was cool but lacked certain features. So, I built a full suite of data bound ActiveX controls for InTouch and started using them on my projects. Some of the other guys wanted to use them on their projects and before you know it, the company adopted as their company-wide standards for all InTouch apps. I'd push the limits of InTouch and figure out ways to solve problems and limitations. I wanted to share that knowledge, so I created one of the first online communities for industrial automation developers before "going viral" was even a phrase. In 2001 after launching my site, codefreaks.net, I had over 1,000 people registered on my site within the first few months.

  PS

  Progressive Software Solutions Systems Engineer · Oregon

2003 1 chapter

• Software Developer

  More Input Stephanie!

  After a few years, I thought I was going to short circuit, I wanted more. I worked at a manufacturer for 7 years and then at a systems integrator for 3 years, now I wanted to learn how to build the software I used on a daily basis. At the time, InSql was the hot new thing and the company that built the best tools for InSql was DataWorks. Wonderware sold a product called ActiveFactory and that software was built by DataWorks. I was dead set on working there and I reached out to the CFO and was able to get an interview. It didn't work out at the time so I took a job at a company called Parsec, who was the creators of another Wonderware product called DTAnalyst, which was a downtime tracking suite. It wasn't my first choice but it was a good lead into Software Development.

  PA

  Parsec Software Developer

2004 1 chapter

• Mission Viejo, CA

  The Real Education

  In early April 2004, DataWorks called and offered me the job I interviewed for a couple years prior. Within a couple weeks, I was the new Senior Software Developer at DataWorks. The experience I gained at DataWorks was the best education I could have asked for. I was surrounded by brilliant software developers and I learned how to build software the right way. I learned about software architecture, design patterns, testing, and all the best practices that come with building enterprise software. What I didn't know when I was hired at DataWorks was that Wonderware was not going to renew the license agreement for ActiveFactory. DataWorks knew this was coming and had a plan to build a new product called Incuity. This new product was cutting edge and built on .NET. This product took years to build and I was fortunate enough to be involved from the beginning. I left DataWorks in December 2006 and in 2007, Rockwell Automation purchased Incuity for $30,000,000. They rebranded the product and still sell it today as Rockwell Vantage Point.

  DA

  DataWorks Senior Software Developer

  IN

  Incuity Senior Software Developer

2005 1 chapter

• Corona, CA

  Side Software

  In 2005, I started taking on side projects with a buddy of mine and we called ourselves Side Studios. Over time, it evolved into Side Software. I've run my own consulting and systems integration business ever since. Through it, I have had the pleasure of building solutions for many fortune 500 companies.

  SS

  Side Software Founder/President

2015 1 chapter

• First full-time employee

  Expansion

  Up until 2015, I always worked out of my home office. But in 2015, I decided it was time to get an office and expand. At the time, I had more work than I could handle so I decided to hire my first employee. After a few interviews, I found a guy who turned out to be pretty amazing. He didn't have much experience but something told me that he's the one. And now, he's pretty well knnown in the industry and considered a great technology leader.

  SS

  Side Software Founder · Boise, ID

2016 1 chapter

• SaaS Startup

  LyveByte

  In 2016, I started LyveByte, a cloud-based SaaS startup for real-time production monitoring. I designed custom IoT hardware, built embedded applications, and presented at industry events. LyveByte allowed me to continue my passion for building innovative solutions while expanding my expertise in software development and IoT.

  LY

  LyveByte Founder

2019 1 chapter

• 10 states in a year

  Tiny Adventures

  In 2019, my wife and I decided to sell our house in Boise and travel for a year. I bought a 5th wheel that had space for my office setup so that I could support customers and keep up on projects. Without a plan, we hit the road. We came up with a strategy, 3 hours or 300 miles. If we found a place that was three hours away, we'd stay there, but tried not to go over 300 miles in one day. This trip was exactly what I needed. I limited the work that I took on and really used the time to decompress and clear my head. It was definitely an experience I will never forget.

  TA

  Tiny Adventures Bonvoyage

2020 1 chapter

• OT Development Manager

  Some Things Never Change

  It was December 2019 and I got a call from one of my oldest friends who is the plant manager at the very same plant that I started at all those years ago. Only now, the plant had been purchased by a large dairy cooperative. He asked me if I wanted to go work for the comapny. Confused, I asked what he meant? He explained that the company really needs someone with my experience. So I asked where, I wasn't about to move to Wisconsin where their headquarters are. He said, no, you can work out of the Idaho plant if you want. He put me in contact with the Director of Automation and I reached out. After flying out for an interview, they were sold and created a new position for me. Today, I'm the OT Development Manager for one of the largest dairy processors worldwide, where I architect and maintain the software infrastructure across our US manufacturing sites. I love that I have been able to take all the experience that I have gained since leaving in 2000 and bring it back to where it all started. I still run Side Software on the side, but I'm more selective in the projects I take on.

  AG

  Agropur OT Development Manager

Operator-Turned-Architect

What makes my perspective different is simple: I’ve done the work on the plant floor, I’ve been the systems integrator building solutions for some of the largest food producers, and I’ve built software at scale. That combination, operator-turned-architect, is rare. And it means the software I build actually works for the people who use it.