Humans of Tepia: Tim

It’s been a while since we’ve talked about our team, and there’s no better time than the present. Please meet Tim, our senior systems engineer.

What’s your earliest tech memory?

One of my earliest memories is playing with stacks of computer program punch cards. My mom would bring them home and I would make things out of them, like a house of cards.

As far as really working with anything “techy”, I built a Radioshack computer when I was 9. It had a basic “circuit board” with springs to hold wires in place and buttons you could use to program different functions based on how you wired the components.

What’s your day-to-day like?

My basic routine is super simple: 

Wake up at 5AM.

Meditate for 20 – 30 minutes. 

Get cleaned up and dressed, take vitamins, make coffee.

At 6AM I have a standing meeting every day.

At noon, I hit the treadmill for about 45 minutes (most days). 

I work until about 2PM and go to the gym.

In the hours I work, I get to help and mentor some great people.

I basically get to do what I love, while working with people I love, respect and admire.

Do you have a favorite computer superstition or ritual that probably doesn’t work – but you still do it anyway?

I sometimes wear computer glasses while I work. The hope is that if I look smarter, I will work smarter.

How did you end up working at Tepia?

I became friends with Dustin Gordon when we were working with a mutual client. 

We enjoyed working together, and I ended up consulting and working as a fractional CTO (or whatever is needed) at Tepia.

What’s your favorite project that you’ve worked on so far?

I can’t say that I have a favorite so far. Every project has some uniqueness to it, either through the technology, approach, or business model, so I can always learn something new.

What’s the office culture like?

Team oriented and supportive. I’m often brought in to help on a project that is tricky or has some odd complexity to it, and we work together to come up with the best approach.

For me, being a little more senior than most of my colleagues, what is most rewarding is mentoring members of the team, especially when it comes to soft skills.

What’s your ultimate dream-big project – the one you’re working towards, the one that’ll blow all the other projects out of the water?

I’m actually getting to work on it right now. 

It will ultimately incorporate custom AI models and AI-enabled chat bots, but my real enthusiasm is that the project consists of smaller, simple pieces that can be used to make other projects and services. 

Sophistication emerges from the compounding of simple, basic components, so modular, reusable code has always been a driver for me and I love to engineer those types of solutions.