When I was 13, my family moved to rural southeastern Ohio. I got my first job outside of the house at 14, working for a fruit farmer for 2 dollars an hour. Later, after getting my driver’s license, I used the family pickup truck to cut and haul firewood, and clean up trash dumps on private land. I purchased my first car with proceeds from the sale of a steer at the Vinton County Junior Fair.  I started working in Worthington, Ohio for a manufacturing plant the summer I turned 17, staying during the week and returning to the family farm on weekends. During the school year, I continued to cut firewood and haul trash to earn money. I have worked as a fabrication technician, quality technician, plumber, carpenter, maintenance technician, a drain cleaner, and a furniture mover. When my first child was born, I picked up extra income working for a fast food company doing janitorial work. There has never been a job too dirty, too tough, or too uncomfortable that I have refused to do. There is dignity in all honest work.

Even early on in my career I was always searching for a better way to complete a job. I didn’t learn about Lean Manufacturing until I was working towards my Associate of Science in Mechanical Engineering Technology much later in my career. I finally found a name for what I had been trying to do all along. After I completed this degree, I found that I was still not moving forward at my job as a maintenance technician, so I started looking for a program that I could complete online that would teach me more about Lean and perhaps get a job working as an Industrial Engineer. I found that Ohio University offered a Bachelor’s of Science in Technical Operations Management, and I started taking classes in 2017. I was promoted into the Engineering department as an Engineering Technician, and later as an Engineering Supervisor before completing my degree. I supervised 4 technical departments with 33 direct reports. We were working for a medical device manufacturer, and the COVID pandemic hit us about 3 months after I began my new role.

I left my job as Engineering Supervisor and took a job with a startup robotics company in 2022 as an assembly technician. In this role I organized the daily tasks for a small team of technicians using Kanban principles. Six months later, I was promoted to Facilities Manager, where I managed contractors transforming a 186,000 square-foot warehouse into a manufacturing facility. I completed my Bachelor’s degree while working for this company, and found an opportunity to follow a lifelong dream of teaching when an instructor position opened up at Ohio University in Lancaster.

These days, I am training the next generation of Maintenance, Engineering, and Quality Technicians. I teach courses in Mechatronics, Process Control, Manufacturing Materials, and Processes, Lean Principles, Vacuum Technology, and Career Preparation. This is the most rewarding job in my entire career as I see these students grasp concepts that will benefit them and their employers for years to come.

In the spring of 2025, I started taking a course towards a Master’s in Engineering Management at Ohio University. I decided to stop this endeavor and form a company instead. A person will learn much more doing instead of reading. It is time to put my knowledge and experience into practice on the shop floor once again. I am looking forward to our Lean journey together!