Grew up in Kansas
Went to the University of Kansas
Studied Finance
Spent a semester in Italy
Got a job at an investment firm in Kansas City
Grew curious about writing code
Learned to code in Python
Built a few small applications for work
Interned with an IoT company
Learned a little bit about building 0 to 1
Got a job at Toyota Connected
Built micro-services for a cloud-based voice assistant
Learned a little bit about machine learning
Failed at building a meal delivery product on the side
Learned about unit economics and product risk
Discovered my love of product
Moved to product management at Toyota Connected
Got married in 2020 during peak pandemic
Learned how to think like a product manager from great mentors
Had my first kid kid during the pandemic (crazy times)
Shipped our first product to Toyota/Lexus cars in 2022
Joined a group building an embedded AI-powered assistant at Toyota
Accidentally became the interim CPO of the product
Thrived but wasn’t ready
Moved to Nashville
Had my second kid in 2023
Consulted with a venture studio building AI products
Failed at starting a company called HyperGuides
Learned about distribution and market risk
Joined an aviation startup called Aerostrat
…currently writing the next chapter