The short version
I write code for a living, read about fifty books a year for growth, and build communities because I believe people get better together. This site is where I document the journey of learning how to learn.
The longer story
I grew up in New York, raised by a single mother at borderline poverty levels. Her motto was simple: "Just because we're poor doesn't mean we have to look poor." That ethos — dignity through effort, resourcefulness over resources — shaped everything.
In high school I started an underground candy business to pay my way through tuition at Mount St. Michael Academy. It was my first lesson in systems thinking: find a need, build a supply chain, manage risk, reinvest.
I started college as a designer. I could feel and intuit colours and shapes, and learned UX from Tumblr tutorials with a pirated copy of Photoshop. But the 2008 financial collapse was reshaping the world, and my family's situation demanded a more practical path. I transferred into the business school at Fordham University, studying Information Systems and Marketing with a minor in Computer Science.
Halfway through, I saw technology accelerating everything. I started the Digital Business Society to help students navigate the digital economy, and taught myself to code from YouTube tutorials and blogs, sacrificing spring and summer breaks to log hours in the library between business classes.
Engineering
My first tech job was at Standard & Poor's during the Eurozone debt crisis, prototyping data visualizations that told the story of sovereign debt and the real estate investment trust market. S&P would eventually build a full data visualization department out of that work.
From there: Bluewolf on Salesforce consulting, American Express on the core team that rebuilt AmericanExpress.com, Lifion by ADP doing functional programming, and Google, where I worked on Google Docs and within the Maps organization.
In 2022 I left Google. I'm currently a Senior Software Engineer at Truffle Security, working on security tooling.
Communities I've built
Nobo House
In 2018 I quit my job and poured myself into founding a Burning Man camp. What started as Camp No Boundaries with 37 people, 30 of them first-timers, has grown into Nobo House: a 100-person international theme camp and holistic wellness community, now in its eighth year.
Running Nobo taught me skills no engineering job could. Carpentry, electrical circuitry, plumbing, shade structures rated for 70 mph winds, managing 700 gallons of water in the desert, and coordinating logistics across dozens of volunteers. More than the infrastructure, it taught me about servant leadership: the best communities are built on care, contribution, and shared responsibility.
Nobo House is a wellness oasis. Steam sauna, cold plunges, an outdoor gym, sound baths, a smoothie lounge, yoga, salsa, live music, and community meals. Everyone contributes. It's the project I'm most proud of.
Personal Development Nerds
In 2015 a friend's breakup freed up a ticket to Iceland, which kicked off a chain of invitations that became a dinner series, then a mini-unconference, then Personal Development Nerds: a mutual-improvement community that grew past 2,000 members.
PDNerds is built around skill combination, critical thinking, habit development, and systems awareness. I also run a software engineering mastermind through the community to help Black software engineers break into and advance in the industry.
/dev/color
I facilitate for /dev/color, an organization supporting Black software engineers. It deepened my sense of belonging and made me a better listener and leader.
Reading
Books changed my trajectory. I started reading seriously as a way to take my education into my own hands when the formal system wasn't enough.
Over the past decade I've read more than 450 books across psychology, philosophy, personal development, business, science, economics, history, sociology, communication, technology, and fiction. I average about fifty a year and keep detailed notes and ratings for each one.
My approach: read what you love so you can love to read. I favour Lindy books, ideas that stand the test of time, over trending bestsellers, and I seek out underrated picks and constructive three-star reviews over the noise of perfect scores.
The feedback loop: reading feeds writing, which feeds thinking, which feeds doing, which feeds speaking, which feeds listening. Each strengthens the others.
Thinkers who've shaped me: Naval Ravikant, Cal Newport, Charlie Munger, Shane Parrish, Maria Popova, Alan Watts, Thomas Sowell, Tim Ferriss. The full list is on the influences page.
What drives me
An awareness of how short life is drives me to realize my full potential. I see life as one grand adventure with a strong pull to explore.
Early on I turned my insecurities, fears, and neurodivergent traits into fuel for acquiring skills. Inspired by the discipline of special forces training, I built habits around reading, fitness, and writing, the three pillars I return to every year.
The happier I am, the more curious I am, and curiosity is the thread that ties all of this together. You are not here to be consistent. Who you are does and will change. What stays constant is the drive to keep learning.
I care about:
- Knowledge. Learning how to learn is the meta-skill underneath everything else.
- Culture. Building spaces and communities that help people help themselves.
- Freedom. Servant leadership that invests in others rather than accumulating authority.
- Second-order thinking. Asking not just "what happens next?" but "and then what?"
Personality and working style
For those who care about frameworks: INTJ, Enneagram Type 5, and a Reflector in Human Design. I'm an ambivert who thrives in small groups and deep conversation, energized by dynamic environments and novel experiences, drained by repetitive tasks and small talk. I think abstractly, communicate cautiously, and decide on evidence and pattern recognition.
Each year I choose three words to guide my focus. The full timeline is on the 3 Words page.
What you'll find here
- Book reviews and recommendations. Honest ratings and notes from more than 450 books.
- Digital garden. Interconnected ideas, concepts, and mental models that grow over time.
- Quotes. The best passages from everything I've read.
- Tools. The apps and products I actually use and recommend.
- Bookmarks. The best content I've found across the web.
- Essays. On systems, habits, and the work of personal development.
Connect
Say hello on Twitter or LinkedIn. Send me your book recommendations. I'm always looking for underrated reads and forgotten classics.