I'm Ricky Brown and I have ideas, but let's start with my story.

I've always been a self-starter, not requiring that anyone else tell me to be inspired, not needing to be motivated by others, and not needing anyone to convince me to try things.

I was excellent in school at the beginning, but after middle school, I became terrible at it. The classroom setting wasn't working. I wasn't making excuses at the time because I didn't know to, but looking back, I can see how terrible of a learning experience it was for me. Maybe it wasn't the schools; perhaps it was just me. So I'm not the guy who's highly decorated with scholastic accomplishments; I'm the guy who skipped school to go home and learn how to make things. I'm the guy whose curiosity led away from certain norms, which eventually taught me that mediocrity was an enemy.

I was not a product of my environment. I knew lack, I saw confusion, and I knew what the result of poor choices looked like in the lives of those who surrounded me, but my curiosity was too strong to allow my inner hope for new and great things to be tainted. I was about 13 when my dad put a Windows 3.1 computer in my room. He didn't know what to do with it and figured I'd mess around and see how it worked. I eventually took it apart and understood how all the parts were connected. A few years later, I could build and sell my own computers, and I did.

Barely graduating high school. I tried to go to DeVry University but failed at that attempt; I didn't make it past two semesters. I would drive there in the morning, sit in the parking lot, and read my Bible (Proverbs has much wisdom for approaching life), then go inside to learn a thing or two before taking an inspired idea and attempting to run with it.

I worked at the DEX (Data Exchange) on Alum Creek, and one thing I noticed is that everybody I worked with had their bachelor's degrees from the same university I was barely showing up to, but we were all paid the same. That's when I knew DeVry needed me just as much as I thought I needed them and that they were trying to run their business like everyone else. I don't say this with a lack of honor; I say this because I understood then that college won't make me, and no one else on earth will make me. Nothing here can make me into anything that I'm not willing to make myself into. I was unlocked, knowing I could let go of feeling defeated in my weaker points and instead lean into my strengths.

My father is an artist. My background and interest in art and technology led me to graphic design and some web development. I worked IT for a while but engaged in the web (getting website clients) on the side until I went deeper into code and never looked back. I built my first software application in 2012 by downloading open-source software and reverse engineering it, and that's where my journey into app development and cloud infrastructure began. I lived in the state of Washington at this time. I looked around me and realized tech companies surrounded me, and there were limitless possibilities.

Since then, I've been in and out of conference rooms, VC firms, rooftop bars, Microsoft offices, etc, building cool things with small teams and having fun living the life. Before learning to "speak the language," I let the work speak for itself. I was terrible at interviews in the beginning, so I found out a company's weak points, prototyped their solutions, and let my work, ideas, and authentic approach cast a greater vision than any code test or Q&A ever could, then continued to evolve in the process. I didn't hope doors would open. Instead, I walked up to the doors and opened them.

I'm Ricky Brown, and I am back in Ohio now, prioritizing the health of my household while embarking on a new adventure. I love birds of prey (I'm a falconer), I love to travel the world (13 countries, probably 20 international trips), and I love my wife and two children, who are growing bolder and more daring each day. I've said enough about myself and am ready to get to business.

"Ricky Brown has bridged gaps between engineering and business by leading teams in architecture and development for large enterprises including: Microsoft, Sony, T-mobile, and Alaska Airlines) and small-to-midsized companies. Ricky has personally prototyped over 100 full stack applications for various startups. Inspired by his previous work in large-scale distributed technologies, he's here to speak on Collective Computing" - from the 2019 Future of Cloud Computing Conference at MIT