The Team

After a forty year career as a Los Angeles commercial insurance broker, my wife and I decided to retire to Eugene, Oregon. The move brought us closer to our daughter, beautiful scenery, lots of trees, and best of all, no traffic!

But as it turned out, I wasn't very good at retirement. So I answered an ad, and was lucky enough to land a job here at CBT Nuggets.

I believe the secret to sales is helping people make decisions that benefit them, not me. We're fortunate at CBT Nuggets, because we're given the freedom to take as much time as we need to help our customers find the choice that's right for them. I love being able to say, "Watch our free videos, and if you like what you see, call us back when you're ready to order."

When I'm not working, I'm riding my bike, kayaking or playing golf.

Working one-on-one with tech customers has always been my dream job. But as a manager first at T-Mobile USA and and then at Symantec, I wasn't getting that opportunity. That's why I jumped at the chance to work for CBT Nuggets -- where it's is all about customer service.

Nothing makes me happier than building long-lasting relationships with customers and helping them meet their IT training goals. It's what's expected of me here, and it's exactly what I love to do. Each of you has unique needs, and I want to be absolutely certain that I meet them.

My talented and beautiful wife, Michelle, and I have a young son named Tadhg (it's pronounced like "Tiger" without the "er"). In my free time (which isn't much with youngster!), I like to play golf, fish and hike. I also enjoy donating my time to the local community of and giving back to those in need. CBT Nuggets has given me back more than anyone can even fathom, both professionally and personally, and for that I am deeply indebted.

I began my career in the Computer Software industry in 1995. Since then I have had the privilege of working for Symantec, Palo Alto Software and Yahoo. However, since coming to work for CBT Nuggets in November of 2009, I have never been happier in my professional career. I don't consider working here at CBT a job, it is way more than a job. It is a place where I have found a career that has given me so much happiness and fulfillment.

I really enjoy working in our Support department. I love to be able to assist people if they are having issues. When people purchase our products they are so excited to get started so if there happens to be an issue they can be disappointed. It brings me great pleasure to be able to get them up and running in a timely manner. They are always so appreciative.

I have been married to an absolutely wonderful man named Nathan since February 2005. We have a blended family and together we have 3 wonderful boys. My oldest son Dakota is 17 and is a Sr in High school. He is headed to Oregon State University in the fall to study Engineering. He has been playing sports his whole life and loves the outdoors. The middle son is Garrett and he is 13 and an 8th grader. He is very active in sports, with basketball being his passion. My step son Tyler is 8 years old and a 3rd grader. He too is very active in sports and loves to read, write stories and fish.

We as a family spend a lot of time watching and playing sports, fishing, camping, hiking pretty much anything and everything outdoors. It isn't unusual for us to ride our bikes 3-5 times a week. I personally love to read. James Patterson and Nora Roberts are my absolute favorites but I also enjoy anything that has to do with history. I also really enjoy photography. You will never see me without my camera. I love to be able to catch all those candid moments.

After graduating from the US Air Force Academy I spent some time in the Air Force as an IT Director. I separated as a Captain and spent several years training MCSEs around the country as an independent contract trainer. After developing a fairly serious allergy to airline travel, it was time for me to take my approach to training to video.

When I started CBT Nuggets I was the only trainer. Slowly, and carefully, I brought on additional trainers, each time with great care and training to make sure the training style, the attention to detail, the real-world experience and technical knowledge were right. From the very first trainer I hired to today, I have critically reviewed each and every video created for CBT Nuggets. We currently use approximately 15 highly-qualified trainers to produce content for the CBT Nuggets library.

When I'm not at the office, I like to spend time with my beautiful wife and 5 children. I like to golf, play poker, watch sports, and enjoy life. My favorite thing to do is make people laugh. My oldest child is 8, so I have 5 easy marks in that regard. If the laugh lines don't work, I can always follow up with a tickle. :)

Basically, I love to talk. Talk about anything, everything and whatever's in between. So when I started looking for work out west, I needed to find a super cool job where I got paid to keep my mouth open and running.

You can imagine my shock and awe when I discovered a cutting-edge, close-knit company nestled in scenic Eugene, Oregon. They needed someone just like me to talk to their customers about anything and everything IT. I knew immediately we were meant for each other, and jumping into marketing and social media at CBT Nuggets has been a marriage made in heaven!

Completely un-shockingly, a good portion of my background is in acting and directing. (Being the center of attention is closely linked to a love of speaking.) I spent many years in New York City acting, directing, and, as anyone who is familiar with the business will tell you, doing a ton of auditioning. Being birthed from the arts, my approach to life is unique, artistic, focused and caring. And being a part of the CBT Nuggets family (and we are a family) couldn't make doing that any easier.

I've also been the "super-secret-agent geek" all of my life. I'm the guy everyone was forever calling to help 'em fix what's broken, troubleshoot their PCs and dig into their network problems.

Now I'm looking forward to talking with you -- a lot.

Look inside my mom's wallet and you'll find a photo of me at age 3 with one hand on a bottle of apple juice, the other hand on a keyboard. A computer gamer at heart, I grew up writing automation software for the games I played. This translated naturally into automating the nugget assembly line, which is one of my main tasks here at CBT Nuggets.

But you'll also find me working in the trenches, providing first and second-tier support to both valued CBT Nuggets customers and employees on-site here in Eugene. I thrive on learning and teaching people about technology and listening to their concerns.

Come to me with a puzzling question and I'll devote my time to figuring out the source of your difficulty. I consistently set a high standard for myself, which I believe is reflected in the quality of support I provide.

When I'm not making nuggets fly, you'll often find me appreciating the outdoors -- hiking, cycling, rock climbing, skimboarding and taking frequent road trips along the Pacific coastline.

When the "computer guy" at my brother's computer learning center left suddenly to go fishing in Alaska, my brother was desperate for a replacement. I was pretty young at the time and didn't know squat about IT, but I volunteered anyway -- writing some code and learning everything I could as fast as possible. Six months later I was building networks.

Since then, I've been working with phone systems, WAN Technologies, databases, VPNs, search engine optimization, firewalls, customer support and lots more. No wonder CBT Nuggets is such a great fit for me; I get to put all my skill areas together here.

There's one aspect of technology, however, that I never considered before jumping into IT: computer technology constantly changing. Which means I'm always studying just to stay relevant. But fortunately, keeping on top of everything IT-related is just part of my job at a great IT training company like CBT Nuggets.

My role at CBT Nuggets is "doing anything and everything that needs to happen and making sure there are absolutely no loose ends."

On any given day I can be found answering customer questions by telephone or e-mail, burning CDs and DVDs, processing and shipping orders, verifying billing information, working with FedEx to ensure timely delivery and assisting customers if any challenges pop up.

I'm proud that the quality of our services and the unsurpassed talent of our trainers result in a really great experience for our customers. I guess that's why CBT Nuggets has grown by leaps and bounds during my 8 years here.

After work and on weekends, I read a good book, relax on the Oregon Coast, enjoying the activities of my never-a-dull-moment family (It's always an adventure!) and follow Oregon athletics (GO DUCKS!).

I value my personal interactions with customers. That, along with the family atmosphere, energy and laughter here at CBT Nuggets make this a great place to work. Listening and helping customers in an ever-changing IT environment means I'm having great experiences and learning new things all the time.

Personally and professionally I believe I'll be judged in this life not by how well I've lived, but rather, how well others have lived because of me. That's why I'm so heartened by the positive feedback we get back from customers like you. I appreciate knowing that my efforts are having a positive impact on your lives.

In my free time I stay busy with my 2 young sons . On any given weekend you can find us fishing, camping, hiking or biking together. I‘m also deeply involved in a philanthropic national service organization that helps disadvantaged children throughout the world.

How did a PGA Professional like me end up in IT sales? It was actually a natural transition. Giving golf lessons, building lasting relationships and meeting the specific needs of my students was the most satisfying aspect of my work. Now I'm having the same experiences at CBT Nuggets, and I'm excited to be part of one of the best customer service teams I've encountered.

Outside of work I enjoy spending time with my wife and two children, playing golf (go figure), camping and scuba diving. One of my former career highlights was beating Tiger Woods in the final round of the PAC-10 championship when I played collegiate golf at Oregon State University.

My past includes everything from service in the Army to Sales Management, and an ongoing interest in IT.

I'm no longer running countless miles or touring exotic locations in the armed service. Instead, I have the pleasure of working with the best team I've ever encountered. At CBT Nuggets, I've found a place that shares my belief that the client relationship always comes first. I'm truly honored to be here.

Away from work you will find me doing anything related to my family, technology and the outdoors.

I started my career in sales while going to school here in Eugene (Go Ducks!) After spending a number of years in retail, I ventured next into Telecommunications where I cut my teeth on technical sales and networking technologies.

Moving back and forth between Portland and Eugene as my career progressed, I came down from Portland to sign CBT Nuggets up for services. After getting through the business part of the meeting, Dan, Jeff and I began chatting. I told them I missed Eugene and hoped to move back some day. Long story short: a month later I was CBT Nuggets' first and only sales person (at that time).

5+ years later, I'm still honored to have this opportunity, and I enjoy coming to work every day. I have a wonderful hard-working team of sales people who understand the importance of taking personal pride in their work and in the solutions they present to customers. Lucky for us, we have great products; it's a sales person's dream.

I've never been a fan of pushing customers into a solution. I'd rather we show them options and help guide them to the best solution for their individual needs. I've been able to develop a sales culture based on what I believe is the right way to sell, and I'm fortunate to have found great success in doing so.

Eugene is Track Town USA so I like to run (running sounds cooler than jogging), ride my bikes, go skiing, work on my cars, game and spend time with my beautiful wife and our dog. Almost forgot, there's nothing better than a fine draft micro brew. We have some of the best here in the Northwest. If you're ever in the this part of the country do yourself a favor and sample a few.

Coming from an IT background that included being an IT Trainer, CBT Nuggets was a natural fit for me. Over the years I've worked on just about everything a network admin faces day-in and day-out -- from crypto gear at remote Military sites to massive data centers for Corporations like HP, EDS and Apple.

I was also a long-time user of CBT Nuggets training products before I started working here. In fact, I was one of the very first Nugget Streaming Subscribers. It was a new product then, and I'm proud to add, CBT Nuggets welcomed my feedback and suggestions.

As my relationship with CBT Nuggets grew, I decided to send them my resume. What could possibly be better than joining a company I wholeheartedly believed in? The result has been lots of great new relationships -- with people like you.

Working with IT professionals and those eager to become IT pros is fantastic. Because I've been in the trenches too, I can appreciate where you're coming from, the problems you face and the stories you've got to tell. I look forward to meeting you.

As you know, things change fast in the IT world. New technologies, new ways of doing business and new ways of communicating are being invented every day. I love it; it keeps me busy and enthusiastic about what each day will bring. Everyone at CBT Nuggets shares my excitement, and that makes my job as President even more fun. The staff here make sure that our clients get exactly the training they need to be successful in their careers.

I've taken an interesting career path to get here though. While I've been involved in a number of high-tech and software related companies over the years, I've also been a Sports Editor, Sports Radio Personality, Auto Racing Promoter and even run a Fairgrounds. The funny thing is, the skills I learned in those jobs helped prepared me for what I do today -- working in the fast-paced, constantly changing world of IT.

If I'm not in the office I'm most likely keeping stats at a basketball game or spending time with my family here in beautiful Oregon.