Excellence In Technology Rising Star Award

Once a year AITP of the Ozarks hosts an award show to showcase standout organizations and individuals in the technology industry called the Excellence in Technology Awards. This year along with 2 other individuals, Tyler Drenon and Chelsea Cardoza I was a finalist for the Rising Star award.

Last night during the award show I was chosen for the award. I feel incredibly honored to have been recognized, but I would be lying if I said that I won on my own. I owe a great thanks to my peers and the organizations that have helped me get to this point in my career. Since I didn’t have a chance to give a speech at the event I wanted to take a few paragraphs to express my gratitude towards some of these people.

First and foremost I’d like to thank SGF Devs (Formerly SGF Web Devs). Just over two years ago I started attending the meetups hosted by SGF Devs. After growing up in a small rural town it was incredible to be surrounded by people who cared just as much about technology as I did. Through this organization, I have been able to meet some incredible people and learn about all sorts of crazy new tech.

One of these incredible people I met was the founder of SGF Devs Myke Bates. Shortly after meeting Myke he helped me get my foot in the door at my first full-time dev job. Since then Myke has always been a great friend. He’s always been someone I can bounce ideas off of and lean on when it came to navigating the ins and outs of the tech industry. Myke was also the one who nominated me for the award, so a double thank you Myke!

Another organization I need to thank is Mostly Serious. I’m incredibly grateful they decided to take a bet and hire a 19-year-old kid fresh out of high school. I loved working there and learned so much from some incredible people. A huge thank you to Maranda Provance and Aimee Hendrycks who I worked with on the engineering team. Both of you were incredible mentors, I couldn’t have asked for better people to learn from.

I also want to thank Hearo, the company I currently work at and everyone on the team. Jim Carr, Jason Arend, Myke Bates, and Tom Rankin. I couldn’t ask for more talented and inspirational teammates. I’m continually impressed by the work we’re doing and the technology we’re building together. Every day I get to wake up and feel like a fucking Hearo thanks to this company. (Side Note: If you’re wondering why I’m wearing a gold chain in the above picture, it’s a Hearo thing)

And last but certainly not least I’d like to thank my girlfriend Melissa Worthen. She’s honestly my rock. No matter how frustrated or down I get she’s always there to help me get back up. She is always there supporting me. I couldn’t ask for a better partner.

In closing, I’d like to reiterate how grateful I am to have won this award. It means a lot just to have been nominated let alone to have won.