About Me

Earlyish Life--

I was born in Baytown, TX and raised in Mont Belvieu, TX.  The town still had a small town feel to it back then.  Grew up hunting, fishing, running the woods, mudding in rice fields... all the typical country boy ways.  Barbers Hill School District was and still is a great program.  Playing football was a given and being competitive is all I knew.  My parents divorced when I was still fairly young.  They did not carry on a great relationship so it was tough on my older sister (older by 15 months) and I.  Between the divorce and both parents working shift work... I learned how to be come independent and responsible a lot earlier than most.  Pop-tarts for breakfast and lunchables for lunch rounded out our healthy diet :-).   My sister is hard of hearing so I always had to be the first one awake and make sure she woke up... she was known for not hearing her alarm clock which in turn would always wake me up down the hall.  I guess this is what contributed to me being a morning person.  I was always above average in athletics and a little better on the academic side.  In 2004 I graduated in the top 10% of my class.  Family is and always has been a big part of my life.  I've never been one to be emotional or anything of that sort but they mean the world to me.  That lifestyle was one of the many things that helped shape my life. 

College--

I grew up a Texas Longhorn fan and that University was towards the top of my list of where I wanted to attend.  My senior year in high school I made it to the Texas State Track Meet with my 1600m relay team which was held in Austin at the University of Texas.  I like surrounding areas of Austin but it was during that trip that I realized I would not fit into the culture.  Texas A&M University and College Station won me over... that and I had a handful of my good friends going there as well.  The culture, environment, and alumni association is one of the best around.  During my college years, I usually held no less than 2 jobs.. usually 1 year at a time for each due to my changing school schedule.  Jobs included: construction helper, Gander Mountain, Budweiser merchandiser, Gym Manager, Personal Trainer, Exercise Physiology department research intern, and Overall gym management intern.  Waking up early... school.. more work was the basic schedule.  This cut down on my overall "fun time" college experience but there was still plenty of that had.  After changing my major 3-4 times.. I finally graduated in 2009 with a B.S. Kinesiology in Applied Exercise Physiology.  Career life started immediately after.

Career--

Right after graduation.. I started work at 24 Hour Fitness in Baytown, TX as a Personal Trainer.  I really enjoyed this job and absolutely loved the feeling of motivating and helping others.  Fitness was already a big part of my life and sharing my passion with others never got old.  As much as I enjoyed being a Trainer... my attitude and work ethic to do more, make more money, and strive for more success led me away from the fitness industry. 

After 2 years at 24 HR Fitness... Dec. 2010 I broke into the Oil and Gas industry and hired on with Enterprise Products as a Gas Pipeline Controller.  I had a great Regional Manager in Jerry Roberts that took a leap hiring me since I didn't have any prior experience.  Jerry was an Army Ranger in his past life but it still very much reflected in his attitude.  He would do anything for his guys.  My direct Manager Earl Tisdale also had faith in me and helped me continue to learn about the business outside of just the Gas Control position.  Sadly due to life circumstances... Earl left.. which gave me a small opportunity to be Step Up Manager over our Western Operations.  Though a short stent.. it was enough to give me a taste and set my mind forward that I wanted to keep moving up.  Pipeline Control is a great job and it takes special guys to do the job but it wasn't enough for me.  My new Manager, Bruce Duncan, was also great at allowing me to continue to learn more of the business as well as handle more responsibilities.  I owe my current career to these guys. 

In April of 2014 a new opportunity presented itself.  Jerry was working on trying to get me off shift and onto straight days as an Operations Supervisor... but due to many reasons that were beyond his control.. it just was not coming fast enough for me.  Cheniere Energy was/is at the forefront of the LNG export process in the United States.  I decided to take a small step back and accepted a Senior Gas Controller position with them.  This meant going back to shiftwork and slowing down my progress of advancing as soon as I had hoped.  The positive outlook, future job growth in a new part of the business, and of course pay/benefits were enough to lure me in.  So far to this current date (9/14/14)... this seems like a great company... they care about the employees.. want and accept input.. the kind I can see a bright future with.  With all this.. I still made a hard choice of taking a break and joined the Army Reserves... at least on the outside to me it seems they have accepted this choice with understanding and not much remorse.  My next post will lead to this decision.