How did you end up at The Factory?
I joined two years ago, during Covid. My employer at the time wasn’t moving to the cloud, and I wanted to. So I started talking to cloud-focused companies. I had actually picked another one. When I told my wife, her response was: “Why are you not happy with that?”
The Factory had been on the list. The conversation had stuck with me: a clear focus on engineering, and on doing it well. That’s when I started thinking, “Actually, I want to work with them.”
What pushed me over the line was the question The Factory asked when I told them I was going elsewhere: “Are you sure that’s the right choice for you?” That tells you something about how we talk to each other here: direct, with the other person’s interests in mind.
Did you have specific goals when you started?
My background was integrations and data, and I wanted a broader view of the cloud. I figured networking was where I should start. My first engagement was rebuilding a customer’s Azure landing zone: building a hub-and-spoke model and migrating their workloads onto it. That covered the networking gap, and I finished my Azure Solutions Architect exam on top of it.
You wrapped up that engagement: what’s next?
No formal next goal yet. I’ve started at a new customer, paired with a Factory colleague I wanted to work with. A new goal will come once I’m closer to the work; otherwise the goal stays abstract and I forget what I learned.
You started when the team was 12. We’re almost 30 now: has the culture changed?
An analogy: think of a band you’ve liked for ten years. They don’t make the same music the whole time, but you’re still listening.
The Factory has grown and changed, but organically. The principles are the same. People are still open, still care about their work. There’s more diversity in how people think now, which means more colleagues to talk things through with.
When would you recommend working here?
If you want colleagues who go deep into a problem with you. At my previous job I missed that.
It’s less about what you already know and more about how you approach things. We’ve got someone deep into plants, plenty of home automation people. They go down the rabbit hole, come out when the work is done, and aren’t entirely sure whether it was work or play.
When would you not?
If you want to stay exactly where you are and aren’t curious about more than the trick you already know, this isn’t the right place.
What are you up to outside work?
Running. The longer and tougher, the better. The long-term goal is the UTMB (Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc): 172 km, 46-hour limit. Next year I’m aiming for my first 100 km trail run and at least two marathons. I also want to climb a few alpine summits: the Pollux and Castor 4000-metre pair, and the Breithorn traverse.
Same on holiday?
Early June, I was with a friend in the Gran Paradiso national park in Italy, aiming for the summit (4061 m). For acclimatization, day one we hiked from our campsite at 1810 m up to 2710 m for lunch at the Frederico Chabod hut. Ibex, alpine marmots, waterfalls, plants you only see above the treeline.
Day two was the climb. Up to the hut, overnight, alarm at 3 a.m. We had to turn back at 3800 m because of weather, but it was a great experience.