An abbreviated story.

In 2006, I wanted nothing more than to be an agent for social change. Jonathan Kozol’s literature was the catalyst, and conquering inequalities through a political career was the motivation. I had always identified as an athlete, and the combination of the win/loss finality and unification through ideology was enough for me to declare a public servant’s life my professional pursuit. 

After six months of interviewing, I secured my first job in the Massachusetts State Senate - a legislative aide. There wasn’t a job description posted, but if there had been, it would’ve only accurately represented the job’s responsibilities had it read: ‘sit at your desk pretending to be busy, and send 10 faxes/day’. The job’s impact was far less significant than I had envisioned, and the salary just barely covered my monthly commuter rail pass plus parking; a change was necessary. One of the communities we represented was suffering from severe coastal flooding and hired a famed Washington, D.C. lobbyist, ‘The Sand Man’, to help secure federal funding on their behalf. I quickly identified my escape route; I would leverage all interactions with the lobbyist as an opportunity for professional growth. I put everything into all the calls, all the emails, all the public meetings that involved, ‘The Sand Man’, and after 4 months of working together to combat erosion I was on my way to Washington, D.C.. I had doubled my salary, and was the proudest Federal Junior Lobbyist on K Street. 

Exactly 12 months later I was on my way North. Humbled, confused, and unemployed, I wasn’t sure where my career/life was heading, but I knew I wanted little to do with D.C. Chewed up and spit out. 

So, in the midst of a quarter-life crisis, I decided to ride my bicycle cross-country on a solo expedition from Boston to San Francisco, naturally. I raised money and awareness for the National Center for Family Homelessness - a cause familiar through my Kozol consumption - but the journey was not absent of selfish motivations. I wanted to spend some uninterrupted time inside my dome. The summer spent traversing the US on two wheels was incredible, and the big revelation produced by all the introspection? I wanted a dog.  

I moved back to Massachusetts. My neighbor had a travel startup, and was looking for his first full-time hire; working at a 2 person startup sounded like the perfect job for a firs-time dog owner! I interviewed against some 70+ applicants, and despite barely being able to turn a computer on, I landed the job. I knew very little about tech, but knew it wasn’t politics. 

Working at VacationHomeRentals.com took my life in a direction I never anticipated. I started out running customer service and soon found myself running Product. My neighbor/boss influenced how I look at business, life and the internet forever, and I’m eternally grateful for this experience. Being first full-time hire facilitated an indoctrination into all aspects of the business: Marketing, Product, Sales, Customer Success, HR, etc, etc. It was an incredible experience. After 4+ years, we sold VacationHomeRentals.com to Tripadvisor and I was included in the acquisition to manage the VacationHomeRentals.com product. 

Unbeknownst to Tripadvisor, as soon as the acquisition went through I purchased a home in Maine. I wanted to set some roots, and focus on the more important things in life. As I closed on the home, I fielded job offers from a bunch of companies that thought I was smarter than I was/am; the Internet was younger, and many assumed that by being the First Hire at an acquired tech startup, I must know the secret sauce. 

One offer was more unique than all others. Yandex. I knew Yandex as one of the 3 global search engines and headquartered in Moscow, Russia. Yandex was looking for someone to work with all the US (Palo Alto) tech businesses that wanted to enter the Russian market but felt uncomfortable doing so with assistance from unknown Pavel sitting in Russia. The company didn’t care where I lived and gave me the opportunity to collect Passport stamps. I took the job. 

I spent nearly a decade with Yandex. First working with the Search Engine org, and then later with Self-Driving Cars org, I traveled the world working with amazingly talented people. Every time I considered leaving Yandex, the organization presented a new unique opportunity that couldn’t be matched. No role at Yandex was more fulfilling than my last one. In 2021, I was working within the Yandex Self-Driving team to bring sidewalk delivery robots to US college campuses. Our product was industry-leading, our team was super capable, and the nascent application of the service was a blast to navigate - and that all ended in February of 2022. 

Russia invaded Ukraine, and it was time for me to leave. 

I joined a young Sidewalk Delivery Robot company to oversee the business side of the operation, and have enjoyed the ground up challenges. I still live in Maine with a fantastic wife and healthy children. And the same dog that brought me into Tech 14 years ago is still limping around our backyard.