Radio Bantik:
Days in the Life of an Alpha Geek

Last week I responded to a general media posted online request looking for people who “made it” via self study:

I am looking for professionals who developed their particular expertise by intense focus, discipline and self study. You didn’t necessarily learn what you know and what you’ve become good at (and known for) at college (although you could have learned the basics there.) You may not even have a degree.  Whatever it is you’ve accomplished, you did it “your way”–and it has worked. If this fits you or someone you know, please send me a BRIEF description of:

• what you do
• how and why you fit my description here–please be specific
• your name, city, company and if I can use your full name, city & company

I’ll follow up with questions via e-mail later today.

I promptly wrote up a bio and sent it off:

I think that I’m a great fit for your column regarding professionals who developed their expertise by self-study as opposed to traditional learning. Here’s a brief summary of my story so far.

I was a brilliant student through high school, graduating third in my class (with only a .5 point spread between the top three graduates). I attempted college but fell short in terms of finances and maturity– I was 17 and really not emotionally ready. I ended up dropping out and pursuing my technology interests on my own time. 

I had been programming computers since I was 7 years old, and continued working on technology projects that interested me into the early 90s. I got online in 1993 and immediately found the ideal new venue for my efforts. I built my first web site shortly thereafter, and by the time the rest of the world discovered the Internet– and particularly the web– I had quite a head start. 

I did freelancing for a while before taking my first corporate job working in web development in 1995. Over the next 13 years I worked directly for companies like National Instruments, Houghton Mifflin, and Leo Burnett, while always keeping my skills honed by exploring new technologies and pursuing side projects. In my career I’ve had the chance to work with clients and partners like JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratories), NASA, Starbucks, Wieden+Kennedy, Morgan Stanley, Apple, Adobe, Thomson Learning, and the US Army.

Although I’ve had trouble getting past HR screenings with a lack of a degree, once I am in place in a company I’ve always excelled– rapidly rising to positions of management and leadership, from director-level to C-level executive.

In December of last year I struck out on my own again and co-founded a web development business called Hapax Labs, and we’re now in the process of being acquired by Mir Internet Marketing. I’ll be joining the Mir team as a part-owner and Chief Solutions Architect.

I like to think that I’m following in the footsteps of other passionate technologists who made their name without a degree hanging on their wall– Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Bill Gates, just to name a few.

You can find details of my career on my resume at http://www.idolhands.com/resume, or by checking out my LinkedIn profile at http://www.linkedin.com/in/coreyehmke

Although I never heard back from the journalist, my story must have been what she was looking for. Look what turned up yesterday: While degree still preferred, it’s certainly no requirement

I’m in the second paragraph under “Seizing Your Opportunity”. (I’m pretty sure that my comments about Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were helpful in writing her article, as well.)

From the description for Acts As Enterprisey:

Rails make life easy for us but– and it’s a big but– we don’t want it to look easy. acts_as_enterprisey is your friend. How does acts_as_enterprisey make webapp development look hard? Well, the only way your client can judge your app is by playing around with it. What better gives the feeling of heavy weights being lifted behind the scenes than slow response times? Exactly. That’s what acts_as_enterprisey does.

Simply insert acts_as_enterprisey in your ActiveRecord model [and set the delay to whatever value you want.] So while your client clicks, …waits…, and then gets the page, you can blather on heroically about wrestling with clustered indexes, cache expiration strategies, n log n seek times, etc ad nauseam.

Clients pay you to solve their technical problems. They want to feel like they’re getting their money’s worth. Especially after you start submitting enterprisey invoices.
So make their wishes come true: it’s only fair. Ethical, even. Crank the delay up as the deadline approaches, make them sweat, display fortitude and perseverance, etc. And when they can’t take it (the app’s sluggishness, your bills, whatever) any more, [remove] acts_as_enterprisey from your models and book the flights to Vegas.

This is akin to the infamous “make_it_go_faster” flag. Yay.

So as of my birthday (December 17, for those who are keeping track and feel the need to buy me a belated birthday present), I have quit the corporate labor force and entered the world of independent consulting.

In the process, I have discovered first-hand what I previously only knew of from whispers and legends: something called “Life/Work Balance”. Those of you who know me or have worked with me are probably aware of my insane work ethic and my highly focused yet manic devotion to Getting Things Done, the result of which usually amounts to about 60-70 hours of productive work per week. Doing the math to calculate my actual hourly wage, it was clear that with a salaried position I was edging my way down from director-level pay toward McJob-level payWorking from home hasn’t really reduced the number of hours that I spend on the job, but it does mean that I’m much more flexible in terms of when I put those hours in.

My typical day starts at 9am with a couple of cups of coffee and perhaps some breakfast, spent in the company of my amazing daughter and lovely wife; at 10 I start work, stopping for an hour lunch (and dog-walk) at noon. I continue work through 7 or so, when it’s time for dinner. The evening is split between around-the-house work, hanging out to watch Sopranos, or whatever else. If I still have work that I want to do, I resume around 11 or midnight, after Lisa has gone to bed. (Otherwise, it’s World of Warcraft time…)

I’m using The Omni Group’s excellent OmniFocus in conjunction with a small whiteboard to manage my tasks, along with a bunch of productivity tips gleaned from LifeHacker. The result? High productivity, much more family time, a commute that doesn’t involve an hour a day of public transportation, and the freedom to spend my time how I want it.

Overall, a happy Corey.