Open to opportunities in tech

Hey, I'm Joe —
a builder making
the jump to tech.

Blue collar background, business owner, new dad. I've spent years building things with my hands — now I'm building skills in cybersecurity and systems. I learn by doing, and I don't stop until it works.

Current Status
Home Lab Active
Kali + Metasploitable
Studying
Network+ / Security+
Based In
Las Vegas, NV
Available
Entry-level & junior roles

01 — About

The Story So Far

I didn't come up through a CS program. I came up through interstate highway construction, working in cold Minnesota winters as a Union Laborer,, and building out service vans in Vegas. I know what it means to put your head down and grind.

Tech found me through a close friend who was deep into building PCs. I fell in love with the hardware side. Watching components communicate, understanding how a system breathes. That curiosity about how things connect led me to networking and, eventually, cybersecurity.

Today I co-own and run an auto customs shop in Las Vegas with my dad, a business I helped build from the ground up since 2017. Along the way I quietly became the in-house tech person: setting up a POS system, building a 3,000+ customer database, standing up Google Workspace for the whole team, and organizing our finances through QuickBooks. Real experience. It just didn't come with a job title.

Now I'm a new dad and pushing harder than ever. I'm running a home lab, studying on Coursera, and getting hands-on with tools like Nessus and Kali Linux. I'm also planning to build a Raspberry Pi micro-network for my son so he grows up tinkering the same way I did.

If a human being is doing it, it was made for anyone to do. Which means you can too.

— A foreman who changed how I think about hard things
2017
Co-founded a business
Helped build an auto customs shop from the ground up with my dad. Still running it today as General Manager.
3,000+
Customer database
Built and managed the shop's full customer records, POS system, merchant services, and financial tooling.
1
Reason I work this hard
My son just turned one. He's the motivation — and one day I want him to know how to build his own machines.

Currently learning

Kali Linux Nessus Network+ Security+ Metasploit VirtualBox Coursera Home Lab

02 — Experience

Where I've Been

2017 — Present
Auto Customs Shop
Las Vegas, NV

General Manager & Co-Owner

Co-built this business with my father from scratch. Beyond running day-to-day operations, I became the de facto tech person — implemented Square as our merchant service provider, set up the POS terminal, and built a 3,000+ customer database from the ground up.

Deployed Google Workspace to give the team professional email and collaboration tools. Organized financial records and workflows in QuickBooks to get our books clean for our bookkeeper. Real systems work, without the formal title.

Square POS Google Workspace QuickBooks Database Management Business Operations
Prior
Various
MN & NV

Fabrication, Construction & Union Labor

Started in interstate highway construction — green-sawing, sandblasting, and sealing concrete joints. Joined Laborer's Union Local 563 and worked through Minnesota winters. Later worked for a Las Vegas fabrication company building out service vans for plumbers, locksmiths, and tradespeople.

Blue collar work teaches you to solve problems with what you have, show up regardless, and earn the trust of people who've been doing it longer than you. I carry that into everything I do.

Union Labor Construction Fabrication Problem Solving

03 — Projects

What I'm Building

Active

Vulnerability Scanning Lab

Running Nessus on Kali Linux to scan a Metasploitable VM hosted in VirtualBox. Learning to identify, interpret, and document vulnerabilities in a safe, isolated environment.

Kali Linux Nessus VirtualBox Metasploitable
Coming Soon

Raspberry Pi Home Network

Building a micro-network on a Raspberry Pi — part home lab, part future learning environment for my son to explore coding and tech when he's old enough.

Raspberry Pi Networking Linux
Coming Soon

More on the Way

Always building something. Follow along on GitHub to see what's next.

TBD

04 — Contact

Let's Talk

I'm actively looking for opportunities in tech — whether that's an entry-level systems role, something in cybersecurity, or just someone willing to point a hard worker in the right direction. I learn fast and I show up.