Justin A.

Background

About Justin A.

As a kid, I loved taking things apart to see how they functioned or what was wrong with them when they didn’t work, primarily mechanical and electronic devices. Radios were a favorite. My grandfather, a teacher for many years and part of developing the modern radar in use at the US Air Force encouraged this behavior. He taught me how to use a multimeter to search for burned/loose circuitry and was the person we took our broken toys to fix. Throughout my military tenure, I honed essential technical competencies, swiftly mastering tasks such as setup and teardown of power plants, satellite systems, configuring Cisco-based networks, implementing security hardening, and efficiently distributing user systems—all within a matter of hours in some of the world's most austere locations. Yet, beyond the realm of technical expertise, the most profound lessons I absorbed were centered around invaluable soft skills. Integrity, accountability, punctuality, and effective management emerged as the pillars of my professional growth. Moreover, my military experience illuminated the significance of investing time in individuals, and projecting a growth mindset to those working under my command and those alongside me. I discovered that dedicating time to understand and support my team is never a non-essential endeavor. A pivotal realization emerged: as a leader, the most impactful action one can take is ensuring that every individual feels truly seen. Technical guidance, while crucial, pales in comparison to the primary focus on prioritizing people—always placing them first. Today, I fill that role, as an IT professional and continue to take things apart and fix them (toys, laptops, or an entire network). My experience as a US Veteran helped my transition to a civilian role in 2018. I’ve held many positions in technical support, team leadership, network engineering, and project management. My former colleagues describe me as personable and an expert at finding the right answer. I’m currently looking for my next opportunity to help organizations improve their workplace infrastructure and build great teams. Let’s connect!