A short biography
Still that kid.
From the Peruvian mountains to the Executive Office of the President — by way of Champaign-Urbana, MCRD San Diego, Quantico, Iwakuni, and Chicago. Marine veteran, UIUC alum, super cat dad. Currently Product Lead at USDS.
Built by all of it.In short
- I was born in the Peruvian mountains.
- I was raised by two professors in Champaign-Urbana.
- I'm a Marine Corps veteran. Cpl. Eheart, USMC.
- I learned to code at UIUC because someone gave me a chance.
- I led technology consulting across Chicago for 16 years.
- I grew the VA Mobile App and its team into one of the best in federal government.
- I'm Product Lead at USDS inside the Executive Office of the President.
- I'm a cat dad and a Jeep guy.
- I'm still that kid.
That's me, in short. The rest of the time, I'm doing the work.
Joys
What I love.
01 · Daily
Exercise
Walk every day. Bike on weekends. Getting back to swimming — my happy place.
02 · Always
The Beasts
Little asshats, but they are my heart.
03 · Nightly
HBO & Netflix
Sopranos, Rome, The Wire, Deadwood — the Four Horsemen.
04 · Always
Music
Tool, Prodigy, Handel, 90s rap, LoFi.
05 · Lifelong
Video Games
Atari to Steam. Halo, Starcraft, Hearthstone. Oxygen Not Included, They Are Billions. Recovering WoW addict.
06 · For life
Illini Sports
March Madness is my Super Bowl. Go Illini!
07 · All of it
History
Nothing tells us who we are today like where we've been. Rome to the Revolution to right now.
08 · Daily
Tech
A kid could build things that mattered. AI is the biggest leap I've seen — frontier models, local LLMs, tools I build because I need them.
09 · Often
Eats
Great food. Amazing company. Smooth beverage. The best. Miss you, Chicago.
A promise I kept
I had COVID in December of 2020 and had a few scary days. Made a promise to live life more if I made it through. I did, so I am. Music gives me power.
Don't waste time. Dance when you can. Hug your loved ones.
More of the story on LinkedIn, or pull up a chair — it'll cost you a few glasses of cheap wine.