About Me

I believe that successful teams nurture three things: creativity, collaboration, and competition. Creativity drives solutions, collaboration builds trust, and competition creates a culture of excellence. 

I graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 2018 and commissioned as a Surface Warfare Officer in the Navy before serving five years on active duty.  I completed both of my tours onboard destroyers—on USS McCampbell (DDG-85) in Yokosuka, Japan, and on USS Sampson (DDG-102), in Everett, Washington.  In 2023, I chose to leave the Navy to begin a new chapter in the private sector.

Throughout my time on active duty, I held roles that mirrored a civilian Chief of Staff in scope and responsibility.  On USS McCampbell, as the Assistant Chief Engineer, I managed a department of 80 sailors and ensured equipment readiness throughout the ship’s engineering plant.  I was also responsible for monitoring administrative compliance with fleet standards and mentoring junior officers as they led their own divisions.  On USS Sampson, I served as the Anti-Terrorism Officer and Assistant Weapons Officer, responsible for training and leading internal threat response teams, planning and executing missions and operations, and acting as Chief of Staff to the Weapons Officer.  On both ships, I learned how to thrive in high stakes environments and find balance between taking necessary risks and maintaining discipline under pressure.

When it was time to transition out of the Navy in the summer of 2023 I joined Valley Electric, a commercial construction firm in the Pacific Northwest, where I managed $30 million in electrical infrastructure upgrades across Washington State.  Reporting directly to the Vice President of Preconstruction, I used my background in large scale industrial project management to maintain timelines, clarify project scope, and align engineers, clients, and field crews.

In the springtime of 2024, I left Valley Electric to see some of the less watery parts of the world.  I spent the next six months living out of a backpack, trekking through the Andes and Chilean Patagonia, camping under the stars in the African bush, admiring the cisterns beneath Constantinople, watching the sun rise over Himalayan peaks, standing among ancient Greek ruins, and cheering on Team USA at the Paris Olympics.

I relocated to New York City in January 2025 where I continued my search into the next step of my career.  As I studied the job landscape and considered where I might be able to have the greatest impact, I focused my attention on autonomous defense systems.  In September 2025, I joined BlackSea Technologies as a Mission Director. 

I spent my first six months with BlackSea leading Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) testing in Virginia Beach, Virginia, responsible for bridging the gap between military mission planners and civilian contracting support.  In spring 2026, company leadership charged me to lead BlackSea’s European expansion efforts.  Now, as Director – European Operations, I serve as the connective tissue between technical development and operational employment, responsible for integrating new technologies into defense doctrine in Europe and Africa.  My role centers on engagement with US and NATO military leadership, standardizing deployment procedures, and overseeing development of maintenance and training infrastructure.