Where It Started
I was 10 years old when my father brought home an IBM clone. It had a green monochrome screen, a 5.25-inch floppy drive, and a DOS manual that was thicker than my arm. I read that manual cover to cover. By the time I was 12, I was writing batch files to automate tasks my father didn't know could be automated. That's where it started — not with a formal education in computer science, but with curiosity and a manual.
I didn't come from money. I grew up in a working-class family in Hagerstown, Maryland. Technology was the thing I was good at — the thing that made sense when other things didn't. When it was time to figure out what to do with my life, I joined the Navy.
12 Years in the Navy
I served 12 years on three aircraft carriers. I started as a Disbursing Clerk — handling pay, managing funds, making sure sailors got paid. But on every ship I was on, I was also the person people came to when the computers broke. So I fixed them. I built spreadsheets that automated tedious processes. I set up networks. I taught myself everything I could about how systems worked.
The Navy taught me something that's shaped my entire career: lead by example. Don't tell people to do something you're not willing to do yourself. Don't ask someone to work harder than you're willing to work. I carried that into every role I've had since.
Lockheed Martin — Learning Enterprise IT
When I left the Navy in 2006, I walked into Lockheed Martin as a Systems Administrator on a classified program. Within a year, I was the team lead for Windows engineering on the HUD HITS contract, overseeing 12 engineers. I became the VMware subject matter expert. I contributed to contract bids worth $200M+.
Lockheed is where I learned what "enterprise IT" really means — the scale, the complexity, the stakes. When a system goes down in the military or a hospital, it's not an inconvenience. It's a mission failure. That perspective stays with me in everything I do.
Accenture — The Global Stage
In 2014, I moved to Accenture as a Business & Technology Delivery Manager. This is where the scale got serious. I led the global virtualization team that consolidated 17 data centers down to 10. I managed teams of 16 to 32 engineers distributed across India, Argentina, London, Germany, Ohio, and Chicago.
Managing global teams taught me something important about technology adoption: the tool is never the bottleneck. The approach is. I could give a team the best virtualization platform in the world, but if they didn't have a structured methodology for using it, they'd struggle. The same is true for AI today.
Children's National Hospital — Where I Am Now
In December 2023, I joined Children's National Hospital as Senior Datacenter Manager. I oversee data center operations for one of the nation's top pediatric health systems. My team is currently leading the enterprise migration from Oracle Cerner to Epic — one of the largest healthcare IT initiatives in the region.
Healthcare IT is different from any other industry I've worked in. The stakes are higher. When systems go down, it can literally affect patient care. That responsibility sharpens everything — your planning, your execution, your communication.
Why AI Coaching?
I've been through every major technology shift since the 1990s. Virtualization. Cloud. Mobile. Automation. Each one followed the same pattern: early adopters got disproportionate value, the middle majority struggled with basics, and a long tail of people never adopted at all.
AI is different. It's not just another technology shift — it's a skills shift. The barrier to entry is lower than any technology I've seen, but the barrier to mastery is higher. Anyone can type a question into ChatGPT. Almost no one can structure a prompt that produces genuinely useful, reliable output.
I started helping colleagues at Children's National use AI for their daily work — writing reports, analyzing data, drafting communications. Word spread. Friends started asking. Friends of friends started reaching out. I realized there was a real need for practical, no-nonsense AI education for professionals.
That's what this is. Not a side hustle or a get-rich-quick scheme. It's the natural extension of a 30-year career in technology — helping people get real value from the most important technology shift of our lifetimes.
What's Next
I'm relocating from Hagerstown to Frederick, Maryland in 2026. I'll continue serving clients across the DC metro area — in person or via Zoom. My day job at Children's National continues; this is what I do evenings and weekends because I genuinely enjoy it.
If you're curious about AI but don't know where to start, or if you've been using ChatGPT for months but feel like you're only scratching the surface, I can help. Book a session. Bring a real task. Let's get to work.