cat my-story.md From Airman to Engineer
Air Force veteran → Real estate broker → Software engineer. Hover over the timeline below to explore my unconventional journey.
My Journey
// hover to explore each chapter
U.S. Air Force
Honor Guard → Security Police
Served my country with honor and discipline
Served in the U.S. Air Force Honor Guard at Bolling AFB, representing the excellence of every Airman with flawless precision. Transitioned to Security Police at Vandenberg AFB, responsible for base defense, law enforcement, and security of resources.
Cantera Realty
Licensed Real Estate Broker
Started my real estate career in San Antonio
Founded Cantera Realty in San Antonio in 2004, helping families find their perfect homes. Built a successful career and was recognized as a Top Real Estate Professional by NAHREP. Still active today, though no longer my primary focus since transitioning to tech.
Met My Wife
San Antonio, TX
Found the love of my life
Met the love of my life in San Antonio while building my real estate career. Sometimes the best things in life happen when you're focused on the grind. This was the beginning of our journey together.
Got Married & Moved to Georgetown
Starting Our Family
Married and bought our home
Got married and made the move to Georgetown, TX where we purchased our home. This beautiful Hill Country town became our forever home — the perfect place to raise a family and build the next chapter of our lives together.
University of the Incarnate Word
MBA & BS in Business Administration
Went back to school while working full-time
Made the decision to go back to school while working in real estate. Earned both my Bachelor's in Business Administration (2012-2015) and MBA in Asset Management (2016-2017). Balancing work, school, and family life was challenging, but this foundation sharpened my analytical thinking and planted the seeds for my eventual pivot to tech.
Our Son is Born
First Child
Welcomed our baby boy
Our son was born in July 2017, changing everything in the best way possible. Becoming a father gave me a new perspective on life and an even stronger drive to build a better future for my family.
Our Daughter is Born
Second Child
Welcomed our baby girl
Our daughter arrived in July 2019, completing our family. With two kids under three, life was beautifully chaotic. The motivation to provide for them fueled my determination to make the career transition to tech.
Self-Teaching Journey
Learning to Code
Started teaching myself to code
While working in real estate and raising two young kids, I began teaching myself to code. Late nights after the kids went to bed, early mornings, weekends — any spare moment I was learning. Online courses, tutorials, building small projects. I knew this was the path forward for our family.
Formal Training
Codeup & Correlation One
Formalized my education with bootcamps
Committed fully to the transition. Completed 670+ hours at Codeup (Feb-Jun 2020) mastering Python, SQL, Machine Learning, and the full data science pipeline. Continued with Correlation One (Apr-Aug 2021) to deepen my expertise. The combination of self-teaching and formal training prepared me for the industry.
Software Engineer 2
Dell Technologies
Joined Dell and made an immediate impact
Joined Dell and immediately started making an impact. Built CI/CD pipelines, deployed AI applications using Ansible, and became the go-to person for automation challenges. The enterprise scale was both humbling and exciting.
Senior Software Engineer
CurrentDell Technologies
Promoted to Senior & Vault DevOps specialist
Promoted to Senior Engineer and Hashicorp Vault DevOps specialist. Now leading infrastructure initiatives, mentoring team members, and architecting solutions that impact thousands of users across the organization.
Big Beard Apps
Founder & Developer
Building privacy-first applications
Founded my own app development company focused on privacy-first applications. Currently building PayoffPilot, a strategic debt payoff calculator. The entrepreneurial spirit never left — now I channel it into code.
Skills & Technologies
// DevOps & Infrastructure
- →Hashicorp Vault
- →Kubernetes
- →Docker
- →CI/CD Pipelines
- →Ansible
// Programming Languages
- →Go
- →Python
- →TypeScript
- →Shell/Bash
- →SQL
// AI & Data Science
- →Machine Learning
- →Apache Airflow
- →Data Analysis
- →Forecasting
- →Pipelines
What Drives Me
Privacy First
User data stays on-device whenever possible.
Continuous Learning
Technology evolves daily. I stay curious.
Ship & Iterate
Build, release, learn, improve. Repeat.
Clean Code
Code is read more than written.
Life in Georgetown
My wife and I moved to Georgetown in 2014 and it's been the perfect place to raise our family. We have two beautiful kids — a son (8) and a daughter (6) — who keep us busy and remind us what really matters.
When I'm not writing code or deploying pipelines, you'll find me outdoors. I have a passion for all things outside — from primitive camping to glamping, hunting and fishing, to recreational boating with family and friends. The Texas Hill Country is the perfect backdrop for these adventures.
Georgetown has been home for over a decade now — first as a real estate broker helping others find their place here, and now as a tech professional working remotely for one of the world's largest technology companies.
// Fun Facts
- 👨👩👧👦 Married with two amazing kids
- 🇺🇸 Air Force Honor Guard veteran
- 🏕️ Outdoor enthusiast (camping, hunting, fishing)
- 🚤 Love boating with family & friends
- 🐙 Open source contributor on GitHub
- 🏠 NAHREP recognized Real Estate Broker
- 🎓 MBA + BS from UIW
- 🧔 Founded Big Beard Apps
- 🤠 Proud Texan
Want to know more?
Check out my projects or get in touch. I'm always happy to chat about technology, career transitions, or anything in between.