Meet our Totems ~Ed~

For the month of April I would like to introduce the talented people who create the magic at Two Tall Totems. Day 14 is all about Edward Povazan.

I remember the first time I met Ed. It was at one of the first VaniDev meetups I had attended way back in 2010 or 2011. Ed was giving a presentation on a framework he had created and open sourced to expedite Objective C development. I remember looking around this room of very smart developers and thinking... wow... so many blank faces... only about 10% seem to understand what he is talking about. I knew what he was sharing was gold. I had to convince him to join our newly formed TTT family. I was so pleased when he said yes.

Ed is one of the most peaceful souls I have ever met. He lives a clean vegetarian lifestyle and during his time off he works at the rabbit shelter making sure that all the animals receive love. 

I enjoyed the early days when Ed and I would drive out to a client's office. It gave me time to learn all about this gentle person.  About his days growing up in South Africa. His past spent studying industrial design in Switzerland and Los Angeles. It doesn't take long to realize that this international man is talented at so many things. While this may sound selfish I just thank Goodness he chose programming over a career in furniture design or watch making. He would excel at any discipline he chose.

In our early days when we had to chase projects Ed always went the extra mile. One interesting project we tried to win was for a local client who had the "small" task of mapping the entire Internet. Ed met me at their downtown office just as the meeting started. Client asked if we understood what they were looking for. I lied that I did but Ed confidently answered yes and opened up his laptop to show a program which took a dataset and mapped the client's infrastructure node by node. It blew me away that he was able to do this so quickly. I was so proud of him in the same way I am proud when one of my kids score a goal in hockey. Sadly we didn't get the gig but it had nothing to do with Ed. He was magical. 

A few days ago I got hit with a brick when Ed told me that he had accepted a senior role with another company here in Vancouver. After 5 years he wanted to mix things up. I completely understand this desire and wish him nothing but the best but for the past few days I have gone to bed depressed. I have woken up feeling like something is missing. When I call TTT employees family I really mean it. Ed is a brother. Since learning about his departure I have been nervous to write  about Ed in this series. I am still emotional and have great feelings of loss. It has been strangely therapeutic though as I reflect on our relationship and how wonderful a person Ed is. I am confident he will do big things in his new opportunity. I am glad we are friends and happy to re-inforce that the door is always open for his return.

Go do big things Ed! We all love you and you will be missed.

Ed Facts:

Title: Senior Software Engineer
App(s) worked on: Think Together, Huckle, Goodmorphosis, (and MANY secret apps)
Languages spoken: English, Slovak, Afrikaans (a long while ago)
 Favourite Programming language: Still Smalltalk, then Swift.
Fun Fact: My other major was Archaeology.
Last book read: Moonwalking with Einstein

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TTT Note: WE ARE HIRING FOR MANY ROLES... DESIGN - FULL STACK - MOBILE DEVELOPERS. JOIN THE FAMILY!
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