What is your favorite project you worked on and why?

My favorite project was working as an assistant superintendent on the expansion and renovation of the Boston Children’s Museum back in 2006. This project had so much going on within it, that the exposure for me to see all the varying aspects, really taught me so many things. Not only were there many differing scopes of work to sink my teeth into but I got to really learn how to manage people from some excellent senior superintendent mentors. Prior to the construction, the museum was such an uninspiring building. I feel our construction team really took that old mill building and made it the first jewel in the Fort Point area. I have taken my own kids to the museum recently. It was great to tell them about my experiences during construction and what parts of the project I got to put my own stamp on. I have a lot of pride for that project as well as some fun and lasting memories.

Who or what inspires you?

I have lots of areas I draw inspiration, but mostly from the members of my family. My mom has always inspired me to dream big and to “go for it”.  My dad has always inspired me to work hard and become an expert. My wife inspires me to look for kindness and share love. My 9-yo daughter inspires me to be a role model and to seek-out answers. My 7-yo daughter inspires me to not be so rigid and remember to be playful. My sister has always inspired me to be myself and celebrate uniqueness.  And even my dog inspires me to enjoy the simple things and take time to relax.

What is one thing on your bucket list and will you accomplish it?

On my bucket list is to own a slice of paradise in the country of Belize or Costa Rico. Prior to having children, my wife and I got to travel to Central America for a couple of vacations. We absolutely fell in love with the beautiful beaches, exotic jungle wildlife, and diverse underwater marine environment. I am a certified scuba diver and always try to get in the ocean, if possible, at any vacation destination. The warm water and plethora of captivating marine life would be an ideal surrounding to spend my retirement days. My wife is happiest in a place that has lots of sunshine, soft sand, and a spot to read a book. Accomplishing this bucket list goal might be dependent on the future locations of where our kids choose to live when they move out of the house. We don’t want to be too far away from them and their potential families.

What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done?

I was working on the Big Island of Hawaii for a project back in 2007. I got a chance to drive down to the oceanside cliffs along the south coast. I stopped to walk out to the edge of the cliffs and soak in the beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean. I hear a voice shout out from behind me to “jump!”. I turned to see 3 local guys who had just gotten out of their jeep and started to urge me to dive in. This cliff was about 60ft above the ocean and no discernable stairs or ladder to get back up if I did take the plunge. I totally thought these guys were just messing with me as a tourist and no way anyone jumps. One of them said they do this all the time; proceeded to take a running start and performed a perfect double backflip off the cliff! Well, I decided tucking tail and slinking away wasn’t going to do any good for my ego. I kicked off my sandals, took a running start, and made the leap of faith. Time slowed down as gravity did its thing…I had more than enough airtime to think “Oh, my wallet and rental car keys are still up there…I hope those guys don’t steal my stuff and leave me stranded here!”. I survived the splash down and then had to make the unassisted, untethered ascent up the sheer cliff face back to the top. I got to find out the hard way how incredibly sharp lava rock is to climb. Luckily, I did have rock climbing experience and made it safely to the top again. I had such a rush from doing all that I spend the rest of the afternoon with those guys jumping off the cliff another two-dozen times or so! We ended our fun and as I was getting back into my rental car one of the local guys said, “Too bad we didn’t see any sharks swimming around here like we did last time.” I have no idea if he was messing with me or not, but cliff jumping was already enough of a thrill that I really didn’t need that extra bit of info.