Great question. Here's the deal: Nobody really knows.
Seriously though, I try to keep people guessing a lot. I'm not really a big fan of labeling myself and try to avoid categorization at all costs. But, since you asked, I'll give you a quick overview of what I've been up to until now.
I was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan to my two favorite people on earth, John and Dinah Hodgson. I am the person I am today because of the incredible love and guidance they have continually given me over the years. Any good thing that I achieve in life can be directly attributed back to them.
We moved around a bit in my early years but eventually settled in Cleveland, Ohio for the majority my school years. I went to a small private school but spent most of my time with friends from church. During high school I started a band with my brother and a few other friends (I had picked up piano, guitar, and drum set from playing at church) and dove into the world of audio recording. I was fortunate enough to have wealthy parents and it wasn't long after my freshmen year in high school that I had a full semi-professional recording studio set up in my basement. I called it "Lair Studios" (since my mom called it my lair) and it was my first foray into the world of business. I never really made much money but it was an incredible learning experience for me, both technically and professionally.
My experience with the studio led me to pursue a college degree in communications. I was accepted at Ithaca College and started my first year as a video/audio production major. After my first year of classes I decided that, unlike most of my classmates, I much preferred the technical engineering to the creative side of production and I decided to refocus my studies on engineering. Unfortunately it was already too late to transfer to an engineering school for my sophomore year so instead I switched my major to Physics (the closest thing Ithaca had to offer). In an effort to make up for the time I had lost messing around with communications I kicked my class load up a few notches and finished a B.A. in Physics in 3 years at Ithaca.
Having been in school for only three years, I decided I needed to at least get some formal engineering training and I quickly started applying to engineering school. I was (surprisingly) quickly accepted to the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College. In hindsight, I couldn't have picked a better school. the Thayer school has a reputation of producing what we have dubbed "renaissance engineers", which really just means they let you do all kinds of engineering and don't force you into one specific field. I thrived in this atmosphere and quickly got involved with the Dartmouth Formula Racing team. Every year the team builds a full blown race car from scratch and competes against other schools around the globe. I initially focused on the electronics of the car but quickly moved into other areas and was eventually made captain of the team the following year. As captain of the team, I was directly responsible for over 20 engineers working full-time for 9 months to build the car. This was by far the most rewarding experience of my life to date. I doubt that I will ever again have the privilege of working with so many bright, talented, and motivated individuals at the same time. In the end we had a small manufacturing defect that kept us from finishing the big race, but the lessons I learned that year were far more important that winning the competition. After two years at Dartmouth I graduated with a B.E. in Computer Engineering and a Masters of Engineering Management.
Of course at this point I had to find a real job. This posed a significant challenge. As I stated above, I hate to label myself or be otherwise categorized. I'd become skilled in vehicle dynamics, electronics, programming, CAD, graphic design, video/audio production, composites, chip design, and a plethora of other areas. The thought of choosing one of these areas as a full-time job was petrifying. Needless to say, 6 months after I had left Dartmouth I was still jobless, living in a crummy apartment, taking money from my parents. Not sweet.
As desperation sunk in I started to ask around to friends to see if their companies needed any help. One of my closer friends offered me some part-time work at Mercator Partners, a boutique telecom consulting firm. They offered me a full-time job soon after I started work, which I quickly accepted. Although I did not realize it for at least a year afterwards, this is probably one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I was in no way, shape, or form ready for the challenges that would face me in the world of consulting. I had always shied away from writing and presenting, being uncomfortable with the subjectivity associated with these disciplines. The people at Mercator are some of the highest performing people I have ever met. Unlike many of my previous experiences, working as a consultant challenged me a great deal and caused me to stretch myself to achieve success in areas I did not enjoy. Over the past year and a half working as a consultant I can honestly say that I've improved one hundred fold in my understanding and abilities in writing, presenting, business, structured problem solving, and corporate politics. The mentoring and training I have received at Mercator continues to be invaluable to me.
Although consulting was challenging on many levels, I found myself wishing for greater mental stimulation during the down times and on the weekends. It was in April of 2007 during a particularly slow period at work that I met with a few friends I had known at Dartmouth. They were creating a new start-up called YouCastr, a web company targeted at live sports broadcasting. Eager to get involved I quickly volunteered to join the team and they graciously offered me the position of CTO. I didn't really have any more experience with web development than any of the others on the team, but I liked the idea of learning a new set of skills.
Since that day in April my life has consisted almost completely of both management consulting for large telcoms, and building a new web start-up. I couldn't be happier.
So, right now, I'm a telecom strategy consultant, and the co-founder and CTO of YouCastr. But next year, who knows? Maybe I'll be doing the same. Maybe I'll be doing something completely unrelated. Most important to me, is that I continue to improve myself as a person, and improve the lives of those around me.
Hopefully that answers your question.
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