I was raised in a dysfunctional, middle-to-lower-class family in Tiverton, RI. I started working at twelve years old, in a coatroom and on a paper route. To escape the ordeals at home, I joined the Boy Scouts and spent almost every weekend away during my youth. Subsequently, I became an Eagle Scout at fourteen years old. 

 

        For high school, my parents sent me to Bishop Connolly in Fall River, MA. However, they stopped paying the tuition after my sophomore year, so I paid for the remaining two years myself. I graduated and went to Rhode Island College, but after three semesters, I ran out of money.  

 

        I started working full-time in retail, and soon realized it was not my preferred career path. During that time, I learned of a company that was hiring high school graduates as Computer Operators at the Newport Naval Base (1980). The work was with submarine computer systems; they paid minimum wage… but they would train you and reimburse college costs. I really wanted to work here, so after calling the HR department daily for over six months, they finally offered me a job. 

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        I used the experience from that job to advance in Submarine Systems support with five different companies (GE, Raytheon, Unisys, etc.) over the next 10 years. Eventually, I worked for a company that lost its Defense contract, and I lost my job, because I had no college degree. 

Although I found another job in the defense industry, my focus turned to education. I used educational reimbursement to take a max load of classes while working full-time. I graduated from Rhode Island College with a bachelor’s degree in computer science (BA) and began working on a master’s degree almost immediately. 
 
         Due to the job uncertainty in contract work, I decided to leave the defense industry and worked with a few private businesses before starting my own software development company in 1999. Seeing problems inherent in businesses, I developed one of the world’s first ‘software as a service’ internet-based companies. I created an automated supply chain system that connected businesses to other businesses, with my company doing the data translation in the middle. 
         
        It was a new and interesting way to run a business. I was selling a product made from no raw materials to customers around the world, whom I would never meet in person. 

        The company grew, and we opened offices in Europe and Australia to support clients worldwide. Having already completed a master’s (MS) in computer info systems,  realized I needed more business training, so I enrolled in a Master of Business Administration (MBA) program at Salve Regina University and graduated in 2015.
 
        In 2020, during the height of the pandemic and amid worldwide supply chain issues, I seized an opportunity to sell my company and retire. But I got bored, so I went to Roger Williams University School of Law and, in 2025, earned a Master of Studies in Law (MSL).
     
        As a lifelong Rhode Islander, I am disappointed with how our state is being run. We are overspending and overtaxing. I am ready to help; I am educated, I have business experience, I have a legal education, and I have the time. I do not want to be in politics for any reason other than to help make sensible choices. I am not liberal, but I am not hard-core right-leaning either. Although I am running as a Democrat, I disaffiliate from political parties after each primary election.
 

        Most importantly, I can respectfully listen to opposing opinions and weigh their advantages and disadvantages. Further, I can be wrong and learn from my mistakes. I feel that those qualities are missing in politics today.

       

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