I got into software at twelve by trying to make a video game. I spent the next several years rebuilding Pac-Man and Pong before graduating to sprawling RuneScape knock-offs. I never really stopped; the games just turned into products.
Today I'm a product manager at Barefoot Solutions, running up to six client products at once with budgets from $50K to $1M. Much of it is in regulated industries: Compass AI, our self-hosted AI platform; a fintech platform taken through FINRA approval; and a Class II medical device taken through FDA 510(k) clearance. I'm the number clients dial when something goes wrong.
Outside of work, I build and ship my own products. Church Table and Lectern are live, and I've made every call on them myself: positioning, pricing, onboarding, and how Lectern uses AI. Owning products end to end keeps me honest about what a roadmap really costs and what users actually do.
I've watched teams fall apart because nobody set the culture. It gets set by whoever is leading, deliberately or by default, so I set it deliberately: clear ownership, tight feedback loops, and a team that likes the work and each other. That kind of team keeps its people, raises problems early, and builds what users actually need.
The titles I care about most are husband, father, and teacher. The hours left over go to bespoke leatherworking.
