My Telecommunications Story

In my 20's I worked as a diesel mechanic pulling transmissions on semi-trucks for clutch replacement, and transmission rebuilds. I enjoyed the work and learned a lot, but the work soon turned repetitive very quickly. It began to feel like Groundhogs day the movie.?

Luckily, I had a friend reach out to me to share his new line of work. He sent me a photo of him hanging from the boom of a cell tower with nothing under him but 500 ft of air; I was shocked.?I felt a sense of anxiety just looking at the photo. I told him he was crazy, until he told me the compensation plan.?

Two or three weeks later, I was tearing out yet another transmission and heard our angry boss, yelling and screaming at one of my coworkers. Then I heard a loud bang and rolled out from under the truck to find a huge dent in my brand-new snap on tool box with a metal pipe laying on the floor next to it. I had enough of the disrespect, I grabbed my things, then loaded my tool box on the back of my truck with the forklift and never looked back.

Three weeks later I was starting a new career journey that would allow me to travel the entire country. It was an exciting new venture; however, I was nervous, but committed to seeing it through. Three days in, my manager handed me a harness and said, “get up there boy.” Tower training with old school private companies was not as regulated as it is today. It took me a little while to make my first climb, but after that I was hooked, I had a new sense of enjoyment. I felt a new freedom I had never felt before, so many new physical sensations, it was truly amazing.?

After falling in love with this job, I soon realized the companies practices could lead to bad outcomes if you didn’t pay attention. If you have ever worked as a Tower Climber; you know exactly what I am talking about.?

Soon after, I worked on a AT&T Ericsson site build when a work truck pulled in and two very intelligent looking guys stepped out with all the tower gear you could imagine.?At this point my foreman used to hide what he was doing so we couldn’t see or learn anything new. However, these guys were amazing!

With very few role models this was my introduction and inspiration to where I could go in the industry. I set my sights and this became my first goal. I wanted to be a “network engineer” responsible for troubleshooting the issues preventing tower equipment from operating properly. As I learned to get there, I needed certifications and lots of them!?

So instead of wasting money, I invested in my future. One certification turned into the near fifty that I have acquired now. After a year in the industry, I was running and leading my own crew, an achievement that at that time took most foreman five years to accomplish.

A few years into my new career, I reached my goal of becoming a network engineer. This new role provided instant gratification and freedom from managing construction crews. I no longer had to babysit four grown men; sign me up! I now had one person who I needed to mentor and we eventually grew into a very successful team. As a team we would complete four sites a day, while others teams were only tackling maybe one or two. We were driven to prove our value; sometimes climbing our last sites at one or two in the morning to ensure the next day we would be ready for the next cluster on the other side of the state.?

At this stage in my career, I would run into a lot of cell integrators onsite. My drive for knowledge became insatiable which set me on my next career path. I learned from integrators in the field how to log into the control unit (BBU) onsite so I could check alarms myself in real time dealing with the troubleshooting bridges could be very hard sometimes if you couldn’t understand each other and it was causing our team to lose many hours. Our goal was to save the company money, reduce site visits, execute efficiently, we were the A-Team. It felt great!?

We learned by using this method we did not need to climb the tower for rets issues if the homerun cable wasn’t damaged. I learned how to access the ATC terminal on ground to obtain all this and more. (I created a YouTube video to teach others how to do this)?

In the Kentucky market, I spearheaded WCS builds for AT&T that led them to revise all radio frequency data reports going forward. AT&T began to reach out to us directly to help other companies in the field. It was a great feeling to be sought out for our problem-solving skills.?Following these successes my company pulled me into the office to train, manage, and dispatch crews in the field. This was an exciting new challenge and I love being challenged!

Next, I met my wife; she was a successful Project Manager who was known for expertly executing her projects regardless of the issue. This inspired the next goal, but I had a few hurdles to complete before I could get there. In order to learn everything, I felt I was lacked; I needed to obtain knowledge as a Construction Manager.?

This role provided insights I had missed previously. I managed multiple crews simultaneously in the field with little to no supervision, and was able to take everything I learned to the next level. However, I had an edge over other CM's that did not have the field or engineering experience. This experience allowed me to shine when it came to scoping and reviewing site bill of materials, and change orders. This remains an industry issue due to inaccuracies. With my experience, I was able to walk a site, then review and ensure the BOM was accurate which allowed the field crews to execute based on the scheduled timelines required by the project management team. The crews were more effective in the field I was not running materials like the other CM's due to lack of planning. We met site deadlines, and the Mastec Team in Kentucky appreciated it. Best of all the efforts saved the company money. I had good relationships with the crews and was able to relate to them and they with me based on my past experience.?

During this time, I became certified in many areas. Additionally, I helped hire, train and develop crews as a certified Comtrain, Rigging, First Aid, RF Instructor and had mastered troubleshooting RSSI and PIM which gave us an edge over the competition.?

Moving to Texas, my wife decided it was time to go back to her roots as she took on a great new chapter in her professional life. With my cumulative experience, I was confident I would land something good which led me to Nexius Solutions in Frisco TX. I started out as a construction manager running South Houston to Galveston markets, but within four months?was promoted into the Network Integrity Department as a full time Remote Troubleshooter. Helping and training crews in the field using the OSS system. This eventually led to Training, Managing, Driving the XTAC Troubleshooting Program. The Network Integrity Manager was responsible for Paces as they came out of construction, we would drive the sites thru integration, troubleshooting, and would then run the final site scrub before approving the hand over to RF for final optimization. Additionally, I was responsible for all data tracking from the Quality Audit team, Construction Ops, Field service management, Implementation Manager and provided the executive panel with final site status for executive decision making. Also, I handled all warranty and RF kickbacks. Held weekly meetings with Tiger Team Lead to ensure all priority sites were dispatched and handled in a timely manner. Met weekly with Project Mangers, Implementation Managers, and Market Directors to ensure Milestones make it to CL100 completion. Awarded several recognition achievements including a Director issued award for exceeding our customer projected goals in our companies largest AT&T South Texas 2022. other markets included T-Mobile Washington DC and Baltimore MD.

I am ready for my next inspirational challenge, With my skill set and time in this industry I am confident I will make a great asset to your Company. If you have made it this far, I thank you for your time and welcome a conversation for employment.