Web consultant, Linux sysadmin, home cook, coffee roaster, cheese maker, guitarist, hiker, cat person, lifelong metal fan. Based in Deux-Montagnes, Quebec. Building on the web since before Google existed.
Deux-Montagnes, Quebec. March 2022.
The beard is real. So is the winter.
"When I know something is worthwhile, I change my lifestyle to make it happen."
I quit smoking, learned to cook, learned everything I could about fitness and nutrition, and turned my life around. That was the turning point — not a purchase, not a shortcut, but a decision to actually show up for my own life.
What followed: a serious study of exercise science (Shredded By Science certified), a 5/3/1 resistance training program five days a week, a 2,500-member cooking community I run on Facebook, ten years roasting my own coffee beans, a stretch making my own cheese, and a habit of hiking every trail he can get to — we've driven 20 hours to reach a trailhead more than once. Canada is big.
The reason I'm telling you this is because it's the same thing that shows up in my work. When I take on a project, I go deep. I don't dabble. I learn everything about it. I change my behaviour around it until it's done right.
That's not a philosophy I invented. It's one I live.
The kitchen is a serious place in this house.
BBS systems. Gopher. The early internet before anyone called it that. I was there, as a teenager, figuring out how it worked. I wrote text adventure games in the style of Infocom — I got to the end of the universe in the original Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy game, and I wanted to make my own. It took years. I didn't give up.
I have never taken a computer science class. Every technical skill I have, I taught myself because I needed to know it, or because I was curious, or because someone's problem demanded a solution I didn't have yet. That's not a gap in my education. That's the entire explanation for the breadth.
I switched to Linux full-time on Mandrake 5.1 and never went back. I've been managing servers — real Linux servers, root access, personally administered — for over twenty years. I was an IT manager before WordPress existed. I built custom serial-over-IP software for surveyors when nobody had solved that problem yet.
My one formal academic credential is a degree in English Literature and Science and Human Affairs. That combination — writing, critical thinking, and the philosophy of how systems work — turns out to be exactly what a web consultant needs. I can write copy, explain complex problems clearly, and see the whole board.
The Linux desktop has looked roughly the same for 25 years. That's intentional.
Named after the two mountains visible from the lake — and the name of my old coffee roasting business, Two Mountains Coffee. I used to roast beans and sell them online. Built the site myself, obviously. The roaster still runs. The business wound down, but the coffee habit never did.
I've been with my girlfriend for 32 years. We have always had three cats. Long-term relationships are kind of my thing — personally and professionally.
I've traveled across Canada multiple times. Dipped my feet in the Atlantic in Newfoundland and the Pacific in Tofino. We've driven 20 hours to reach a trailhead more than once — Canada is big and most of it is worth seeing. I'm drawn to things that take time and effort — which is probably why clients trust me with things that take time and effort.
We've driven 20 hours to reach a trailhead. Canada is big.
No computer science degree. No bootcamp. Just 30+ years of following the problem wherever it went.
Nationals level certification. CPR/ABI certified. Wanted to be an EMT. Things change.
Discovered BBS systems and Gopher. Wrote text adventure games. Beat the Hitchhiker's Guide game. It took years.
Professional film photographer. Shot weddings. Worked in a darkroom. Taught Photoshop when layers were a new feature.
Built the first site. Never stopped. The footer still counts the days.
Mandrake 5.1. Never booted Windows again. Converted non-profits to Ubuntu. Taught Linux online.
IT management. Built serial-over-IP software for surveyors to pipe field data into AutoCAD in real time. Nobody had solved it yet.
WordPress. Enterprise clients. 16+ servers. MTY, Macros Inc., Solargraf, hemophilia.ca. Still here. Still root.
A managed AI chatbot platform for fitness coaches and non-profits in Canada. Bilingual. Because why not build the thing you want to exist.
The work is who I am. But it's not all of who I am.
I've seen Slayer live fifteen times. I played trombone through school — orchestra, jazz band, trombone choir, church recitals. In the music room every day at lunch and after school. Switched to guitar eventually. The discipline stayed. The volume increased.
trombone → guitar // Repentless.Home roasting since before it was fashionable. Used to sell online as Two Mountains Coffee — named after the town. The business wound down. The roaster did not.
Deux-Montagnes // still roastingI've called myself a "Holistic Webmaster" for years as a nod to Dirk Gently. The fundamental interconnectedness of all web things. I got to the end of the universe in the Hitchhiker's Guide text adventure — the one Adams co-designed with Infocom in 1984. It took years. It is legitimately one of the hardest things I've done at a keyboard.
42 // Mostly harmless. // check the source codeMultiple times. Every major national park. Dipped my feet in the Atlantic in Newfoundland and the Pacific in Tofino. We've driven 20 hours to reach a trailhead more than once. Canada is big and most of it is worth seeing.
Newfoundland → Tofino // still goingPart of the same mid-life transformation. If it can be made at home properly, why wouldn't you?
currently aged in the fridgeYears of recipes, technique discussions, and enthusiastic people learning to cook. Started from the same turning point as everything else.
still active // still cookingThis has been true for as long as anyone can remember. Three is the correct number of cats. This is not up for discussion.
non-negotiableI don't advertise. I don't cold call. I've never spent a dollar on marketing. Every client I've ever had came from someone who told someone else. If you're reading this, that's probably what happened.
There aren't many people in this industry with this combination of skills, depth, and genuine availability. The technical range — from server administration to front-end development to copywriting to AI implementation — doesn't come from a curriculum. It comes from 27 years of following the problem wherever it went.
I become friends with most of my clients. I still respond to people who emailed me three years ago as if we spoke yesterday. I watch my inbox all day. I work for free when the project matters enough.
I'm stubborn. I don't give bad advice to make someone feel better. I won't cut corners because a client is impatient. I'll tell you when you don't need something.
"Self-directed, self-motivated. I make a plan and I follow through. Always have."