Experience Overview

I grew up around computers. Shortly after the dot-com boom and bust, my uncle started a computer shop where we sold CDs and DVDs, repaired computers and consoles, and installed software. Times were good. I was just a kid who wanted to play video games, and hanging out at his shop was the perfect excuse to do that while picking up skills along the way. I’m not a computer expert by any means, but I learned a lot about tech in that little shop, and I still use that knowledge today. I can figure out websites and tech stuff mostly thanks to my uncle — and the endless hours I spent at internet cafés.

Skipping ahead a bit, I spent most of my early years wasting time playing video games and running around the streets. Eventually it was time for high school, and I went to a vocational school where I studied electricity. I really enjoyed it, especially the hands-on classes. I ended up doing an internship at an electronic assembly and soldering job, and honestly, that role crushed my ambition a little. Some classmates got placed in engineering offices where they learned AutoCAD electrical design and built real skills. That’s something I would’ve loved, but the assembly line made me think more seriously about going to college.

I went on to college, but the first year was nothing but English classes. That’s when I noticed people signing up for “Work and Travel,” a program where students spend the summer working in the USA on a short-term visa. I signed up and went — without realizing it would completely change my life. That decision shaped everything. I worked at the Golden Nugget Casino & Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where I learned how hotel operations worked and gained real experience. Being thrown into a different culture was transformative.

Long story short, I took that experience and started a career in the hospitality industry. I worked in hotels for five years in the USA (Golden Nugget), Canada (The Westin Hotel), and Europe (various hotels in Istanbul). Eventually, in Canada, I changed careers again. I found trucking to be both challenging and rewarding. While working at The Westin in Edmonton, I got my commercial license and quit my job — and that’s when my trucking journey started.

Since then, I’ve been driving commercial vehicles full-time. I also earned a heavy equipment operator license, which ended up being useless professionally, but still a fun thing to learn. I’ve worked in the oilfields, driven in every highway condition imaginable — freezing, burning, icy, stormy, end-of-the-world weather, you name it. I’ve driven dually pickups with trailers delivering oilfield products, ran FedEx Express routes hauling 53-foot trailers from Edmonton Airport to Calgary and back every day for four and a half years, hauled acid, and operated nitrogen bulkers.

Right now, I’m advancing my driving skills in a new role, and I’m grateful for the path that brought me here.

Being a Canadian citizen is something I’m truly proud of, and I’m grateful every day for the chance to call this country home and contribute in my own way.