My Story: Put It In The Dirt

My high school summers were far from typical. While my peers enjoyed their break, I found myself diving into the world of programming and data analysis. The moment the school year ended, I'd take a few days to decompress and then embark on my summer routine: waking up before sunrise to drive to job sites from Monday through Saturday.

My first foray into business programming was developing an application to calculate earthwork volumes based on survey data that was then used for billing the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT) for the work performed.

This was done on a 1980's era Compaq Portable PC - a machine that was "portable" only in name, given its hefty weight. The experience, though challenging, sparked my interest in leveraging technology to solve real-world problems in construction.

As my skills grew, so did my projects. One summer, I brought my personal Commodore 128 into the office to analyze five years of safety history data. The goal was to create a comprehensive safety program and project its cost based on historical data, considering the size and frequency of awards. This project not only honed my analytical skills but also gave me insights into the critical importance of safety in the construction industry. Based on the analysis the safety award program was approved and rolled out company-wide.

Upon turning 18 and starting college, my father decided it was time for me to experience the physical side of construction. My summers transformed from in the office to in the field. I swung sledgehammers in the Texas summer heat, turned angles on survey crews, walked beams above rush hour traffic, climbed the outside of cans for bridge columns to ensure they were plumb before and during concrete pours, and nervously watched beams being set hoping that the check, re-check and multiple redundant measurements of the distance between beam seats were accurate.

These experiences were invaluable. They taught me the challenges of construction work, the importance of precision, and the true meaning of teamwork and having each other's back in high-stakes environments.

Magic Island, Houston, TX

Whether I was crunching numbers in the office or pouring concrete in the field, one thing remained constant: the morning safety or "toolbox talk." My father would conclude each of these talks with words that have stuck with me throughout my career: "Be safe. Go put it in the dirt." He always emphasized, "There is no greater reward than building something."

This mantra - "put it in the dirt" - became more than just a saying. It embodied the ethos of creating tangible value, of turning plans and ideas into real-world systems that meet the needs of businesses and their customers.

Here's a picture of a newspaper clipping taken from the front page of the Houston Post Metro section during the summer of 1990. The picture was snapped as our survey crew took beam elevations in front of Magic Island at U.S. 59 and Greenbriar in Houston.

There's a backstory to the picture and how I was made aware of its existence that I'll save for a future post. I took a good bit of ribbing from my fellow crew members as the "new guy" that had been on the job for less than two months and thought he was already front-page worthy. The subheadline of the article "Pondering the eternal freeway construction" still appears in its various forms in today's papers - now both printed and digital.

My unique background opened doors that might have remained closed to others. One of my first technical roles was at Heavy Construction Systems Specialists in the mid 1990's. HCSS is a heavy civil engineering software company and I was told I landed the position not just because of my technical capabilities, but because I understood both the software and the customer's perspective, having actually been on crews in the field. This role allowed me to work on heavy civil bidding and crew foreman software, bridging my two worlds of construction and technology.

From there, my career took off into increasingly complex technical solutions and platforms. I worked on building business process automation platforms for Fortune 500 companies, large-scale utility SCADA and power distribution management systems coordinating millions of endpoints for power generation and distribution to customers, and advanced IT security and operations management solutions for small, midsize and enterprise scale businesses.

Each role built upon the last, expanding my skillset and the scale of impact - from MS-DOS based civil engineering software on the desktop to SaaS based solutions for IT systems management orchestrating millions of globally distributed endpoints.

Here's Dad putting it in the dirt.

Now, with over 35 years of experience spanning software development, quality engineering, support, services, project management, implementation, sales, marketing, and customer success, I've condensed this wealth of knowledge into CinchOps. Our solutions and services are the culmination of a lifetime spent at the intersection of practical, hands-on work and cutting-edge technology.

Throughout my career, I've had the privilege of delivering world-class solutions to businesses of all sizes across a number of industries - construction, healthcare, financial, legal, manufacturing, engineering and many more. In each case, I like to think I've helped these sectors "put it in the dirt," building tangible value for their customers and industries.

At CinchOps, we carry forward this mindset. We welcome the opportunity to be your partner each day as you "put on your boots" in your business and build value for your clients and customers. Because at the end of the day, whether we're pouring concrete or deploying software, we're all in the business of building something meaningful.