I grew up in a small city south of San Francisco, California. I spent my adolescent years as any other normal country kid did... sliding down hills on cardboard in my backyard, building tree forts, adventuring in the hills, and riding motorcycles. In my Junior High years, I played Dungeons & Dragons and began writing little applications in BASIC on the family computer. In High School, I began acting in plays with the theater group of my school and got my first car. It was a 1975 FIAT x-1/9 that was given to me by my father, and probably some what begrudgingly, by my mother. You see, it was her car at the time and I don't think she was quite ready to part with it. This cute little yellow wedge was sold to us several years earlier by Gary Luke.

I eventually became great friends with Gary and his marauding pack of "Merry Men." Since my first car was a Fiat, and I knew nothing about maintenance, within a matter of months I was the proud owner of a blown head gasket. This, in combination with several trips to Gary's house asking for help, eventually led me into becoming a member of Fiat America and a member of a Pro rally team. The experience of the rally team really gave me the basis for some exceptional skills that helped me become what I am today.

What I consider to be some of my most valuable skills include:

• Preplanning for potentially high stress situations

• The art of thoughtful negotiating

• The ability to help bring out the best in the team around me

• The ability to act quickly and concisely under pressure

• The skill of remembering where things are, what they are used for,
  and most importantly who is in charge of them

• The ability to engage in a battle of wits even when I'm not prepared

After High School, I worked at a cabinetry shop, as a house painter, as a paint crew Forman, and eventually as a teacher's assistant at the school that I was attending. It was during this time that I learned how rewarding it feels to help people and how quickly you learn when instructing other people.

Several months after completing my Associate degree in Multimedia Communications, Randy Bruck helped to get me a job with CKS Interactive. These were the days right before the Internet went public. I was with the "Wow them with this presentation" multimedia division of CKS Partners. This could mainly be attributed to my skills with Macromedia Director Lingo. For the next few years, I was responsible for the production of the Macintosh Performa in-store demos. The demos were those annoying bits of fluff playing in an infinite loop when you go to buy a computer at Fry's or Circuit City.

To be continued.