Hobbies
What I get up to when I'm not at a workstation.
Started in 2012 on a 1992 Raleigh M400 with V brakes and an elastomer fork, the full vintage experience. Some new friends got me on a modern 29er and it snowballed fast. Ended up racing downhill competitively all over the northeast and flipping bikes on Craigslist through college to fund it. Mountain biking did what skateboarding used to. Got me outside, moving fast, and feeling alive again. It changed my trajectory.
Logging miles on road and trail with no music, no podcast. Just space to think hard about a problem, or the option to not think at all. A simple reset between engineering and build projects.
Custom water-cooled builds, small form factor PCs, and custom keyboards. The hobby is really about constraints. Fitting serious hardware into tight spaces, dialing in thermals, and building something that performs as good as it looks. Every build is a fun puzzle both physically and logistically.
Particularly mid-century modern. Clean lines, honest materials, and the way good design quietly makes a space work. Currently studying both through free resources online.
A steady habit. Favorites range across people skills, product craft, and first-principles thinking. How to Win Friends and Influence People, Build, and Atlas Shrugged to name a few.
37 books since 2022
Business & Entrepreneurship
Biographies & Founder Stories
Mindset & Discipline
Psychology & Influence
Philosophy & Fiction
Other
Started college as an Economics major before pivoting to engineering and never stopped following markets. Hunting for patterns and applying them to long-term wealth building. Same engineering brain, different system.
Been riding since high school. Not about tricks. It's the freedom of reading a mountain in real time and finding your own lines down. One of the few things that fully quiets the brain.
Built stairs, railings, and a custom behind-the-couch table with built-in cupholders and wireless charging. Carpentry scratches the same itch as engineering. Constraints, materials, and a problem that needs a physical solution.
The throughline across everything I do. Every project is an excuse to learn something new and apply it immediately, which is the only way it sticks. Currently going deep on interior design, architecture, and business through free MBA resources online.
Got my first truck, a 2005 Tacoma, to haul mountain bikes. Already into modifying cars, I started upgrading it right away. One problem: it was a Prerunner, two-wheel drive, and it got stuck in the snow. Traded it for a 2006 4x4 and never looked back. Being close to Rausch Creek, AOAA, and FRO made the progression natural. Picking lines on a trail is the same skill set as mountain biking, and building your truck to tackle terrain you couldn't last time out is genuinely satisfying. A lot of camping came with it too, which is actually what led to designing the SideRide and eventually starting SquareOne Creations.
There is something satisfying about designing a part in SolidWorks and having it in your hand the same day. FDM, resin, and Markforged composite printing. Most prints start as an actual problem to solve, which makes it feel less like a hobby and more like a superpower.
Terrible at it. Love it anyway. Golf is humbling in a way most things are not, and that is exactly why it is worth playing. I am drawn to things I am bad at. The gap between where you are and where you want to be is where all the interesting stuff happens.
Self-taught. Designed logos, shirts, and brand assets over the years. The one I am most proud of: my wife's friend started a boutique handmade chocolate business and asked for help. I designed her logo from scratch and helped guide the early e-commerce side of things. The business took off, they opened a physical storefront in Asheville, and my logo is on the building. That one felt good.