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My Life Story

Just the Gist.

This is a heavily redacted version of my life story, focusing on some pertinent milestones and experiences. Rest assured, i'm not (quite) as boring as it appears. I hope it affords you a useful quick reference to my life and the shaping of my character.

Childhood

  • Normal Childhood: Unremarkable... Nothing Fancy.

    Born 8:18am on 16th November 1985: Kettering Hospital, Northamptonshire, England.

    birth

    • x2 Brothers 6 & 8 years older. Both much smarter than me.
    • Teacher for a Dad. Stand up chap. Respect!
    • Stay at home Mum. Who ultimately became a Nurse. ❤
    • Kind and loving family. Parents divorced when I was 11. That hurt.

    Barton Seagrave Primary School: In my local village. Pleasant memories.

    barton

    • Sam Palmer was my best friend. Moon-Boots & Farmers Fields.
    • I was good at Football back then. Team Captain in year 6.
    • Joe Devlin was the Council Estate cool kid. His Dad went to prison.
    • Roller Hockey with rough kid Shane. He went mental in our teens.

    Bishop Stopford Secondary School: Christian "Bible Bashers". Great memories.

    bishop

    • Thought I was cool. Boyce, Johnny, Rosie, Jake, Wazza, Zetta.
    • Feel in love with Sophie. Still am... 💔
    • A Levels in Politics, Economics, Business & ICT.
    • Dope & Pills. Hard House / Drum & Bass raves - Keep it Schtum!

Young Adult

  • Youthful Discovery: India - you are part of me, London for Uni, Climbing for life.

    A Trip to the Indian Himalayas: The Allure of High Mountains.

    india

    • A solo adventure in Northern India, age 18.
    • Delhi, Kashmir, Ladakh, Amritsar, and Ladakh again.
    • Spiritual awakening and self-discovery.
    • Big mountains, big feelings. Awe and wonder.

    Queen Mary University of London: Politics BA 2:1.

    queen-mary

    • First year living in Mile End, Albert House Halls.
    • Second & third year living in Hackney. Gynn Road. Murder Mile.
    • Lived with Stuart, Bobby & Matt. Toby Dodge my inspirational tutor.
    • Theories of the self, Middle East, Philosophy - Nietzsche.

    Discovered Climbing: Life long passion for adventure climbing.

    climbing

    • North Wales Trad. The Hut. Cenotaph Corner. Dream of White Horses.
    • Lake District. Ambleside. The Climbers Shop.
    • Scottish Winter. New Years Eve. Ben Nevis. Perfect Days.
    • Jamie, Nicky, Pavin, Dan. Passion & Fellowship.

Early Career

  • Structured Cabling to Project Management: Funding climbing trips.

    Structured Cabling: School friend Tom Skipper's ITS Networks. TY!

    india

    • Cabled Cat6a Nottingham University Bio Chemistry.
    • Cabled Advanced Manufacturing Facility, Coventry.
    • Cabled Birmingham Library.
    • Cabled St Georges Park, Football Association.

    Site & Project Management: Dimension Data. Thanks to Paul Charles.

    di-data

    • Audits, Cabling, Rack & Stack: Airbus & Airbus Military, Bristol.
    • Rack & Stack & Config: Military Data Centre, RAF Brize Norton.
    • PM Network Build: Rolls Royce CDS Data Systems, Birmingham.
    • PM & Rack & Stack & Config: W12 Westfield Shopping Centre, London.

Death & Majesty

  • Lost & Found: Mental demise and maturity.

    Extreme Pain: Johnny commits suicide.

    johnny

    • My best friend jumps in front of a train. It's complicated.
    • An impossible situation. I should have stayed away. It's complicated.
    • I hurt people I love for which i'm forever sorry. But... It's complicated.
    • I learn valuable life lessons and loose my mind.

    Solace in India Again: I turn 30, lost in Ladakh and found Val.

    pangong lake

    • A travel to India and meet Val & Alex along the way.
    • A wonderful day on Pangong Lake - Katsu & Val.
    • Business Class to Delhi - Vibes.
    • Living it up in Bombay. Time of my life.

    Mountaineering / Trekking in Nepal: Everest Basecamp & Annapurna Trail.

    nepal

    • Heady days in Katmandu. Stick thin.
    • Everest Basecamp. 2 days back from Basecamp. Extreme exhaustion.
    • Big feeding in Kathmandu & Pokhara.
    • Annapurna Trail.

Adult Maturity

  • Professional Rise: Life comes together, briefly.

    Data Centre Program Management & Network Engineer: Excel IT - Redstone - Onnec.

    excel-it

    • Vodaphone Data Centre Cisco ACI Build & Base Config, Watford.
    • NTT Data Centre Build, Hemal Hempstead.
    • MK Shopping Centre Cisco Meraki, Milton Kyenes.
    • Bespoke High Net Worth Client Installations, Tony & Guy, Cotswolds.

    Barrister Gig during Study: Hilarious months at a Coffee Shop. Wild World.

    pret

    • Perfect flat whites. Outrageous characters. Surprisingly Fun!
    • Acquired Certifications & initial DevOps knowledge. Focused study.
    • Flown out to San Francisco to interview with Verkada. Blew it!
    • Applied for WeWork during Hyper-growth. Smashed it!

Professional Take Off

  • Dreams come true & Exceptional Talent: Do what you love!

    Network Engineer - Mission Control: WeWork.

    mission-control

    • John Porter hires me into the WeWork Mission Control Team.
    • 48 billion dollar valuation. 1000's of sites. Hyper-growth.
    • Flown out to San Francisco to visit Sales Force Tower HQ.
    • Matt Brown is wonderful. Thank you. Miss you.

    Network Architect - Global: WeWork.

    wework

    • Promoted to Network Architect. Chad, Neil, Brandon. Much Love.
    • Juniper Mist DevOps. Learning in Production.
    • Nautobot & Netbox & IPFabric. Network Automation.
    • Trips to Cisco Live Vegas, Splunk Conf, Juniper AI & NYC HQ.

Professional Pain

  • Life Travails: Redundancy & Rebirth - consciously. Stronger now.

    WeWork Redundancy & James (Rosie) Dies: Rosie was my last remaining close friend.

    rosie

    • Made redundant from WeWork. I survived 5 rounds so can't complain.
    • My last remaining close friend dies of heart failure.
    • Mature enough to cope and celebrate the good times. All is well.
    • I read a lot of books. I climb a lot. I'm happy. I'm mentally strong.

    Network Architect: Lloret Control Systems.

    lloret

    • Hired as a Network Architect. I take a punt on a small company.
    • I knew immediately It's not the right fit. I quit once I've done a year.
    • I learn a lot about myself. I learn a lot about business silliness.
    • I'm happy. I'm mentally strong. I will do what I love.

    Summer Break: Reflection & Climbing.

    climbing

    • I read lots of books. I climb lots.
    • I prepare to the next era of my professional life.
    • I consider a pivot to Technical Management...?
    • I'm ready to add extreme value to a company. I'm refreshed.

Do What You Love

  • Future Aspirations: I have lots to accomplish. I'm ready now.

    My Initiatives: The things I want to get done.

    climbing

    • Climb V10 & run a 40min 10k at 40 years old. Tick Tock.
    • Leadership in Network Automation.
    • Present to a huge audience... to rapturous applause.
    • Move to the USA or India. No rush.

    Always Do What You Love...

    🧑🏼‍💻 Network Automation for Work.

    🧬 Evolutionary Psychology for Life.

    🧗‍♂️ Climbing & Mountains for Ever.

    👣 Be Good & be Gone.

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